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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.)

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Thank you all (y'all? ) for all your insights...

The RBC US account thing sounds similar to what I'm thinking about... Mine would be with TD Canada Trust. It's accessible by bank card in the US, though from what I understand even TD Canada Trust has accessibility in the US by affiliated branches, but of course, in small town Kansas, this is not an option. I do realize that every time I withdraw cash using my TDCT bank card through a US bank machine, this will incur bank fees and ATM fees. So, for that reason alone, there's merit to the thought of opening a US Bank Account (Probably Bank of America) and transferring the money to there.... (I think there's even means to do it via online banking transferring to other banks.)

Colin has a good point, as well... I'd have to transfer this money over to a US Bank account, anyways, so it could be used as part of the assets on the I-864 form, come the AOS.

Thanks,
Scott.

There are repercussions if it's open and collecting interest. I just keep my Canadian account open to transfer money into every month, which is soon swept out by the nice student loan people!

For the most part I leave next to nil in my CDn acct to avoid that interest problem!

Has anyone used the BMO US accounts?

Ooo, I just caught this thread and the mentions about RBC Centura. I know when I discussed my bank accounts with an officer at my local RBC branch they mentioned US banking, but this makes it so much more clearer. Definitely an option for helping to pay off my student loans, even though the nearest branch from PA is in Virginia.

Just spoke to a rep from RBC Centura, he told me how to go about getting an account. He asked me if I was in the US or Canada, and told me my Canadian credit rating will be used Waiting on a call for an appt with RBC now.

I managed to snag some time at my local RBC branch today, and spoke to an incredibly helpful financial services officer there who talked to me about RBC Centura. Even though he admitted that he didn't know a lot about the service, he managed to score some info for me.

Amongst other things, it's a $3.95/month fee for their RBC Access USA Service package, unless you maintain a $700 minimum monthly balance in the account. You also don't have to be a US permanent resident in order to qualify for the service. And of course, no fee to transfer cross-border funds.

I haven't quite managed to swim through the pile of information, but he also suggested that I check into HSBC as they do have a global package as well, which might be more convenient for me since their closest branch is in Philadelphia proper.

Let me know if you guys have questions on the RBC thing. I did it and even ended up having to explain how it works to the RBC rep at my local branch

I was told that I set up an account here (RBC) I'm not sure if I have to have a Canadian and a US fund account. Then I request my branch to send an application to RBC Centura? Does that sound right?

I just opened a US account at BMO, then was told I can't use the stupid thing anyway. That I have to use my US Mastercard and just pay it online. I can't even make ATM withdrawals. I can't figure out exactly what the point was in setting it up for me, UGHHHH

I set up my Centura account from my local Royal bank branch. They send the paper work to centura. The Royal branch bankers were not up to speed with Centura but we muddled through it. If you phone the Centura help line they are very helpful and I think I got someone out of a call center that was formerly from Winnipeg.
It's so extremely easy to transfer your money back and forth online. Your Centura accounts are just in a separate tab at the top of you RBC online banking page. My Centura branch is out of someplace in Florida - I'm in North Dakota, but that's not really hasn't been a big deal for me as I don't have any need to visit a branch when I can do everything online, have a Visa checkcard and checkbook.

You will need a Canadian account with the Royal bank and the account you set up with Centura will be a US account. When you transfer funds they do the exchange rate conversion for you.

Yes, you open the Canadian side first. You will fill out the application for both at the same time. They will open the Canadian one while you wait, then fax the Centura ones to an office in the States. It took about three weeks for our Centura account to be active, but it's usually faster. You will need to bring your passport to sign up for Centura, as it's required by the US.

The Canadian account is in CDN and the Centura one is in Dollars. The CDN will always have the $4 fee, no matter how much of a balance you maintain. The Centura one will charge you $4 only if your balance is below $700. Currency exchanges are instantaneous and they show you the exchange rate prior to submitting it. There is no fee for it.

Also, you will create two logins for RBC. One for the US site and one for the Canadian site. You can then link them such that when you log into one you can see both accounts. The Centura login is a nice and friendly username. The Canadian login is the number on your card.

