USD Bank Accounts and Credit Cards

You will be able to use your debit card at almost any ATM in the USA (including ones at WDW). I've never found an ATM that wouldn't accept my Scotiabank card.


If you want to use your debit card for POS purchases, you will be more restricted. Each Canadian bank has their own agreements with the debit card networks in the USA.

In checking TD's website, I could not find any reference to TD having an agreement with a USA debit network, so I think you'll be restricted to ATM's only.
 
Yes, my Scotiabank card works in the ATMs there but there's a couple of service charges that go along with it.

Really, your best bet is to exchange your money before you go. That way you get a good rate and no worries about things not working. If you don't want to carry a wad of cash, go with traveller's cheques.
 
If you dont want to carry around a lot of cash why not put it on your room key and then you can use it like a debit card. Just charge your purchases or dinners and the money is already there.
 


If I have a rental car, one of my tricks is to do a 'cashback' on a debit transaction at a Walgreen's or Walmart. This eliminates the cost of the 3$ ATM fee and keeps me from having to carry around wads of cash etc.

Again - this works because I'm with TD.
 
how close is there a walmart or superwalmart we may rent a car for a day or two while we're there
 
My BMO card worked at any debit machine that had a pinpad. The issue was that many of the US debit machines don't have a pinpad yet. I found most places outside of Disney did but Disney did not.
 


how close is there a walmart or superwalmart we may rent a car for a day or two while we're there

There are actually a couple within driving distance of Disney. Probably the closest would be the new one on Turkey Lake Road not far from Seaworld and Universal. If you take I-4 to Sand Lake Road, turn left on Sand Lake, then take another left on Turkey Lake Road, which should be your first left, it'll be a few blocks down on your right hand side.

Bonny
 
Ok.. there is a little bit of confusion on this ... So I did some research today... and here are the results.

There are a number of large debit system clearinghouses in the United States. Two of the biggest are NYCE (New York Cash Exchange) and Maestro (a division of Mastercard). Generally speaking, most large retailers accept both of these. Some of your mom & pop shops might accept one but not the other. My own personal experience is that I have yet to find a merchant who didn't accept BOTH on my drives from Houlton, ME to Orlando, FL. That said, you might just be lucky enough to find that one merchant that I could not. :)

RBC, TD, ScotiaBank uses the NYCE system for debit in the United States. If you are a customer of one those institutions, you're looking for the NYCE logo. If the merchant's system refuses your transaction, they're probably not part of the NYCE network. I'm with TD myself and have used this feature on NYCE merchants from Walmart and Walgreens, to Target, Chili's and even McDonalds.

BMO customers use the Maestro debit network. So you're looking for the Maestro logo to know if you can use your debit card at that merchant. The Maestro logo looks like the Mastercard logo, except it says Maestro. Rule of thumb: If they have a debit machine AT ALL and accept Mastercard, generally that means it accepts Maestro as well.

CIBC does not have a webpage that explains whether or not U.S. debit options are available to their clientele. So for now -- that one is a question mark. President's Choice Financial is just CIBC rebranded.. so the same rules apply to PC Banking customers - call to find out but there doesn't appear to be a U.S. debit option available to you.

Most Canadian credit unions/Caisse Populaire branches actually offer the 'Mastercard' debit card option where your card has an MC logo and is accepted like a credit card without a PIN whereever MC is accepted.

ScotiaBank Info:
http://www.scotiabank.com/cda/content/0,1608,CID8186_LIDen,00.html

Royal Bank (RBC) Info:
http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:RyVkTo71JscAIKAQ2g0/products/deposits/debit-card.html[

Bank of Montreal BMO Info:
http://www4.bmo.com/bmo/popup_template/0,4442,35649_67222,00.html?pChannelId=0#acc_access

TD Bank Info:
https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/ebanking/crossborder.jsp?referer=http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/

If you bank at a location other than one of these listed, you should call your financial institution to find out what options are available to you for DEBIT purchases in the U.S.

ALL of the above providers allow ATM access in the states... usually for a fee.

Hope this clears it up.

Knox
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
I called the Beach Club Resort where I'll be staying as they have one of the Bank One ATM's in their lobby. They assured me that I could indeed use my TD Canada Trust debit card at this to withdraw funds if I wanted to. My TD card had the PLUS symbol on the back of it which guarantees that the machine will recognize it and allow me to withdraw funds. However the only 'downside' is that there may be a limit set at these machines of how much cash can be disperesed by these PLUS debit cards per day. She said usually it's about $200-$250 per day. This limit has nothing to do with my bank just with BANK ONE policies.
She also explained, as you all have, that debit purchases may not be allowed at most restaurants, stores, etc within the world as they are not set up for this.
It's all good as I have the dining plan, package paid for and can charge to my room if I want, Plus I'm taking about $800 US with me.
TD recommended that I take a US VISA with me for 'just in case' emergencies such as loosing my bank card or having the machines eat it up. They say these things can happen when you least expect or want them to.
So I've applied for the US TD VISA and am hoping it arrives before the 24th of Nov/07.

Despite all of this I guess I'm just panicking that something will happen (usually requiring money)and I won't be able to access my funds. I'm not overally fussy with taking the $800 with me and was looking to bank it and access it while down there. Perhaps taking about $300 for incidentals while in the Parks and for tips.

Again THANK YOU for your help!:banana:
Laura.
 
You're looking at a pretty expensive cab ride in my estimation.. to get from anywhere on-property to one of the Walmarts. I'd suspect between 18$ and 25$ one way.

Knox
 
oh well thats not too bad. I looked into renting a car for the 2 weeks but we dont really need one for that entire time. I just want to go to a local mall or walmart to pick up a few things.
 
You can rent a compact car for a WEEK from Alamo for 86$* (taxes and everything in).. so that's why I view 50$ for a cab ride as pricey :)

(This is rated for December 6 to 12 .. the rate for your travel times may be different)

Knox
 
You can rent a compact car for a WEEK from Alamo for 86$* (taxes and everything in).. so that's why I view 50$ for a cab ride as pricey :)

Exactly...we do quite a bit of comparison shopping when it comes to our rental cars and we usually end up renting from Alamo as they have excellent discounts and we've never had any problems with their service. When we were down there last month we only paid $75/wk (also with taxes) for an intermediate.
 
TD recommended that I take a US VISA with me for 'just in case' emergencies such as loosing my bank card or having the machines eat it up. They say these things can happen when you least expect or want them to.
So I've applied for the US TD VISA and am hoping it arrives before the 24th of Nov/07.

Hi Laura,

Just wanted to say that you really don't need a US Visa. You can use all your major Canadian credit cards at WDW. The company simply does the conversion. Some credit cards charge a fee when foreign currencies are used but none of mine do. So, if you're just worried about emergencies, just take your regular cc's. No need to bother with a US one.
 
bmo employee here. no, we do not get any bonus for selling you a mastercard. we are encouraged to get you to have one:cheer2: . it makes for loyal clients and of course, the hope is that you will run a big balance and pay them interest and not another company. putting all that aside, it is one great deal so i suggest to anyone that i know could possible have a need that they get one. since there is no fee involved, even if you only us it say once every other year, why wouldn't you have one. and with the dollar the way it is right now, i can see loads more people getting us charge cards. i just do not see why anyone would pay for the privilage of having one:confused3 . after all, your doing the company a favor, not the other way around.
 
Does anybody know how long it takes to get this card?
I just saw this thread and we leave for WDW in 1.5 weeks.
 

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