Transferring money, california, not rbc or td

[tdotca 41]

Anyone out there who has k1'ed to California and can shed personal experience/light on how they transferred money ?

All the threads related to this are from those who moved to states that has RBC and /or TD. I have accounts at both banks but where I am going don't have such branches.

Yes i can take cash but don't want to walk with a wad ( yes need to fill out form if over 10 thou, if one has that much ).

[Texas22 50]

I didn't K1 to Cali but Texas and they don't have RBC or TD here either. Heck, they don't even know what Canadian money looks like here !

Before the move, my fiance set us up with a joint checking account in both our names. When I was ready to move, I went into my Canadian bank

and did a wire transfer of the funds. You need the account holder's name, account number and routing number.

It was fairly easy. Better than taking a wad of cash. But you will pay a small fee. Fortunately when I went the Canadian dollar was close to par. Now it really sucks, so be prepared to lose quite a bit with the exchange rate.

[tdotca 41]

Hi, thanks for the reply! I think my fiancé tried to get me added to his existing account(Wells Fargo) and was told that I needed to be there in person.

Yeah, wire transfer is an option (the waiting period won't be an issue) or I can write myself a cheque. Granted you read how US Banks have no clue what to do with a 'foreign' cheque but in this day and age, I personally don't see why there should be any issue.

Yeah, the exchange majorly sucks right now but ..got to do what you got to do.

Thanks Again!

[Texas22 50]

Yeah they are likely right. I was there for a visit when we set up the account so we went into the bank together.

Waiting on the wire transfer was only 3 - 4 days I think. You can write a cheque, but that wait would be longer I would suspect.

My mom has sent Canadian cheques at Christmas for the kids and the bank deposits it, but then puts a hold on it, usually 30 days.

They have to clear it and do the exchange and everything. In my personal opinion, the banks here in the South are far less advanced

than what I'm used to in Canada. I couldn't believe the first time I went into a branch with my then fiance and he actually had to fill out

a deposit slip or a withdrawl slip... I'm like "what?" We haven't done that in years. Like get with technology already!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

American banks aren't prepared well to cash foreign checks/cheques, in all fairness I don't really know that Canadian banks are any more prepared.... I don;t recall if I ever tried to deposit an American check in my Canadian TD account either.

[Lemonslice 4,841]

I have transferred money using www.xe.com/xetrade/ - takes a couple of day, but there is no fee. I compared when I had larger sums to move, and right then, it was worth it. Initial set up takes a week or so - you can also send cheques or transfer money to others.

.

Rates just now:

Quote as of Mar 25, 15 8:22:52 GMT -07:00

1.00 USD = 1.23 CAD

1 USD = 1.2317 CAD

1 CAD = 0.8119 USD

[Texas22 50]

I have transferred money using www.xe.com/xetrade/ - takes a couple of day, but there is no fee. I compared when I had larger sums to move, and right then, it was worth it. Initial set up takes a week or so - you can also send cheques or transfer money to others.

.

Rates just now:

I almost set up an account with them, but haven't yet. Right now I just wd money from the ATM and then deposit it to my American bank.

Totally worth it? I think I stopped it when they asked me for a SSN. Not sure I like giving that info out online, you know what I mean?

[Lemonslice 4,841]

I almost set up an account with them, but haven't yet. Right now I just wd money from the ATM and then deposit it to my American bank.

Totally worth it? I think I stopped it when they asked me for a SSN. Not sure I like giving that info out online, you know what I mean?

I didn't give it online, I had to fax or mail it, can't remember... was a while ago. I am not using it as frequently anymore though - mortgage is now paid. If I use it now, it's when my family purchase items for me and I send them cheques in Canadian dollars.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Boston~Montreal

[Ms Hogan 295]

I did the RBC route, I didn't worry about having a branch here. I just had the Visa Debit card for the account and checks. I used up most of my money using those means or wrote checks to myself to transfer to an account that I opened locally. I know there is a lot of TD in the States but the RBC bank isn't even really a bank here. I couldn't accomplish much of anything with it so finally let it go!

[tdotca 41]

RBC/TD has branches or affiliates mostly in the Eastern States.

I have had no issues cashing US cheques at TD

Me too, @Texas22 I am not too fond of entering my personal info ( like SSN/ SIN) online or providing via fax /mail . That is why I have never obtained a credit report :-) ( granted I think now you can leave a vm with that info).

Anyways thanks for the replies.

[Dualie 185]

I have RBC linked with Wells Fargo. There doesn't need to be an affiliated branch where you are in the US. There isn't one where I am going. It's an account with an US account linked to whichever US bank you want to link it to. I did it this way so I can draw from locked in Canadian pensions from a Canadian bank account to an American one. And it makes collecting EI and CPP much easier also.

[Lemonslice 4,841]

I went back and looked at the forms and all I sent them; I didn't have to send my SSN - was copy of photo ID, account details and such. No SIN, no SSN.

[CAdreamer 14]

I have a Canadian pension deposited directly into my Canadian bank account still (after 2.5 years living in California), and here we deal with a small credit union that doesn't do well with international transfers. I always use XE.com to transfer money from my Cdn account to our joint US acct. I was nervous about the information that they wanted entered on the web site but it's been just fine. I feel very secure using them now.

But yeah, right now the exchange rate Sucks.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

Foreign checks will take FOREVER (several weeks) to clear. You may not have access to your money for a month.

Banks can wire money to each other.

IMHO - Immigrate to the US. Bring enough cash with you for a few weeks. Open a US bank account. Wire the money from Canada to the US. You will able to access your money quicker with a wire transfer than a check.

[tdotca 41]

Hi All, sorry for not replying as I was busy entering the US! Woot! Made it .

Then spent the next few days , getting the marriage license, opening bank account and applying for SSN.

Yea, I bought enough for a few weeks.