US$ account..

[lisaviolet]

Hi,

I know. I know. It's been a thread many times. Done the forum search and have not come up with the info I want.

Those who have one:

What banks have one? Anything to look at when choosing?

We don't have one at our bank, President's Choice and I'm being lazy. My goodness you can get any info on these boards!

Thanks in advance,

Lisa

[SeanK]

I have one with RBC and BMO

[Wazzo]

I have one with RBC and BMO

I think this is what I will do too! And here's what I've learned...

(I admit that I've researched this to death.)

Best value US $ Account goes to the Royal Bank. There's a catch though... it COULD be the most expensive, but if you use it right, it's the best. Why? Because the account has NO MONTHLY FEE, but they get you by charging you $0.75 per transaction. SO, the best plan is to get a US $ Credit Card, and use your US $ Account to purely transfer money from your other account, and to pay off your US $ Credit Card. SO, who has the best US $ Credit Card? BMO has a NO FEE US $ Credit Card!!

Check out the second page of this PDF:
http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/publications/CreditCardsYou/pdfs/USDollar-e.pdf

In summary... have a US $ Account from RBC, and a US $ Credit Card from BMO. Pay this CC with your account, and you're only charged $0.75 per transaction from your account, and NO fees from your credit card (granted you pay it off etc).

Hope that helps!!
PS - You can have a US $ account with RBC even if you don't have any other RBC accounts. :)

[epicureangirl]

I went with RBC but took a gold package with a monthly fee. I have a US account, US credit card, get all sorts of free (well, not really FREE) services including foreign money orders (12 per year?). Sometimes if you use a lot of services, it can end up being cheaper to take one of the more deluxe packages. It really depends on your banking habits.

P.S. I also have a US bank account and credit card from (guess where?) the US (Bank of America). You can set one up at most US banks with a minimum deposit (not much, maybe $50).

[dancin Disney style]

I went with RBC but took a gold package with a monthly fee. I have a US account, US credit card, get all sorts of free (well, not really FREE) services including foreign money orders (12 per year?). Sometimes if you use a lot of services, it can end up being cheaper to take one of the more deluxe packages. It really depends on your banking habits.

P.S. I also have a US bank account and credit card from (guess where?) the US (Bank of America). You can set one up at most US banks with a minimum deposit (not much, maybe $50).

I am curious to know more about having account at a US bank. I thought you had to have a US address to have an acct and CC.

[sk8jdgca]

Actually with RBC you get 1 free transaction per month. However, the account has par crossing (meaning the cheques for this account clear a US bank) that way you can use them in the states. This means that RBC must follow US banking regulations. You need to prove you are not a citizen or resident of a sanctioned country. So you need either your passport and proof that you live in canada or your driver's license and birth certificate.

[Eveningsong]

I have a US bank account at BMO. The plan fees are covered under the umbrella of my Canadian banking plan. No extra charges.

I have the Cdn US Airmiles Mastercard, no fees, earn 1 air mile for every $40.00 spent. No fees for the credit card.

Deposit Canadian money at the BMO machine, memo BMO to transfer money from Cdn account to US account. Pay credit card from US bank account.

BMO makes it easy.

[Wazzo]

Actually with RBC you get 1 free transaction per month. However, the account has par crossing (meaning the cheques for this account clear a US bank) that way you can use them in the states. This means that RBC must follow US banking regulations. You need to prove you are not a citizen or resident of a sanctioned country. So you need either your passport and proof that you live in canada or your driver's license and birth certificate.

Yep! I was told I'd need to show a passport or driver's license and a current bill showing my address.

[merryweather20]

I say go for the US$ credit card but NOT the account. Any money you have deposited in Canadian Currency is insured up to $100,000 with the CDIC. American Currency is not. What with the BMO privacy issues, and all the big corporate fraud going on in North America, it might be better to be safe.

[tone.def]

I have a US bank account at BMO. The plan fees are covered under the umbrella of my Canadian banking plan. No extra charges.

I have the Cdn US Airmiles Mastercard, no fees, earn 1 air mile for every $40.00 spent. No fees for the credit card.

Deposit Canadian money at the BMO machine, memo BMO to transfer money from Cdn account to US account. Pay credit card from US bank account.

BMO makes it easy.

I have the exact same plans - love them!!!

[tone.def]

I say go for the US$ credit card but NOT the account. Any money you have deposited in Canadian Currency is insured up to $100,000 with the CDIC. American Currency is not. What with the BMO privacy issues, and all the big corporate fraud going on in North America, it might be better to be safe.

What BMO privacy issues?

[lisaviolet]

Wow. Thanks everyone. Appreciate it.

Lisa

[merryweather20]

What BMO privacy issues?

They got busted around the same time as Winner's did last year for some unauthorized access and loss of sensitive information SIN no's, account no's etc.

