Canadian US$ Credit Card question

[CanadianGuy]

The PC Financial card can be used at any US *ATM* without much trouble.

I'd be SHOCKED and SUPRISED if it could be used for DEBIT purposes for direct transactions at merchants in the U.S. since neither CIBC (the parent banker) or PC Financial appears to have a U.S. **DEBIT** relationship with any of the major DEBIT networks.

They DO have arrangements with ATM networks but DEBIT and ATM are NOT the same thing.

I actually posted a whole big detailed post about how debit and ATM work for each of the major banks in Canada. I'll see if I can find it.

Knox

 

[CanadianGuy]

Ok -- Found it..

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

 

[CindyCan]

I just wanted to say thanks for all the info: especially the info about the debit systems. I have an RBC debit card, but it's very old, so it sounds like I may have trouble using it. I also have BMO, though, so maybe I'll use that if I need cash.

It's interesting to hear everyone's different experiences. We for sure had trouble cashing traveller's cheques 2 years ago. Even Disney had a limit as to how much they would cash a day (and it was less than my room charging privileges).

I'd rather not rely on debit or ATM, mostly because of all the different experiences people seem to have. And I don't want to carry alot of cash, so I'm hoping the US credit card will work most places.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Credit card will be more than fine in most places.

The age of your RBC Debit Card has no impact. It should work just fine at any merchant that accepts debit. (There are few merchants on Disney property that accept Debit -- the HESS gas stations however - do!)

Knox

 

[tinkerone]

banker here. just a thought to keep in mind. IF something were to happen that the abm, etc... were to keep your card they will NOT give it back to you. I have seen this happen many times, mostly just because the abm had a hiccup and went down for a minute. same goes for your creidt card if you use it for cash advances. bankers are not allowed to give you back your card because there is no way for us to see if the reason it has been 'captured' is because it was reported lost or stollen.
also, if you use your canadian accts and credit cards for your cash and purchases, you defeat the purpuse of a us acct and a us cc. you pay a very high rate of exchange. 2.5% over the book rate of the moment as well as hefty bank fees per transactions.
just some things to keep in mind. i have had many travelers come looking to me to give there card back and we are not able to. would that not ruin your vacation. i like the suggestion of a few hundred dollars cash and us cc for all eles. you can use your us cc at most places anymore including fast food restarunts.
what ever you decide, good luck and have a great vacation.

 

[hematite153]

if you use your canadian accts and credit cards for your cash and purchases, you defeat the purpuse of a us acct and a us cc. you pay a very high rate of exchange. 2.5% over the book rate of the moment as well as hefty bank fees per transactions.

I actually have very good exchange rates with my credit card. They charge me 1.5% above the live exchange rate which is way better than the rates you can get when trying to purchase US cash with Cdn.

Of course, using ATMs can be very pricey, and I'd only do it by pre-checking with my bank--because I know that there are some where my bank has an agreement so that I don't pay a fee.

 

[CindyCan]

banker here. just a thought to keep in mind. IF something were to happen that the abm, etc... were to keep your card they will NOT give it back to you. I have seen this happen many times, mostly just because the abm had a hiccup and went down for a minute. same goes for your creidt card if you use it for cash advances. bankers are not allowed to give you back your card because there is no way for us to see if the reason it has been 'captured' is because it was reported lost or stollen.
also, if you use your canadian accts and credit cards for your cash and purchases, you defeat the purpuse of a us acct and a us cc. you pay a very high rate of exchange. 2.5% over the book rate of the moment as well as hefty bank fees per transactions.
just some things to keep in mind. i have had many travelers come looking to me to give there card back and we are not able to. would that not ruin your vacation. i like the suggestion of a few hundred dollars cash and us cc for all eles. you can use your us cc at most places anymore including fast food restarunts.what ever you decide, good luck and have a great vacation.

Yes, that's what I want to do. My biggest concern, I guess, is running out of US cash (because I don't want to take too much to start with). If that were to happen, I'd only do a withdrawl once (hopefully) from my cdn acct. I don't think I can access my BMO US$ acct through an ATM?

 

[tinkerone]

Yes, that's what I want to do. My biggest concern, I guess, is running out of US cash (because I don't want to take too much to start with). If that were to happen, I'd only do a withdrawl once (hopefully) from my cdn acct. I don't think I can access my BMO US$ acct through an ATM?

nope, can't access your us acct. hopfully that is in the not to distant future.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

I received a pin as well. Keep it in a safe place. This is for security purposes ( I believe). Any account information/change they will require your pin #.

Hello,

This pin# is for using the bank machine - just like the pin# you use with your interac card to withdraw cash. This would be for cash advances on your card. On the document that came with your pin it says "Use your PIN to access your Mosaik MasterCard Account to obtain a cash advance at over 1,000,000 automated banking machines worldwide"

As with any PIN, never give this number to anyone - not even BMO for security purposes, they should never ask for it.

 

[CindyCan]

Hello,

This pin# is for using the bank machine - just like the pin# you use with your interac card to withdraw cash. This would be for cash advances on your card. On the document that came with your pin it says "Use your PIN to access your Mosaik MasterCard Account to obtain a cash advance at over 1,000,000 automated banking machines worldwide"

As with any PIN, never give this number to anyone - not even BMO for security purposes, they should never ask for it.

That's what I thought it was for. I just wanted to make sure I don't need it for anything else. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Bumping up