Banking and Building credit in the US

[Colleens 40]

I am going to an appt at RBC tomorrow to open a US account there. Since they have branches in some of the states it looks like it will help build credit and such in the US. At the very least it will help cut down on the fees when traveling to the US and having to exchange money. And it will give me a US funds acct to deposit to when the exchange rate is good. Anyway to save a bit of cash during this time helps!! I am also hoping that it will give us an easy way to do money transfers back and forth without having to use western union, custom house etc.

I will post more info tomorrow after my appt.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Good idea. Something else that seems to work is to apply for a Canadian American Express card which will use your Canadian credit score, then when you move here apply to have it transferred to a US American Express card.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Good luck.

I have a US account with TDBank and so far it's proved to be pretty useless. I can't connect my debit card to it and they don't do transfers between the US TD Bank and the Canadian TD Bank.

And to top it all off, CustomHouse exchange rates are actually better anyways!

[Cindy & Greg 0]

I am going to an appt at RBC tomorrow to open a US account there. Since they have branches in some of the states it looks like it will help build credit and such in the US. At the very least it will help cut down on the fees when traveling to the US and having to exchange money. And it will give me a US funds acct to deposit to when the exchange rate is good. Anyway to save a bit of cash during this time helps!! I am also hoping that it will give us an easy way to do money transfers back and forth without having to use western union, custom house etc.

I will post more info tomorrow after my appt.

We transferred money back and forth via www.paypal.com. It's free though it may take a few days to transfer money from one account to the next. This is the process: You each get a paypal account and link your bank account to it. You can either validate via a bank accoaunt or credit card, but transfers are instant if you validate the account with a credit card. Then you sent money to your hubby or vice versa. Once it's in the paypal account you transfer it back out to the bank account. FREE and EASY. The only problem we had is we have to plan to send the money, because sometimes the payment won't clear a CANADIAN bank for 4-7 days, but the US bank seems to clear in 24-48 hours.]

Hope that helps. =)

PS This is a trusted payment system used for most ebay purchases and actually is owned by ebay.

[thetreble 19]

I am going to an appt at RBC tomorrow to open a US account there. Since they have branches in some of the states it looks like it will help build credit and such in the US. At the very least it will help cut down on the fees when traveling to the US and having to exchange money. And it will give me a US funds acct to deposit to when the exchange rate is good. Anyway to save a bit of cash during this time helps!! I am also hoping that it will give us an easy way to do money transfers back and forth without having to use western union, custom house etc.

I will post more info tomorrow after my appt.

We transferred money back and forth via www.paypal.com. It's free though it may take a few days to transfer money from one account to the next. This is the process: You each get a paypal account and link your bank account to it. You can either validate via a bank accoaunt or credit card, but transfers are instant if you validate the account with a credit card. Then you sent money to your hubby or vice versa. Once it's in the paypal account you transfer it back out to the bank account. FREE and EASY. The only problem we had is we have to plan to send the money, because sometimes the payment won't clear a CANADIAN bank for 4-7 days, but the US bank seems to clear in 24-48 hours.]

Hope that helps. =)

PS This is a trusted payment system used for most ebay purchases and actually is owned by ebay.

Don't see how this would help you build US credit, though. If I'm a credit company in the US, I really don't care about your PayPal transfers.

Nice that it's free though if you just want to transfer money.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I am going to an appt at RBC tomorrow to open a US account there. Since they have branches in some of the states it looks like it will help build credit and such in the US. At the very least it will help cut down on the fees when traveling to the US and having to exchange money. And it will give me a US funds acct to deposit to when the exchange rate is good. Anyway to save a bit of cash during this time helps!! I am also hoping that it will give us an easy way to do money transfers back and forth without having to use western union, custom house etc.

I will post more info tomorrow after my appt.

We transferred money back and forth via www.paypal.com. It's free though it may take a few days to transfer money from one account to the next. This is the process: You each get a paypal account and link your bank account to it. You can either validate via a bank accoaunt or credit card, but transfers are instant if you validate the account with a credit card. Then you sent money to your hubby or vice versa. Once it's in the paypal account you transfer it back out to the bank account. FREE and EASY. The only problem we had is we have to plan to send the money, because sometimes the payment won't clear a CANADIAN bank for 4-7 days, but the US bank seems to clear in 24-48 hours.]

Hope that helps. =)

PS This is a trusted payment system used for most ebay purchases and actually is owned by ebay.

What's the exchange rate like?

I'm actually really impressed with CustomHouse.com and their exchange rates and service. They are super professional, quick and the online site is very easy to use. I just did my first transfer today and I believe it takes a couple of days, so we shall see how long it takes. So far I'm liking it a lot.