[Debbie]

Love my BMO US$ account. I link it to my ING US$ account, transferring from my other ING accounts on a regular basis. I haven't heard of any privacy issues. Does anyone have a link to that? I'm surprised that as longtime BMO customers, we weren't notified of something like that. :confused3

[Charleyann]

I have mine with BMO. I don't have monthly fee...

Charleyann:santa:

[Eveningsong]

I have never heard of any BMO privacy issues. Just Winners, I believe it is because BMO sent out all new credit cards as a security measure.

I used my BMO Mastercard only once to purchase a Barbie doll at Winners. Winners is not one of my favourite stores. BMO Mastercard sent all their customers that purchased at Winners, and paid with a BMO credit card, a new replacement credit card with a brand new number to protect their customers.

I feel BMO was very proactive in their approach to the Winners situation.

I have not shopped at Winners since, and if I did I would pay with cash.

I have no issues with BMO.

[merryweather20]

I have never heard of any BMO privacy issues. Just Winners, I believe it is because BMO sent out all new credit cards as a security measure.

I used my BMO Mastercard only once to purchase a Barbie doll at Winners. Winners is not one of my favourite stores. BMO Mastercard sent all their customers that purchased at Winners, and paid with a BMO credit card, a new replacement credit card with a brand new number to protect their customers.

I feel BMO was very proactive in their approach to the Winners situation.

I have not shopped at Winners since, and if I did I would pay with cash.

I have no issues with BMO.


Nope they were not related, just happened around the same time. As I recall the issue was with the banking end and not the credit card end anyway. I don't have any issues with them either its just that if it happened there it could happen anywhere, so I'd rather be safe and have only Canadian $ accounts which are insured :)

[merryweather20]

Love my BMO US$ account. I link it to my ING US$ account, transferring from my other ING accounts on a regular basis. I haven't heard of any privacy issues. Does anyone have a link to that? I'm surprised that as longtime BMO customers, we weren't notified of something like that. :confused3

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20050426/BMO_misdirectedfaxes_20050426

I found this one, but the one I was referring to was faxes sent to a construction company and 3 other businesses in 2007 while this article was a private home. Likely they were able to trace which individuals information was sent so only those individuals notice aside from the embarassing news releases:scared1: .

[Eveningsong]

According to this report all the major Canadian banks are guilty of faxing to the wrong place. I work for a transportation company, and we get faxes all the time that don't belong to us. We phone and report the error to the sender. and shred the fax.

I have both TD Canada Trust, and BMO, and have never had any issues with either bank. I monitor my accounts on regular basis, and check my credit card activity on line for fradulent activity daily.

I also don't pay with my debit card. The Petro Card gasoline station near my home had an illegal card reader installed, and stole bank card numbers and pin numbers when customers paid with their debit card.

I keep my debit card for the bank machine and buy everything with my credit card or pay cash.

I believe people have be proactive and protect themselves.

[sk8jdgca]

CDIC insurance only pays when the institution goes under...and frankly if one of the major 5 banks were to go under and there wouldn't be enough money to cover those losses and our country would go under. I truely wouldn't worry about CDIC insurance if you are with the big 5. A USD account is great way to manage your USD

[merryweather20]

CDIC insurance only pays when the institution goes under...and frankly if one of the major 5 banks were to go under and there wouldn't be enough money to cover those losses and our country would go under. I truely wouldn't worry about CDIC insurance if you are with the big 5. A USD account is great way to manage your USD

:) I'll assume you're exageratting here but Canada would certainly be okay if only one bank went under (Don't beleive me think Bank of England 1992, there was certainly suffering, but the UK didn't go under)

I don't think in this day and age we can say major corporate fraud is a complete impossibility, such could cause a total failure and I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[DutchsMommy]

:) I'll assume you're exageratting here but Canada would certainly be okay if only one bank went under (Don't beleive me think Bank of England 1992, there was certainly suffering, but the UK didn't go under)

I don't think in this day and age we can say major corporate fraud is a complete impossibility, such could cause a total failure and I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Seriously, CDIC insurance is a joke. I am sorry to come off tough on this one, but the 'facts' you are throwing around are a bit of rumour-mongering. I agree that large corporations definately make mistakes in dealing with sensitive information - mistakes happen and it is as easy as someone trasnposing numbers when dialling a fax and voila - privacy breach. But most large corporations also have a backup system to deal with any privacy breach immediately. I personally think they do their best and you are much more likely to experience a privacy issue by throwing mail out in the garbage or recycling than via a Bank. As for the CDIC - seriously it really is a something that came into play when financial institutions were much less regulated and while it is true CDIC does not cover US dollars, it also does not cover over $150 000 and does not cover mutual funds. And frankly, if one of Canada's Schedule 1 Banks where to collapse I personally would be worrying alot more about rioters in the streets because we would have had to have a pretty major disaster for that to be the case.

Again - my opinion for what it is worth.