US Dollar Accounts at Canadian Banks

[mr_s_p 1]

Just wanted to get all your thoughts about US Dollar Accounts through Canadian Banks....

Specifically, I'll be selling the house soon, and for those of you who are aware of Calgary's housing boom, will have a significant amount of money sitting in a Canadian bank account when I head down to Kansas in August...

Would you just transfer using online banking to the Canadian Banks' US Dollar account and draw from there until I am able to open an account at a US Bank? In other words, is this a good way to convert from CDN to USD? Or are there better options?

Thanks in advance for your responses...

Scott.

[misa 2]

I had a bit of money saved before I left Canada. I contemplated opening a U.S. dollar bank account but I wanted to watch the rates before I converted the money from Canadian to U.S.

What I ended up doing was keeping my Canadian dollar bank account, using my ATM card for that until I quickly opened a U.S. account here in the States. I then signed up for www.customhouse.com (thanks to flames9 for pimping it, they are awesome and run out of B.C.). It shows you the conversion rate before you initiate the transfer and you can refresh the rates at any time. So every week or so, I check the rates and transfer a chunk of money over. Custom House also does NOT charge any fees.

Takes a few days for them to set up your account. You have to fax in a few forms, email some proof and do a phone verification. Then you're all set. Takes about 48-36 hours for a transaction to go through.

There has been some talk that the rates for Canadian currency will get better as the year goes on. Worth it to look at some of the predictions on currency before you transfer all your money over.

[Niels Bohr 72]

There's a conspiracy going on with US Pennies, and Canadian Pennies. The Canadians wants to lower the value of the dollar by secretively implanting their pennies into the registers of US retail giants! Is there anyone who thought of this, or is it just me?

[Lance27 19]

LOL... actually... not sure if people knew this but the value of the metal (copper) thats used in the penny is of more value than the penny itself

There's a conspiracy going on with US Pennies, and Canadian Pennies. The Canadians wants to lower the value of the dollar by secretively implanting their pennies into the registers of US retail giants! Is there anyone who thought of this, or is it just me?

Edited June 17, 2007 by Lance27

[Lance27 19]

oops.. went OT there.. Yeah Custom house is really a good site.

http://www.xe.com/fx

I have been using them since 2004 .. sure beats the bank rates.

Edited June 17, 2007 by Lance27

[Colin Wilson 0]

Just wanted to get all your thoughts about US Dollar Accounts through Canadian Banks....

Specifically, I'll be selling the house soon, and for those of you who are aware of Calgary's housing boom, will have a significant amount of money sitting in a Canadian bank account when I head down to Kansas in August...

Would you just transfer using online banking to the Canadian Banks' US Dollar account and draw from there until I am able to open an account at a US Bank? In other words, is this a good way to convert from CDN to USD? Or are there better options?

Thanks in advance for your responses...

Scott.

Look into opening up a RBC Centura US account go to there web site www.rbccentura.com

look at Banking for Canadians.. specially if you have a Royal Bank account in Canada

Your credit/ mortgage history flows over the border with you if you are a RBC customer.

you just transfer between accounts.. good reading

regards

Colin

[girl 37 7]

It shows you the conversion rate before you initiate the transfer and you can refresh the rates at any time.

I added a US $ chequing acct. to my RBC accounts and it shows you the rate before you make a transfer.

Centura sounds good, but there aren't any branches in some areas. (None where I live.)

[Flames9_RN 358]

Seems many have had success with RBC, especially for setting up credit in the USA. What I would would be open up an acct with RBC, as well as Customhouse.com and when the time comes, see who has the better exchange rate! Iknow with customhouse the initial amt u can transfer is allow, but u can call/email them up and request a larger allowance. I did that, and was improved in less than a day!

This caught me by surprise--I kept open my president choice (PC) acct in Canada. When making 1 rather large transaction using Customhouse, they must have made an inquiry with PC to ensure I had the $$$ in the acct. PC charged me a $16 fee!! I had no clue about the fee, ouch. A simple call to PC, and they refunded me the $16 fee!!

I know Custom houses (CH)rate have always been better then what Wachovia (usa bank) would give me!!

I know some Cdn bank (maybve all??) will give u a better exchange rate when you are transferring a greater amount of $$$. Not sure if customhouse would do that. One could call/email them and find out.

As Misa stated, before u approve of the transaction with CH, u see the rate, and one can gamble,lol It has a refresh button, so press the refresh button, and it may work in ur favor, or it may not!! I have sat and played for like 30 minutes,lol OR u can just cancel the transaction all together and try again later.

Setting up a CH takes a bit of time. YOu sed of the initial apllication via email! They send u something back. One has to send in a few pieces of ID --either by mail, fax or their secure email. As well u have to send in ur banking info through the same means! As well they will do a breif telephone conversation to prove it is you! They call u at a predetermined time. Then once ur approved, ur good to go!! During that phone call, u could probably ask them to increase ur limit to whatever u want!

When making a transaction, it takes around 3 to 4 business days to show up in ur USA acct. It is a very easy process.

