Pay USD credit card with USD travelers cheques?

[Me2Me]

Hi -

Does anyone know if I can do this? I don't have a USD credit card yet but I am considering getting one. I have a bunch of USD travelers cheques that I'd like to use to "deposit" onto the credit card so that I can use that USD credit card to pay off my MYW package. I'm considering the no fee BMO USD credit card. Ideally I'd just go in to a BMO branch and apply the travellers cheques against the credit card.

Thanks for any replies.
me2me


(I had booked room-only and was planning on paying off the balance upon arrival but I can't do that anymore since I switched to a package.)

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Hi -

Does anyone know if I can do this? I don't have a USD credit card yet but I am considering getting one. I have a bunch of USD travelers cheques that I'd like to use to "deposit" onto the credit card so that I can use that USD credit card to pay off my MYW package. I'm considering the no fee BMO USD credit card. Ideally I'd just go in to a BMO branch and apply the travellers cheques against the credit card.

Thanks for any replies.
me2me


(I had booked room-only and was planning on paying off the balance upon arrival but I can't do that anymore since I switched to a package.)

This would certainly be possible. Think of it this way - when you go to the bank the transaction would be for them to give you US cash for your travellers cheques, and then you tell them to put the US cash on the BMO US credit card. Of course this would all be done without the cash changing hands.

I have the same card by the way - it's great. No surcharges on US transactions can make a huge difference, and it's easier then sending money orders down to US banks to pay off a US bank credit card. If you use this a lot you should also look into the BMO US$ account. That is good for buying US$ when the dollar is so strong like now. You can then withdraw at the time of your trip.

-Dean

 

[biggroofy]

I want to ask too - say if I do not have any bank account with RBC (although I have a VISA), can I apply for a RBC USD Currency VISA?

If yes, HOW can I pay the USD Visa balance from another bank which I had a USD Saving account (e.g. HSBC)?

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

I want to ask too - say if I do not have any bank account with RBC (although I have a VISA), can I apply for a RBC USD Currency VISA?

If yes, HOW can I pay the USD Visa balance from another bank which I had a USD Saving account (e.g. HSBC)?

I don't know for sure, but my assumption would be because it is a Canadian based company you could set it up as a bill payment on line. This is totally speculation, because I know nothing about HSBC. But for example, we have a US credit card from a US bank. We are not able to set this up as a bill payment from BMO. But I am able to pay my CND$ AMEX from my BMO account - I would think this would be similar.

 

[Me2Me]

Thanks. I guess I'll be holding on to these travellers cheques until I get approved for the cc.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Thanks. I guess I'll be holding on to these travellers cheques until I get approved for the cc.

Well maybe not...if you believe that the CDN dollar is going to go up more (enough to make it worth your while), you may want to buy CDN$ with that US$ money now. Then at a later date when the CDN$ is higher, you could buy US$ again.

There is some risk, but you could make some additional money. I personally don't think the dollar is going to go much higher, but who knows.

 

[biggroofy]

I don't know for sure, but my assumption would be because it is a Canadian based company you could set it up as a bill payment on line. This is totally speculation, because I know nothing about HSBC. But for example, we have a US credit card from a US bank. We are not able to set this up as a bill payment from BMO. But I am able to pay my CND$ AMEX from my BMO account - I would think this would be similar.

Thanks. Just curious - can you mail USD currency checks (from a Canadian Bank) to pay your US credit card? Any service charge from both side?

I'm applying for a CIBC USD VISA card - trying to buy some USD dollar now and use it in WDW next year

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Thanks. Just curious - can you mail USD currency checks (from a Canadian Bank) to pay your US credit card? Any service charge from both side?

I'm applying for a CIBC USD VISA card - trying to buy some USD dollar now and use it in WDW next year

If you mean mailing a USD cheque from my BMO USD$ bank account to pay a US Credit card held with a US bank, then no. Or at least we were not able to. We have a Chase Bank Visa, and they sent the cheque back to us even though it clearly said US Funds. They said they would not accept it because it was not drawn from a US bank or a US bank in a foreign country.

With the dollary the way it is (I have $1.087 on my sidebar right now) we will have to start calling them the 11th province

 

[rewok]

If you mean mailing a USD cheque from my BMO USD$ bank account to pay a US Credit card held with a US bank, then no. Or at least we were not able to. We have a Chase Bank Visa, and they sent the cheque back to us even though it clearly said US Funds. They said they would not accept it because it was not drawn from a US bank or a US bank in a foreign country.

With the dollary the way it is (I have $1.087 on my sidebar right now) we will have to start calling them the 11th province

But if your US credit card is at a Canadian Bank, like BMO, and you pay with a cheque drawn on your US account at Scotia, would it work? Otherwise, what use to have cheques on your US account?

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

But if your US credit card is at a Canadian Bank, like BMO, and you pay with a cheque drawn on your US account at Scotia, would it work? Otherwise, what use to have cheques on your US account?

I would hope that would work, but I do not know for sure. My credit card and US account are both with BMO, so I have not experience that issue.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Just a caveat to this whole discussion - remember that your bank will never give you the posted exchange rate. So if the dollar is trading on the FX markets at 1.09 US, the bank may only give you 1.06 or something like that.

The best thing to do is to ensure that you talk to your bank and ask them what rates you get in different situations - i.e. counter service, USD bank account, conversion on credit card, etc.

Remember that what we are trying to do as consumers is maximize the exchange that we can get on the street. The strategies we talked about above will allow you to do this. The only way to get the actual spot rate for the CDN$ is to open an FX trading account.

EDIT: Interesting - I just saw a news story today where the reporter was exchanging funds at a bank, a hotel and an exchange kiosk when the dollar was at $1.10 today. The bank gave him $1.08, the kiosk gave him $1.07 and get this...the hotel gave him $1.10!

 

[momto1disneyfan]

I paid my BMO US credit balance off using my US travelers cheques this summer. However I also have a us bank account with BMO. Have you ever thought about opening a US bank account when you apply for your credit card. What they do, is just classifed the travelers cheque as a regular us cheque. Some bank want you to have a us bank account before they will cash any cheques other dont. I think it will all depend on the bank you deal with.

 

[tinkerone]

bmo employee here, but i am NOT soliciting. we'll just get that out of the way.
if your considering a us charge card, make sure you do your homework. todate, bmo has the only no fee us charge card. now the fees on other banks are not huge, they are usually around $25 anually . also, if you are an airmiles collector, you can get a free airmiles option with the card. i am an avid collector so i love this feature, some do not collect so it makes no difference to them. i say, save your money and go with the no fee card. money is better in your pocket than the banks.
if you decide to play the market and cash in your us chqs for canadian and wait for the rate to fluctuate, you need to keep in mind it will have to move a lot in order to make any profit and you would have to be talking a lot of money to, again, make anything. this is because the banks have a buying and a selling rate. example: if you walk into the bank and ask for the rates of the day (and i am going to use easy to understand numbers, not todays rates) they will give you a rate of, say, $1.05 for us to buy it from you and, say, $1.10 for us to sell it to you. the difference in rates is usually 3, 4, or 5 cents on the dollar. so hopefully you see that it is not usually fesably to buy and sell to get a profit. the dollar has to move so much and unless you have tons, then your only making a couple of bucks. put it into a us savings acount and get some interest. that will probably work out to about the same.
loooonnnggg story short, get a us cc. it will be benificial to you. you can pay with cash, tc, money orders, from a bank acct....just about anything you pay your regular cards with.