You will get cards for both accounts. So you'll get a Debit card for the Centura account that is on the US Debit system and also works as a Visa card. Then you'll get a card for the Canadian account that is on the Interac system.

I'd recommend against doing a joint account, unless that's important to you. My fiance and I have had a number of hurdles to deal with because of this. For instance, I can't call and order her a new Debit card.

Other than that quirk, the customer service has been top notch and the set up is very convenient. I routinely deposit money into the Centura account, transfer it to the Canadian one, then use online billpay to take care of our Canadian credit cards or just to buy coffee when I'm visiting Ontario.

Hope my long winded post was useful!

Curiously, how hard is it to transfer money into the Centura account if a branch isn't near you? I guess that's more of a general question than anything, but I'm just concerned about receiving cheques from work or transferring money from our (eventual) joint account to the Centura account.

mwinburn, your post was EXTREMELY helpful!!

I emailed them a similar question and the reply I got from them was to check out their Centura site

It sounds like exactly what I want. What I thought I was getting with BMO
Thanks!!

Nini and Bee, I figure it's going to have to be all ATM or online banking anyway. I'll be in AR and the nearest for me will be in Alabama. At least it will be an actual American account and I won't have to play around sending things to Canada.

Neiks...thought I would be far from a branch,

I think that will be one nice thing about being close to the border. I have a feeling I'm going to have to trudge across the bridge once and while whence Kristy is waiting for her AP to deposit or withdraw from her ATM, although I guess we'd have to figure out what would cost more, the toll or the bank fees.

Although, my aunt works at Chase, so when we get to that point, I'll ask her about what her bank can do, and maybe have some other options for the rest of you. The Centura thing seems mostly tailored to the Florida snowbirds.

I just got back from RBC, everything is done and taken care of. It had to be the simplest thing to do yet.

I've been enjoying this thread! I have a question. We will be moving to California and I checked out the RBC Centura site and it said there are no branches within 200 miles. Would this work for me? Right now we are banking with PC Financial and do most things online. When we move we will have some automatic payments coming out like Life Insurance, SGI car insurance and some charitable donations. We are having a bit of a housing boom here in our sleepy town in Sask so we are hoping to have some cash lingering in our PCF account until we can get settled down in Calif.

I am assuming we would need to be close to an ATM to at least deposit money into the Centura account to transfer it to the RBC account.

Is it better in our case to go with Custom House since Centura is no where near California?

What about PayPal? Right now I have a paypal account that is linked to my PCF account. I am the USC. I also have a joint account with my mom in California. It looks like I may be able to link that account to paypal also. Could I then transfer money from my US account into Paypal and then transfer the money to my PCF account?

I told the woman at RBC when I signed up that I wasn't close to anything from RBC Centura, she told me I can use the CIRRUS (sp) ATM's as well and do all my banking online. I know they're down there, because I use to use them to get money out of my Canadian account. She told me there are alot of people that aren't close to an actual Centura Branch.

I have no clue about PayPal.

Oh yeah, be careful, I thought I read somewhere that P.C. doesn't like American addresses. I thought I read it on here. On a side note, just went and cashed in all my P.C. points and got my daughter some Gift cards so she can't tell me she has no money and is starving at University

So you can deposit into the CIRRUS ATM also?

Looking at their website I can't see a way to deposit money into our account through an ATM. The only way I can see it happening is through their bank -by-mail, which I'm not sure I'm comfortable with sending a check to deposit in the mail across the country. http://www.rbccentura.com/help/wtb.html

I just read that and still understand I can make deposits at any ATM. The woman at the bank said the same.
I'm planning to use it mainly to transfer, pay bills and to have my own spending money. We're a going to open a joint account when I get down there anyway.

Wish mwinburn would come on here and explain that part more

OH called Capital One, they will NOT transfer accounts over the border. I thought maybe cause they were here and in the States they might.

Ya PC doesn't like it if u have an American addy!! They told me thatI would have to close my acct!! So i just gave them my parents Sk addy!! If i had to do it over again, would have closed PC and opened a RBC acct. Maybe not used it to TX $$$, all depends on which had the better exchange rate (RBC or custom house) I also TX $$$ from my USA bank to PC acct when traveling to Canada, then just use debit card! I keep my Cdn acct at pretty much a zero balance ( a dollar or two)

Ok, sorry, I just called Centura and they said I could deposit at any ATM 9even if it's at another bank) it would just have a $2 charge. Hmmm, it's got me thinking again.

