USD Bank Accounts and Credit Cards

[Salinger]

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.

You can definitely do it with CIBC.

That's who I use and do it regularly. The account has no monthly or annual fee and no minimum balance requirements, which is good if you don't use it often or keep a low balance sometimes. It is $0.75 per withdrawal so just make sure you only need to do one withdrawal when you're ready to take your money out for WDW.

When withdrawing from a USD ATM, it will tell you the exchange rate which is kind of confusing. After all, you're taking US cash out of a USD account. I asked about this at my branch. They said it's just for the bank's end of day clearing as they have to clear everything in CAD. Just ignore it. At the end of the day, you'll just see the straight USD amount withdrawn from your account.

 

[canabrits2]

This was just very annoying...I was able to open a US funds bank account through Scotiabank (who I usually bank with) but they said they don't have a US credit card. poo. I walked down the street and opened one with CIBC ($35 per year annual btw) ....it's irritating because I wanted all my banking in one place and all online. Oh well.

I missed the boat anyway since I did this after booking and putting a deposit on my cruise with my Canadian VISA. At least I'm smart going forward.

 

[minnie56]

Unfortunately, you can't transfer online from your CIBC acct into the USD account which is annoying. You can with RBC..and perhaps others?

 

[canabrits2]

Unfortunately, you can't transfer online from your CIBC acct into the USD account which is annoying. You can with RBC..and perhaps others?

Ahhh....I can transfer online with Scotia from my CAD to my US account...I just did it...but no US credit card with Scotiabank.

Is there anywhere that has everything and all accessible and transferable online?

 

[minnie56]

RBC do..I have a USD acct here and an RBC USD Visa..I can transfer from my CAD acct into my USD account when I see the rate good. I also have a USD acct with RBC-Centura in Florida and a USD Visa based in the U.S. I cannot pay my USD Visa here online though..I have to call and they make the payment from my USD bank acct. I can however pay the USD Visa that is Stateside from the Florida acct.

Wow--that sounds confusing!!!! You should see the home page of my online banking!!

There are also some RBC ATM's that have US funds available for withdrawel.

 

[ykmom]

Unfortunately, you can't transfer online from your CIBC acct into the USD account which is annoying. You can with RBC..and perhaps others?

BMO allows you to do the transfer online too but once you do the transfer it takes about a day as a person at the message center has to actually complete the transfer.

 

[minnie56]

I can transfer online and it is instantaneous. These days, I am doing it daily lol...
I select an amount..it gives me the conversion rate and if I like, I click! Done.

 

[JumpinJ]

I'm not sure if this was posted somewhere else in the thread or not..... but I also bank with RBC and have the US accounts through RBC Centura (or whatever they are calling it right now), and depending on the type of account you have, you can actually get free ABM withdrawls and free POS transactions at US locations, even with your Canadian debit card.

It depends on the banking package you have. I believe it is the VIP Signature or something like that which allows you the free POS transactions in the US. Not having to pay those transactions fees if you want to use your debit is excellent!

I have nothing to say but good things about RBC. They make it easy to use the online functions to transfer money back and forth from the Canadian to the US accounts. And one other perks is that if you are a client you can also purchase their travel insurance (if you're not already covered by your credit card) and they have some of the best plans available out there. My parents are also DVC members and are over the age of 65 so they don't have out of country health coverage on their credit card anymore, so they have an annual plan through RBC. We did some serious research before buying and the prices/coverage were tops.

I know... rah rah rah about RBC, but honestly I've been super happy with them and can't say enough nice things.

J

 

[minnie56]

Totally agree. I don't even go into my branch..I email my banker and she takes care of everything, no matter how big or small. I have the VIP acct..it's excellent. I pay zero annual fee's on my Avion Infinite card or my USD Visa. I can't think of one thing that they don't offer for my needs.

 

[4boys4us]

We have the RBC US gold....you can link your rewards to your avion to get the good flight deals

 

[minnie56]

You can? I have both...I can do that?

I have the Avion-Infinite..is that the same?

 

[4boys4us]

I have the infinite avion as well, you can link your RBC rewards points and merge them whenever you want....we have done it just through telephone banking. We bought our DVC membership on our USD visa and got the points that way as well. I am a bit of a points junkie.

 

[minnie56]

I have the infinite avion as well, you can link your RBC rewards points and merge them whenever you want....we have done it just through telephone banking. We bought our DVC membership on our USD visa and got the points that way as well. I am a bit of a points junkie.

Me too! I am devastated I didn't know this! LOL...
So I can take the points from the USD Gold and just add to the Avion? Same rate? Point/Mile per dollar of spending or different?

 

[JumpinJ]

I 'think' that what you do is transfer the rewards points from one card account to the other. When you call the redemption center you can do this I believe.

I was actually so happy dealing with RBC, I ended up applying for a job there a few months ago! (sort of like those old Saturn commercials) Started earlier this year and I work for the travel insurance division. So if anybody has any questions about their RBC credit card travel benefits or travel insurance throw them at me. I've only heard from customers calling in asking for their Visa travel benefits in regards to the transferring of points, haven't done it myself yet, but I believe you just request the transfer and you can use them on a different Visa account.

J

 

[TheSixOfUs]

Slightly off topic, but I would like to open up a US bank account. I am a Canadian citizen who travels to the US often. Does anyone know how I do this?

 

[minnie56]

You can open an RBC Centura account here..with RBC.
Pick your Florida Branch location and they will have you complete the paperwork. Easy. I pay my U.S credit cards via online banking..transfer to my daughters account there also...have a U.S Debit card. Works like a charm.

 

[iluvflorida]

Check out Royal Bank. Do not have one but they were actively solicting business at our resort last year in Florida. Talking to some they were very happy.

 

[bfost87]

Hi there,
First posting on here. I was just curious if anyone knows the answer to this. If I open a US Bank Account with Scotia, can I access this account via my Scotia Debit Card while in WDW?

 

[kittycat7]

hmm interesting question, not quite sute you'll be able to access it...

 

[DTFVolunteer]

Not 100% sure re: Scotia, but I do work at BMO.

BMO USD accounts cannot be accessed with debit cards as I believe the cards are coded as CDN and the conflicting currencies creates an issue.

Haven't really read through the whole thread - but for BMO customers out there - did you know that transferring funds to your USD account and then withdrawing the USD cash gives you a better (slightly) exchange rate than if you take it right out of the CDN account? I had three or four customers who didn't know this trick today and so I thought I'd pass it on.

A