Banking in Canada
 

Hi Just wondering what the banking was like in Canada and which are the best Banks to use for a newcomer to Vancouver. Also can you set up an account before arriving in Canada? I will also have some small bills to pay in the UK, whats the cheapest, quickest method of transferring money back to the UK.

Thanks

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Banking-Canada : British Expat Wiki

HTH.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

We have found RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) to be very good, although you can tell they are a salesperson first and banker second.

The big thing to be prepared for is that you pay for the privilege of a bank account in Canada (at least one that's worth anything). You also have to be prepared for charges on almost anything, so do make sure you check out what is and isn't included in your account. For instance you may be charged for a cheque, or for taking money out of a rival banks atm. Some even limit the number of transactions you can make for free.

The other nice thing with RBC is that if you are on a visa/permit for longer than 2 years they will give you a credit card to help you get your credit history going.

You cant really open one before you are here, or at least have your work permit, as the bank will need for Social Insurance Number (SIN) and you will need your work permit/visa to get this.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

All banks sadly.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

This may be because they are a business?

Everyone invested in them, including pension funds, union funds and mutual funds is likely benefiting form this.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

All the main banks have newcomer accounts, mostly free of charges for 6-12 months.

Newcomers to Canada - RBC
StartRight Program for Newcomers | Scotiabank
https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/planni...nada/index.jsp
https://www.cibc.com/ca/chequing-savings/newcomers.html
Banking for Newcomers to Canada | BMO Bank of Montreal

:)

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Don't get me wrong I am not passing a moral judgment on them for being a business or selling it was merely an observation on how the system is different here to the UK. In my experience you actually get good service from the banks here.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

There is more product dumping here.

It prepares a person for their first trip to the Canadian dentist well.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

If you bank with HSBC/First Direct in the UK they can open you a bank account in Canada before you arrive.

S

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Most banks will give you a secured credit card anyway.

Don't discount credit unions either. We are with Van City (as are a lot of people I work with) and they generally come across as being pretty good.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

The credit unions are meant to be good. Check out Presidents Choice.

The secured credit card is for IEC/TWPs. I had so many issues trying to get a credit card because I'm on an IEC. RBC refused me. TD refused me (despite banking with them). CIBC gave me a credit card straight away (although the credit check took 6 weeks to complete).

Re: Banking in Canada
 

They are a business indeed, but RBC at least our branch is getting a little too pushy. It's become annoying and frankly is poor customer service in my view.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Not just for IEC's/TWP's - I had to have a secured credit card initially as a PR.. conversely, my son was given one with a $1000 initial limit with no security (same bank). It really does depend on who you see at the bank and how helpful they are feeling.

:)

Re: Banking in Canada
 

That can be the other helpful thing about opening one before you come with say HSBC if you happen to bank with them or FD in the UK. You're pre approved to get a credit card etc. because you carry some sort of credit rating with you. I'm probably not using the right terminology and appreciate it could be different for a TFW as opposed to a PR (or not as the case may be).


S

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I got $500 unsecured when I arrived as a PR.

They quickly want to pump it up after you've cleared it 6 months in a row. They also want to sell you their credit card insurance too.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I had similar: maybe a $1,000 but they made it clear I was eligible for more after a short period (could have been a year, I can't remember).


S

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Scotiabank are good and they have various things for newcomers.

Breath of fresh air having banked with Lloyds The Shithouse Bank in the UK.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

They flogged off the TSB name a year or two back.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

My first card was with BMO and was secured. Took about 2 weeks to be processed. After a few months, I applied for an AmEx card and was approved and it wasn't secured. Of course, not many places take AmEx so I applied for a VanCity card and got that too (not secured).

Re: Banking in Canada
 

What does "secured" mean?

Thanks!

S

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Not sure it's good business to encourage people to borrow more than they can afford to pay back, and I've heard about a couple of bankruptcies and foreclosures recently so things don't look good.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

It means if you have a checking account with the same bank, they will place a hold on funds in the checking account to the amount of the limit on the card. If you don't have a checking account with them, then you pay a deposit equal to the amount of the limit on the card.

The handy thing about the first option is that it usually counts towards the balance required for free banking too, so if you have enough cash for that then the hold on the funds is not really an issue.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

So wait, you give them your money which they lend back to you with interest? What's the point of the credit card? Mine from RBC must be unsecured.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

It's only interest if you carry a balance. And it's necessary to build credit rating in Canada and we've done pretty well out of the Airmiles rewards program (got a $750 coffee machine for Airmiles).

Re: Banking in Canada
 

It might be the only way to obtain credit so you can build credit, there are various reasons why someone may not be able to get an unsecured card, such as new arrival with no credit history, student, low income etc.

