gsmith1610

Just a quick question.

Anyone know what the restrictions are regarding opening bank accounts in Canada if you are from the UK and have just settled into Canada.

My partner banks with HSBC therefore we may be able to transfer this to a canadian branch.

I however bank with the Halifax who are not in Canada!?

If someone could let us know how to obtain an account and if they faced rejection due to their immigrant status in Canada.

Thanks

Keith

If you are a resident and have a SIN No. you should have no difficulty.
I would however suggest you go to one of the Canadian Banks such as TD, BoM, CIBC, RBC or Scotia. They are far more numerous and you will have access to more ABM's.

Vern

Yes we thought switching our HSBC account to a branch in Canada would be pretty straight forward. No Chance! First thing, although HSBC make this big play about being the worlds local bank, its all bllx. You can open an account but they won't even lift a finger to communicate with HSBC UK to access info like transfering credit ratings to apply in Canada so you can get access to mortgage, line of credit etc. To get a mortgage here, banks usually like to see 15% down from immigrants with no apparant credit history. Besides that, although HSBC (which took over midland bank) is huge in UK and most other industrialised countries, it has bugger all cash machines or branches here so you will get screwed on ATM charges.
Try Scotia Bank, they were fine for us.
Another thing - in UK, you can walk into any branch of the same bank in the UK and get more or less the same facilities as your home branch. Here, its not that easy.

gsmith1610

Thanks for that Vern!

crazydaisy

I called HSBC Offshore in Jersey and they said that they would help with the account opening in Winnipeg so don't know if it's any easier getting the offshore bank to communicate with your new country rather than the other way round. I'll let you know in March if this is the case. I remember when we moved to Switzerland years ago we purposefully took out an international debit card with HSBC on the assurance that it could be used anywhere and then found out that it was a Cirrus card and not many places in Switzerland took Cirrus/Maestro so we were stuffed. Building up credit in a new country is certainly a challenge that's for sure

Keith

I've had no problem with my BoM or TD account. I have got the same service in Vancouver that I have in Ottawa.
I rarely go into my bank branch. Most of my transactions are either automatic debits or credits ( even my UK pension). For other payments I use either the Internet or the ABM.

CJ6680

go into hsbc better yet phone 020 7991 7278 the hsbc international bus centre in london who will send youthe paperwork out to open a canadian account

Tinpusher

I had absolutely no problems with RBC. Account was opened and in use before I got my SIN.
For $4/mo I get internet banking and enough free transactions to keep me going. Have had no problems transferring money both to and from the UK.
I'd heard horror stories about opening a bank account here. I have a credit card (admittedly a rather conservative credit limit) but its a start.
I'd recommend RBC to other incomers!

crazydaisy

I stumbled across this website which lists all the ATM's throughout Canada - you can type in any bank so it'd be possible to compare HSBC for example with another bank to see how many ATM's are available in your chosen area. http://www.the-exchange.ca/atmlocato...1006&langID=en