It's really a shame that Canadian/US banks aren't integrated better.

[trailmix 77]

Yes, with TD bank there is no access in the U.S. - silly (I mean to your U.S. dollar account).

We did open the RBC U.S. account - you can transfer funds - it will have zero effect on your credit rating btw. It's handy and we still bank with RBC here, even though it is not the most convenient bank in that they make it difficult to do any simple thing.

[Sam and Ben 2]

Yeah, I can't believe how useless the system is with the TD U.S. account. It's great for quick access to U.S. funds for cheques and the like, but outside of that.

I had to laugh when the teller tried getting me to sign up for a TD U.S. Visa when I inquired about why I couldn't debit the U.S. account. I asked her if it had any bearing whatsoever on a credit history in the States. She said no and smiled when she caught my drift.

I was very happy when I learned about transferring credit history using American Express. I signed up for their BlueSky card a couple of months ago and have transferred all possible payments off of my other cards in order to give this one regular use.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Sam and Ben

[AnaGRicky 0]

That's a Great Idea "Collens"

I am in Canada and Have been banking with RBC Royal Bank for many years. I opened a Royal Bank US , using my sons address in Florida. I now enjoy going on Line and transfering money back and forth., when I need to. While on a visit to US, it was great haviing a US Debit Visa card. I know things are a little different as "Trailmix" mentioned. Every country has their rules but overall its been good for us. Hopefully it will be convenient for u.

Best of Luck...

[AnaGRicky 0]

That's a Great Idea "Collens"

I am in Canada and Have been banking with RBC Royal Bank for many years. I opened a Royal Bank US , using my sons address in Florida. I now enjoy going on Line and transfering money back and forth., when I need to. While on a visit to US, it was great haviing a US Debit Visa card. I know things are a little different as "Trailmix" mentioned. Every country has their rules but overall its been good for us. Hopefully it will be convenient for u.

Best of Luck...

PS.

Someone was asking about Rates? In Canada ...

I borowed from my US cause I was short in the Canadian account

25.00 US cost me 1.09 so I received 27.25

Then put some money back in today and it cost me 1.1209 Can for US

CBC online rates today are US @ 1.1604

CA @ .8618

[trailmix 77]

That's a Great Idea "Collens"

I am in Canada and Have been banking with RBC Royal Bank for many years. I opened a Royal Bank US , using my sons address in Florida. I now enjoy going on Line and transfering money back and forth., when I need to. While on a visit to US, it was great haviing a US Debit Visa card. I know things are a little different as "Trailmix" mentioned. Every country has their rules but overall its been good for us. Hopefully it will be convenient for u.

Best of Luck...

Yes, the do things differently like...

- If you get a new debit card they mail that out and mail out your pin number separately - no going in to the bank to get a new one

- If you forget your pin - again, they have to mail it out

- If you want a money order in Canadian dollars, they have to 'order' it - takes about 2 weeks

- If you have a joint account and say you move, you must both call in and ask for a change of address

The list goes on

[Krikit 1,164]

I hate the American banking system. Just in case nobody heard me the first 1,200 times.

[Sam and Ben 2]

I hate the American banking system. Just in case nobody heard me the first 1,200 times.

Enlighten me, as I haven't heard the rant?

Outside of what seems to be triple layers of security for everything...

[thetreble 19]

That's a Great Idea "Collens"

I am in Canada and Have been banking with RBC Royal Bank for many years. I opened a Royal Bank US , using my sons address in Florida. I now enjoy going on Line and transfering money back and forth., when I need to. While on a visit to US, it was great haviing a US Debit Visa card. I know things are a little different as "Trailmix" mentioned. Every country has their rules but overall its been good for us. Hopefully it will be convenient for u.

Best of Luck...

Yes, the do things differently like...

- If you get a new debit card they mail that out and mail out your pin number separately - no going in to the bank to get a new one

- If you forget your pin - again, they have to mail it out

- If you want a money order in Canadian dollars, they have to 'order' it - takes about 2 weeks

- If you have a joint account and say you move, you must both call in and ask for a change of address

The list goes on

If you lose your debit card, you can't go to your bank and get a new one. They have to order you one and it takes 7-10 BUSINESS days. So, you could be without a debit card for two weeks.

Luckily for me, I lost my second debit card in 4 weeks on the weekend haha

[Krikit 1,164]

Oh, God. Where do I begin? I'll do a search on my posts in a little bit. I don't have the strength to relive the frustration at the moment.