I've been in Canada 10 years, but due to being low income, no bank will supply an unsecured card, so secured is my only option so I can have some credit history, and well you need a credit card to rent a car, most hotels require one, and it's hard these days not having one since so many places wan't one, and car rental or hotels for example won't generally accept pre-paid cards.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

It's for people who are a perceived bad credit risk - think of it as a credit card with training wheels. Usually after a few months or a year of you mangaging you secured credit card responsibly, you can move up to a regular credit card.

Part of the decision by the bank to only offer a "secured" card appears to be purely income driven - if you have a good job with a healthy salary paid into your bank account, you shouldn't have trouble getting a credit card (and you may be unaware of the "secured credit card" product). If you have a lower income job you're likely to have to go with a secured credit card for a while before you're trusted with a "proper" credit card.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I think it's more that you are an 'unknown' credit risk, rather than necessarily a bad credit risk.

As a new PR or TWP, unless you have an equifax report or are introduced to the bank by a current customer it's likely that you will be offered a secured credit card rather than a normal one.

I was working, had my salary paid into my account but couldn't show proof of credit history, hence the secured card. With my son - PR - and his friend, here on an IEC later, I introduced them to the bank and they lucked out by having a different Client Services Manager who was very helpful. Neither of them had jobs at the time either!

A lot of the time it's down to who you see!

:)

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Agreed. From the banks' perspective, anyone who is an "unknown credit risk" is perceived as a bad credit risk. It's not "fair", but the banks' are always the dealers in the game. :(

Re: Banking in Canada
 

And income, banks don't generally like low income people....Exceptions of course, but this is my experience, unless it's for a car and they have something they can take away, then they are more likely, but unsecured loans, banks don't like poor people.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Do you mean an equifax report from another country? Should I be ordering a report before I leave the UK as I have good credit here.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I took a copy of mine with me. Bank just glanced at it but it helped a lot with getting an apartment.

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A Canadian one. A bank doesn't have any way of verifying the authenticity of a foreign credit report, so is likely worthless.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

They wouldn't have a Canadian one yet, that's the point.

Getting an Equifax credit report from the UK along with letters from the bank, mortgage lender etc., stating that you are a customer 'in good standing' won't hurt and costs nothing. If you are planning on purchasing a property at some point in the near future, mortgage lenders will likely take it into consideration, as will landlords if you are renting.

:)

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I live in Calgary and found that the best bank for us is the TD bank as there open longer hours than most banks. I don't think you can open an account before you arrive as you need the correct documents to open an account, which you will be give once you enter the country.
The best way we send money back to the uk is through PayPal, we have a uk and Canadian PayPal account. This we use to send birthday money back to family and pay bills. Also before we left we opened an account with world first and used them to transfer the bulk of our money over once we had opened a Canadian bank account. They give you a better rate than the banks. There is no fee if the funds you transfer over is £2000 per transfer.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I was able to open an account (with TD as it happens) from the UK with no issues at all.

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It is one way, I would not necessarily say it is the best way.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

I was thinking the same thing. Paypal is convenient, I'm sure, but more costly than the alternative of using one of the many on-line FX brokers.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

We switched over to a credit union yesterday (Squamish Savings, which is a division of Vancity and so can use Vancity branches.) and so far so good. The initial service is better then anything we have gotten at RBC anyhow...

Not that we need it since we never deposit anywhere close to this amount, but off the bat the credit union has a authorized for deposits of up to 2,500 through the ATM without a hold, anything above 2,500 is held 5 days.

RBC which I have had in good standing for over 11 years and my wife almost 20 years, reluctantly raised it from 500 to 1,000 after several visits to complain, and they made sure to let us know they were doing us a favor....


Lower monthly fee as well which is nice.

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Scotiabank have FINALLY included photo cheque deposit on their phone Apps.

Noticed when I downloaded an update today. Brand new feature in today's update.

Not surprisingly, it looks just like the Tangerine App cheque deposit screen, only red instead of orange....

Took them long enough :sneaky:

Re: Banking in Canada
 

Here's a real example of how badly banks in Canada rip people off.

It being that time of year, I had an appointment with my bank on Monday to get some RRSPs. My banking officer had suggested to me that I look at US equity funds. I checked that out with an old mate of mine in New York. He used to work on Wall Street and is now an independent financial adviser. He agreed about the US equity but told me to go for a low-cost index fund, rather than a managed fund.

The two plans my banker officer were an index fund with a management fee of 1.08%, and a managed fund, with a fee of 2.28%. The index fund looked better in terms of cost and returns, so I went for that.

My mate in NY went ballistic when he saw the fund profiles. He calculated the "low cost" fee to be about 35 times higher than it would be in the US!

I rather wish I'd stuck all my money into Rona shares on Monday. I'd have doubled it yesterday.