USD Bank Accounts and Credit Cards

[redrosesix]

ditto! bring the Chase Disney Visa to Canada!!!

I want one too!

We just got back from a trip and are considering opening a US $ bank account for our left-over cash, plus all the US coins that accumulate throughout the year -- we don't really want to pack the pennies again. Does anybody do this?

 

[CindyCan]

I want one too!

We just got back from a trip and are considering opening a US $ bank account for our left-over cash, plus all the US coins that accumulate throughout the year -- we don't really want to pack the pennies again. Does anybody do this?

I have a USD acct & MC at BMO. My experience is the only drawback is that they will NOT take US change. I can give them bills to put in my US acct or apply against the MC, but they will not take US change (as US money...they'll take it rolled as Canadian, or mixed with rolled Canadian).

Don't know if any other banks take it, but I doubt it.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I don't think that most banks will take US change. One thing you can do is to stop by the gift shop or the front desk before you leave the hotel and get them to convert your coins into dollar bills.

 

[CdnKayDee]

I have an RBC USD Visa for four years, and I pay the annual fee, and I earn reward points to use toward park tickets, airfare, etc. It is definitely worth the fee IMOA on this card as the "perks" attached to it save me money on car rental, insurances, etc.
Plus, I don't have the pay the exchange rate on my CAD visa card (2.5% additional exchange fee on all card conversions, with all Banks).
Best option out there!

How do you get park tickets from RBC points? I was cruising the site and couldn't see park tickets.

 

[Honeystar120608]

Hello, question on the us dollar bank account. We use TD, love love love TD. WE have a newly opened savings account with a 2.5 interest tax free. Which is great, but would a US bank account be better? How do they work in fact? Im so new to the idea, I really dont know anything. DO you trade when the dollar is good? Im not sure of the right questions to ask exactly.
Hope someone can help.

 

[theweave]

I have a US$ Visa from TD. It is only used for my home based business though. I pay the $25 annual fee. Now seeing the BMO card for no fee, I am wondering if I phoned TD Visa and told them I was going to switch to BMO and cancel their card, would they waive it for me?

I never knew that BMO had this card, thank goodness I joined this forum yesterday! No April Fools Joke for me!

 

[MicheleLeigh]

Hello, question on the us dollar bank account. We use TD, love love love TD. WE have a newly opened savings account with a 2.5 interest tax free. Which is great, but would a US bank account be better? How do they work in fact? Im so new to the idea, I really dont know anything. DO you trade when the dollar is good? Im not sure of the right questions to ask exactly.
Hope someone can help.

Each account has their place, they are different accounts for different purposes.

I'm a bank teller (not at TD) the account you opened is the new one offered by the gov't, it's more of an investment account than a regular savings account.

A US $ account is a regular savings account that earns interest, but not very much. The advantage of a US$ account is that you can buy USD when the rates are lower and deposit it to the account and then when you are ready to use it you can withdraw US cash (or make a US$ MO or draft) without worrying about the exchange rate. The $ sit in the account as US $ no matter what the exchange rate is. If you travel frequently to the US, you can deposit any US $ you have left over from your trip to save for the next trip, without worrying about exchange rates, you will always lose money selling it back to the bank if you exchange it for Canadian, but you avoid this if you deposit it to your US $ account

I opened a US$ account last summer when the exchange rate was about par, I managed to buy $100US at 1.03, then the next week the exchange rate went bonkers lol So I didn't buy any more US$ till the last couple weeks. If I was to withdraw it for CAD today I'd make about $25 on it But I need it for Disney next month!

As for US coin. No Canadian bank will take it as US currency. It costs the bank $'s to ship foreign currency in and out, which is why you will never buy US$'s from the bank at the same rate it's shown trading on TV, coin is heavy and too pricy to ship, we only ship full boxes of rolled coin, it's not worth it for the banks. Spend your coin trade it for bills before you leave the US.
HTH!

 

[MicheleLeigh]

O.K. this might be a silly question but if you have a US card, how do you pay it in US funds. Do I need a US bank account??

Not sure if someone has answered this yet. You don't have to have a USD$ account. You can pay with CAD$, but you pay whatever the exchange rate is that day. Alternatively, if you have US cash laying around you can pay with it as well

 

[Salinger]

Thanks Michele, that's all very useful info!

Also good to know that you can pay a US Visa from your Canadian account. That's something I didn't realize.

 

[brock20l]

MicheleLeigh: I'm going to address this to you, since you're the banker, but everyone else, feel free to voice your opinion as well!

...to get the best "bang for my buck," so to speak, for my trip in December, I am assuming I should watch the dollar over the summer and buy some US currency when the loonie is up.

But, what's the benefit in applying for a US$ credit card? I have looked at the no fee one from BMO, but I'm not sure what advantage that will give me.... I have no qualms about doing it, if there is a benefit, but if I don't gain anything, I might as well stick to my old faithful Mastercard?....

 

[bunnyfoo]

MicheleLeigh: I'm going to address this to you, since you're the banker, but everyone else, feel free to voice your opinion as well!

...to get the best "bang for my buck," so to speak, for my trip in December, I am assuming I should watch the dollar over the summer and buy some US currency when the loonie is up.