Phew you did have me worried. I keep thinking NOTHING is that easy!

Just to Clarify - when I go into the RBC here in Sask am I asking for a Day to Day banking account and then a Centura acct OR am I asking for the RBC Access USA account? I'm sorry I'm so slow on this.

Okay, here i go again. I apologize for this...

Just read this "2. If I am not currently a client of RBC Financial Group - can I sign up for RBC Access USATM?

RBC Access USATM was exclusively designed for RBC Royal Bank clients with personal accounts. If you would like to access the features of RBC Access USATM you should contact your nearest RBC Royal Bank branch today to open a personal account or call 1-800-769-2553 to discuss your U.S. banking needs. "

So, this is what I am understanding. I bank right now at PC Financial. So I would need to open a "Day to Day" personal account and then I would be able to open the RBC Access USA account which would then link me to a Royal Embassy Checking Account with Centura.

That's right. From what I read off the info package that the financial officer gave me, it's a required component of the RBC Access USA package to have an account in Canada.

My main concern (still) is the fact that I won't be able to deposit checks easily around Bee's area - but if so, a $2 fee is better than nothing!

I would love to know more about Customhouse though - I know flames is a huge supporter of it, but how do you get that set up, and what have people's experiences been like?

there are a few others on here that have used Customhouse (CH) its very easy to set up, but doesnt set up instantly!!! goto their website and there is instructions there. Been a long time since i set up my acct, but it was easy. You fill out the initial required info and its emailed in. You have to send them 2 pieces of ID. Can mail it in, fax it in, or scan it and email it in (secure server) as well somewhere along the process you have to send in your banking info (cdn acct and usa bank info) as well they do a very quick phone interview. You give them a time window, and they call to verify a few things!! I scanned and emailed the required info, and was up and running in a few days! To make a $$$ transaction it takes 3 to 4 BUSINESS days to complete. I have done it both ways---$$$ from Canada to usa acct, and from my usa actt to my Cdn acct!! Never had a problem. Customer service is top notch (phone and email) their head office is downtown Victoria (near the bus station) Walked by it many times when lived in Vic!! There are NO fees if u do it electronically (EFT) u can do a wire tx, but that costs money. And when making the transaction, you wil see the exchange rate, if u dont like it, you can cancel, OR hit the refresh button and it may go up or down,lol Sort of like gambling!! keep hitting refresh, and if it still isnt working in ur favor, just cancel the transaction! Your not bound to it, until you ACCEPT it!! So u can check the exchange rate at CH, and then phone ur bank and see what they are offering!! And do ask if the bank charges any fees!! Wachovia didnt charge me any fees, BUT their exchange rate was never as good as CH. Only thing to keep in mind with CH, is that it takes 3-4 business days to complete, so if u need the $$$$ NOW, not a very good option. Never used their wire services, so can't comment on that. Cheers

flames, is there a setup charge associated with this, or a monthly fee?

I tried using their demo and that was a bit confusing, but I'm hoping there's a better tutorial.

No FEES what so ever!!! It is very easy to do, what one is doing is a "basic trade" One can phone them, and they are very happy to lead u through the process. Keep in mind they are in Victoria BC!. I'm in Canada right now (on a unsecure wireless network) so I can't log on and give u step by step instructions, but it only takes seconds to do it, very easy and painless.

She opened me a no fee chequing savings account, I'm just planning on putting money into the account, and for EI. direct deposit, then transfering it to my Centura account online. It's not an American funds account, it's an American Bank.

Sorry, Tinker. i'm making things so complicated. I just called RBC and he said I would open a Day to Day personal account and then open the Centura AccessUSA account. only 2 checking accounts in total. Phew! it's the AccessUSA account with Centura that allows for free transfers between the USA and Canadian account. I think I get it! Thanks for your patience!

LOL, we have to question and check out everything. IT's a good thing right now.

We might even know what we're doing!!

We gotta thank all these guys that already knew what they were doing!