Best way to transfer Canadian funds to the US

[Mephys 2]

xetrade does it too

We use our paypal account to transfer US funds to my accounts in Canada. It takes about 5 days at most. I'll have to check out this Customhouse though, I have not heard of it.

I was about to say if anyone has tried Paypal. I wanted to set up custom house, and even though everybody recommends it highly we were reluctant with it because we had never heard of it before, and when we tried to set it up somehow we didn't feel comfortable with it.

We are using Paypal and it works great!

[Flames9_RN 358]

yes, CH takes a bit to set up, but it is all because of security precautions to protect you, which is a good thing!!

[trailmix 77]

We used RBC, but we didn't just take Canadian dollars and transfer to our Royal Bank US account.

1. We opened a U.S. dollar account in Canada at our Canadian bank (TD). When we liked the exchange rate on a particular day, we transferred the money (online, where they tell you what exchange rate they are giving you and what the result will be in U.S. dollars) in to the U.S. account.

2. A month before we moved we opened a simple RBC Canadian account (as you must to get an American (Centura) one opened).

Also had to open a 'dummy' U.S. dollar account as we had U.S. funds - ie, it was only opened to deposit/transfer the money - then closed.

Hopefully your RBC bank is more efficient than ours was - they messed everything up - so in light of that I would recommend doing this at least 2 months before you move.

3. We took our U.S. dollars out of the Canadian bank we had been using and took a money order to RBC. A few days before we moved we transferred it to the RBC Centura account.

It seems like a bit of a hassle - and it is - to begin with, plus RBC is only in some of the southern states, not sure where you are moving to. I'm sure you can have these accounts regardless - but if you are moving to the Northern U.S. and require a branch nearby - prob not your best bet.

The good part is that you have complete online access to your Canadian account and U.S. account and can transfer money between the two, online.

[cherylc522 0]

can you transfer fund directly from a canadian account to a us account using ch ?

[SapphireDreams 71]

Can you also just take out cash from a US ATM with your CDN debit card and then re-deposit in a US account?

I do have quite a bit of money saved, so I don't think this would work for me, but it is an option isn't it?

I need to think about how I will transfer my money. CustomHouse seems to be the easiest and cheapest so I think I'll do that.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Yes one can use their Cdn debit card and take the $$$ out, BUT watch out for the high fees and crappy exchange rate!

And yes payapal is another option, but beware, I believe they have had some security issues in ther past, and every now and then I get fake emails about my paypal acct--which i use for Ebay!!

CH is sort of a middleman! To use CH, you need a Canadian bank account AND an American bank account. CH makes money off the exchange rate, that rate is still better than what the bank is going to give you. One can tx $$ from Canada bank to your USA bank and vice versa, comes in handy when ur heading back to Canada for holidays! Keep in mind when u use your USA Credit card, many charge you an extra fee when using the credit card when outside the USA! Thus thats why I tx $$ back to Canada. Keep in mind when down the road when you want to send $$ from ur USA bank acct, to ur Cdn one, there is a very short process one has to do. I can't recall off the top off my head, but was easy. I just called them and they walked me through it, only took a few minutes.

One can always email them directly (or phone) and ask questions, they are normally very prompt at replying http://www.customhouse.com/company/profile/

Edited July 25, 2008 by flames9

[trailmix 77]

Yes one can use their Cdn debit card and take the $$$ out, BUT watch out for the high fees and crappy exchange rate!

Using your Canadian debit card in the U.S. is about the worst way to get your money to the U.S.

As an example, my Husband was out last month and forgot his pin number for his U.S. debit card, so used his Canadian one.

They charged him $ 45.02 CDN for $ 40.00 U.S. and a $ 3.00 fee.

So his $ 40.00 U.S. cost us $ 48.02 (this was with an RBC Canadian debit card).

Edited July 25, 2008 by trailmix

[Marilyn. 340]

when my mom puts money in my Canadian account I take it out with my debit card at our banks ATM machine... the exchange rate wasn't that bad and they didn't charge much..

[trailmix 77]

when my mom puts money in my Canadian account I take it out with my debit card at our banks ATM machine... the exchange rate wasn't that bad and they didn't charge much..

Yes, if it's not a huge amount of money it doesn't matter I guess, but even so, I wouldn't want to be giving the bank 8 dollars everytime I got 40

I'm sure some banks give a better rate/service charge than RBC

Edited July 25, 2008 by trailmix

[Flames9_RN 358]

$8!! Thats a case of beer, or flowers for the misses!!

[trailmix 77]

$8!! Thats a case of beer, or flowers for the misses!!

Exactly!! I'm not giving ANY money to anyone unless it is required - like an electricity bill - every bit counts

[SapphireDreams 71]

Maybe it depends on the bank because I just get charged the current exhange rate and then the $3.00, which isn't astronomical. I think some banks charge an extra % though, you are right.

I mean if I'm taking out $40, then losing $3 sucks, but if I'm taking out $1000, then $3 is not so bad to make that transfer for convenience purposes.

But free is always the best option....

[Flames9_RN 358]

Question is: What was the going exchange rate? Did you just look at the bank? or did you actually go online and check the market, because their is a difference.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

One way is to make a US$ cash (or US$ Amex TravCheques) withdrawal from the Canadian account and simply carry it into the US.

[Flames9_RN 358]

My parents gave me some $$$ a few yrs back! They checked with the bank about what their exchange rate was if they converted it their and put into travelers cheques, then immediately phoned me so I could check out the CH rate, and the CH rate was a tad better. I'm sure thats not always the case, but if one has CH, that option is always there, its totally free to set up. Enough of my CH stand,lol