Lorne&Lorraine
Ottawa, ON
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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Leftcoaster wrote:No problem having a US $ account, but I have been unable to find a place that will allow debit card access to the account. I hate having to pay a 2 1/2% premium to get my money changed from Cdn. to US $ sjavascript:;o we usually haul cash (or travelers checks) with us and use the credit cards sparingly. There are lots of places that now will refuse travelers checks as they are being stolen and forged a lot by the bad guys.
Methinks that you pay the same 2 1/2% (if not more) when you buy the cash (travelers checks) at your bank. The bank has a "buy" and "sell" exchange rate for foreign currency. Each is adjusted by 2 1/2 % or so (relative to "true" exchange rate) in the bank's favor to cover it's admin costs and profit. It is possible to get much better rates at some institutions for large transaction (say more than $100,000 etc) and some banks will give a better rate (say 1.5 %) to those with special or premium accounts (TD bank does that). "No fee" is a relative term. They get it out of you one way or the other. You need to have an account with a US bank to get direct debit card access to a US$ account.
Lorne Ross
2003 Pleasure-Way Ford Excel TD
Camped the lower 48 states and 9 provinces
Most multiple times and now on the repeat!
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Lorne&Lorraine
Ottawa, ON
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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vi islandguy wrote:Will be heading south this winter and have bought enough US cash for the trip. Can you put it in a US bank and get a debit card the same day or what. What do you do?? Canadian.
I've got a debit card the same day for any account I have ever opened at any CDN bank. Canadians have reported opening accounts at Bank of America Branches with their CDN addresses and getting a debit card the same day. One report here:Same day debit card at Bank of America
We put our money in a US$ account at a CDN bank and use our US$ credit card. Hardly need any cash. TDbank, RBC and BMO seem to offer the best on-line ability to buy US $, pay credit cards on-line etc. TDbank also offers a special exchange rate for customers with their Borderless plan. Another option to get a US bank issued debit card is with RBC. RBC offers accounts in conjunction with their US banking affiliate and you can transfer cash on-line between your CDN and US accounts. You can set this up at an RBC branch in Canada.
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Tripalot
Golden Horseshoe, Ont. Canada
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Joined: 02/06/2001
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Lorne & Lorraine - have you found a no fee US credit card. TD charges $25/year - borderless plan also costs $4.95 US a month if your balance is less than $3000. I prefer "no fee" banking. These charges apply whether you are a senior or not.
2007 Holiday Rambler Admiral 30 SFS with lots of good stuff!
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Lorne&Lorraine
Ottawa, ON
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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Tripalot, I actually switched my US accounts etc from CIBC to BMO because BMO had a no-fee US$ credit card BUT starting last summer BMO is now also charging $25/year. I haven't paid any fee yet but I understand I will get hit with it on my next anniversary date. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any other no-fee US$ card out there.
Seniors do not have to pay for BMO's US$ checking account and, if under 60, I think there is also no fee if a minimum of a $1000 balance is maintained in, I believe, a "primary" account whether CDN or US. But BMO does not offer as lucrative an exchange rate as TD's Borderless Plan.
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Tom N
Sarver, PA/Crystal River, FL/Indiana, PA
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Joined: 07/25/2005
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You should be able to access your bank account from any MAC machine.
Sarver, PA/Crystal River, FL/Indiana, PA · FMCA 335149 · Mystic Knights of the Sea
2005 Suncruiser 38R · W24 chassis, no chassis mods needed · 2003 Honda Civic EX · 2008 Honda Odyssey EX-L
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Lorne&Lorraine
Ottawa, ON
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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Tom N wrote:You should be able to access your bank account from any MAC machine.
Unfortunately, we can't get ATM access to our Canadian US$ accounts at an ATM in the US. It's a "quirk" in how these things are set up. If there is an exception I would be very interested in it. Interestingly, I could get access to my CIBC US$ account at a CIBC ATM in Canada and withdraw US cash from it, but not in the US. However, if one has a US$ credit card issued by a Canadian bank, while in the US one could go on-line and transfer money from a US $ account (at the same Canadian bank) to put a credit on the card and use the credit card at a US ATM to withdraw cash (or just put a large credit on the card before you leave). No interest is charged on a "cash advance" from a credit card if the credit is sufficient to cover the advance. On the other hand, one can simply use a Canadian $ debit card at most ATMs to access a Canadian $ account with no problem. In this case you accept the exchange rate of the day for the conversion of Canadian dollars to US dollars. Many of us prefer to have US dollar accounts so we can buy US$ throughout the year when the exchange rate is favorable to us and not be subject to the ups and downs of the day. Might not be a big issue for short duration trips but it can make a difference for those of us who stay for several months at a time.
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bishopdave
Today - Texas
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Joined: 08/31/2007
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I think you can get a Discover Card while being a Canadian Resident. Discover Card is accepted in many more places in the lower 48 than up in our good neighbor's neck of the woods.
If I buy something at Walmart with Discover, it gives me the option to get "cash back" if I want. I have done this before, and since I pay off my Discover Card each month, there was "no charge" for doing this.
I put as much as I can on my Discover to maximize my cash back (although no cash back bonus on getting cash at Walmart with my purchase, but I do get it on the actual purchase.) I have a Mastercard as a back-up for those few places which don't take Discover.
Dave Bishop
FT since 2002
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Brittany
Washington State and Salome Az
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Joined: 06/04/2006
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Me think travelers checks are a thing of the past. The two banks we deal with don`t even sell them any more. The last time we made the mistake of getting some we had trouble cashing them.
Charlie
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Patter
St. Thomas, ON, Canada
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Joined: 07/13/2003
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TD Borderless Service US account for us. We fill the account with US funds whenever exchange rate is low like the present. Use the US fund Master Card that comes with the account for most purchases over the winter in the south. Have pre authorized payment. Take some US cash and some US traveler checks ( no charge for seniors ) for situations where they will not take Plastic.
It's worked for us for 12 years.
Pat and Terry
Pat and Terry
Brandy our Lakeland Terrier
2009 Ford Superduty F-250, V10, CrewCab, 4:10 Rearend
2003 Titanium 29E34RL
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Tripalot
Golden Horseshoe, Ont. Canada
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Patter - I just looked up the brochure I have on TD's US accounts. You are correct that there is no fee for their US Visa account, but the Borderless Plan costs $4.95 US a month unless you maintain a $3000 balance. We prefer to use the US Dollar Chequing account which has no fees if the balance is $1000 of more. You also earn interest on this account, but we all know what that amounts to these days.
It appears the bank is going to get their fees out of us one way or another!
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