But, what's the benefit in applying for a US$ credit card? I have looked at the no fee one from BMO, but I'm not sure what advantage that will give me.... I have no qualms about doing it, if there is a benefit, but if I don't gain anything, I might as well stick to my old faithful Mastercard?....

You have a little more control over the exchange rate that you want to pay with a US$ credit card. Meaning, you can watch the exchange rate and buy when you notice the rates are dropping or when they're increasing. When you pay with a Canadian credit card, you pay the exchange rate on the date that the transaction is processed (or posted - I forget). Also when you buy at the bank, you also don't have to pay the 2.5% the credit card adds on top of the exchange rate. I also like that you can return things without having to worry about losing money - the buy and sell rates for currency exchange are different.

In all honesty, the difference isn't really that big - I have one because I can get a slight discount on the US$. One thing about the BMO credit card is that you have to withdraw US cash and pay it in person at the bank. I don't care because I work downtown but I can see how it might be a hassle for some others.

HTH

 

[Alderbrook]

I just opened a CIBC US account today. No fees & 75 cents US per transaction. $6.50 to do a bank draft. So I'm going to plunk our vacation $$$ for next year into it & then pay off our balance with a bank draft.

I was going to get a US credit card as well but now I don't think it's worth paying the annual fee if I'm only going to have to pay $7.50 to pay off Disney in case the exchange next year is awful when we go (Sept 2010)

 

[YukiPhnx]

I'm about to open a new bank account at BMO and I just applied for a BMO airmiles Mastercard.

I didn't know about a US card until just now, after reading this thread. Would I be able to change my Mastercard to a US card?

The whole point of this new account and credit card was to pay for my Disney vacation.

Also, I've never bought US dollars before. How would I do that?

 

[Salinger]

I'm about to open a new bank account at BMO and I just applied for a BMO airmiles Mastercard.

I didn't know about a US card until just now, after reading this thread. Would I be able to change my Mastercard to a US card?

The whole point of this new account and credit card was to pay for my Disney vacation.

Also, I've never bought US dollars before. How would I do that?

Most banks will allow you to change the type of credit card you have with them with no hassle whatsoever. I'm not sure if you'd be able to change from a CAD based card to a USD based card though. Best to check that directly with BMO to be sure you get the right answer.

One thing to note though, the USD Mastercard from BMO is no longer "no fee". It now has a $25 annual fee. That was the last no-fee USD card from the big 5 banks in Canada, now there aren't any.

You can just go in to your bank and purchase USD. They'll withdraw the money from your account, or you can even just give them CAD cash on the spot. If you do online banking, you can open a US account and some banks will allow you to transfer from your Canadian into your US account online automatically doing the conversion for you. (CIBC doesn't allow this, Scotiabank & TD do, the others I don't know).

 

[YukiPhnx]

thank you so much, Salinger, I was so confused!

I guess I'll just have to go see BMO and get all these questions cleared up.

That online transfer bit sounds really convenient. I often do my banking online anyways.

 

[bestjsg]

I just applied for a TD USD card, (btw , super nice phone agents..), $ 39 USD annaul fee , since I will be spending at least $ 3000 - $ 4000 for this entire WDW trip I will be saving at least $ 36 ($3000 x 0.025 = $ 75 in forgien ex fee on top of the exchange rate) compare to using a CDN credit card. I meant it is not a lot of money but for me is more a principle thing, I usually do whatever it takes to avoid bank service fees since I am doing them a favour by putting my money into their accounts and that servicing me should be part of the deal not charging me on top ...beside they pay their employees peanuts and work them to dealth....(no , I don't work at a bank.. )

 

[minnie56]

Not sure about the working them to death bit..I know a lot of folks at various banks and they are living prettttty nicely!!

I have 2 USD bank accts w/RBC. One is based here..the other in Florida. That one is a lot easier to use as far as cheques etc as more and more US companies are getting very sticky with Canadian Bank Cheques even if it is in USD. I also have a RBC USD Visa which works like a charm. I can now pay that online from my US based acct as it is underwritten by Chase and before I had to call to make the transfer of funds from the Canadian based acct. Have I lost you? My DD is also off in May for a year working at WDW so I will add her to the acct and hopefully her pay can be deposited into that acct and she can withdraw with no fees....

Hopefully-key word!

 

[mkmommy]

What Canadian banks have a US account that you can withdraw US money from a bank machine in Canada?

RBC and BMO are telling me that with their US accounts to get US you have to go to the branch.

 

[minnie56]

I could be wrong but I thought my DH told me some RBC branches had ATM's that held USD. I am not sure though if you can withdraw from a USD account or it merely converts and you withdraw from a CAD account? I have an RBC USD account here and as far as I know I cannot withdraw at an ATM from it.

I do also have an RBC USD account with a debit/check card that I can withdraw cash from an ATM in the U.S though as well as use to make purchases State Side.

 

[LuvSnowWhite]

I noticed now that the BMO USD credit card has a 25$/yearly fee. However, this is less than the CIBC @~35$USD and TD@~37or39$USD. I don't know about RBC and I think all the interest rates are 19.5%
Anyone know different?

Also, do any of these banks have a plain old US dollar account that I can deposit money into and then when I am IN WDW (or anywhere else in US) I can withdraw with my bankcard for that account?