But with Calgarys houseing sky rocketing, im sure ur talking about a nice chunk of change. I know the aea where my sister resides, the prices have gone way up since they bought like 2 yrs ago. The bank may be able to give u a pretty nice exchange rate. If you know the rate the bank is going to give u, shoot me an email, and I can tell u what CH would give u! Would give u somewhat of a ballpark figure. Cheers

[neiks 19]

Look into opening up a RBC Centura US account go to there web site www.rbccentura.com

look at Banking for Canadians.. specially if you have a Royal Bank account in Canada

Your credit/ mortgage history flows over the border with you if you are a RBC customer.

you just transfer between accounts.. good reading

I use RBC Centura. I have a Royal bank account and as I still get paid in Canada my cheques go into the Royal bank as I need too I can transfer money online from the Royal to my US Centura account right from my Royal online banking. I do not have a physical branch anywhere near me as I'm in ND and my RBC branch is in SC but I can still get cash from my bank card when needed and have a chequing account and visa. It works great for me as the exchanging of money is going to be an ongoing thing for me. If you are just doing a one time thing of a large amount of money the customs house may be the better option with the better rates. This is a great time to do a lump amount exchange of your money as the CND exhange rate is great.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Bren has always mantained a USD account with a credit union in Edmonton - what we are planning on doing is, come time to move (let's all pray September ok?) we will transfer most our CAD funds to the USD account and close it - asking for certified check. Leave the CAD account open for future deposits (i.e. tax refunds, Canada Pension Plan gimme-my-money-back, etc). Hope this works - but I will tell him about customhouse!!!

Thanks for all the informatio - you are all fabulous!!!

L.

[vanee 13]

I use RBC Centura. I have a Royal bank account and as I still get paid in Canada my cheques go into the Royal bank as I need too I can transfer money online from the Royal to my US Centura account right from my Royal online banking. I do not have a physical branch anywhere near me as I'm in ND and my RBC branch is in SC but I can still get cash from my bank card when needed and have a chequing account and visa. It works great for me as the exchanging of money is going to be an ongoing thing for me. If you are just doing a one time thing of a large amount of money the customs house may be the better option with the better rates. This is a great time to do a lump amount exchange of your money as the CND exhange rate is great.

I'll add my vote for RBC Centura if you have ongoing CAD/USD transactions. I set up a Centura account several years ago because I earn money in both currencies. I can access both my RBC and RBC Centura accounts online via the same login and transfer funds between accounts easily.

Since I've been spending a lot of time in the US (not living there yet) and there are no Centura branches in my area in the US, I also have a USD account with another bank. That way, I can do business in person too. But the Centura account lets me handle money in both transactions easily, and I can access money from it via an ATM or by writing a cheque from that account and depositing the money in my other USD account.

[Colin Wilson 0]

Bren has always mantained a USD account with a credit union in Edmonton - what we are planning on doing is, come time to move (let's all pray September ok?) we will transfer most our CAD funds to the USD account and close it - asking for certified check. Leave the CAD account open for future deposits (i.e. tax refunds, Canada Pension Plan gimme-my-money-back, etc). Hope this works - but I will tell him about customhouse!!!

Thanks for all the informatio - you are all fabulous!!!

L.

One nice thing about RBC Centaur US account, you dont need a SSN to open it, they setup a temp. # for you.

Another thing to think about ( and I only comment here) there are tax repurcussions on leaving a Canadian Bank account open. see information on this link I found months ago..

http://www.americanlaw.com/ustxperm.html

Good Info here to..

http://www.canadatotwincities.com/banking_canada.html

Great Journey

Colin

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Colin,

you are SOOOOOOOOOOO right! I remember that when filing Bren's tax returns there was also a form about foreign accounts... hmm... .more food for thought!!! Thanks so much my friend!!

Lenina.

[Colin Wilson 0]

Colin,

you are SOOOOOOOOOOO right! I remember that when filing Bren's tax returns there was also a form about foreign accounts... hmm... .more food for thought!!! Thanks so much my friend!!

Lenina.

I just thought of another thing about opening a US account early before your interview..

If you have only Canadian income & Canadian assets, they will not be counted by Montreal

But if you a have a US account with enough Money in it to use as a US asset.

( I think it has to be somewhere around 3 to 5 times the (form) I-864P Poverty rate set)

for e.g. for two people = $17,112. US x 5 = $85,560..

Just a thought if you are behind the 8 ball on support issues..

Colin

[Chica Yeyé 41]

If you have only Canadian income & Canadian assets, they will not be counted by Montreal

But if you a have a US account with enough Money in it to use as a US asset.

( I think it has to be somewhere around 3 to 5 times the (form) I-864P Poverty rate set)

for e.g. for two people = $17,112. US x 5 = $85,560..

Just a thought if you are behind the 8 ball on support issues..

Colin

Colin,

We got a cosponsor anyway - Bren's income is still grad-student income, and mine though it totally 'overpasses' requirements is Canadian income that will not continue. Thanks for the info though, I'm sure it will help someone else!!!

Cheerios, L.