willrr

Hi BE’ers. I just want to share a good experience I've had with anyone who wants to setup a Canadian Bank account from the UK before heading out.

I have been told from various places not to bother trying to setup a Canadian HSBC account if you already have a UK one, as they aren't linked in anyway. This isn't the case, now.

I’m in the UK heading out to Vancouver next January. I applied on their UK website for a Canadian account. I was called the next day, emailed a couple of forms to complete and then presented my passport and driver’s license to the local branch.

10 working days later I received my card, cheque books and other documentation. Their online banking has a global view allowing you to see UK accounts and Canadian accounts and transfer money instantly (fixed £5 charge per transfer).

Stupid question time, from what I've googled I take it a ‘Chequing account’ is equivalent of a UK current account? And by the fact I've been sent 5 cheque books I may need to write cheques more often than I do in the UK (which is to say never, in recent memory)?

KuroKuro

Sorry, can't answer your question but just wanted to say thank you for this information!

I'm with HSBC in the UK & was wondering about whether it was worth opening a Canadian account with them when I get to Canada (hopefully at the start of 2013 too). Knowing that I can actually do all this before I leave is really useful, and the ability to manage both accounts together online is going to be great!

Thanks again for the heads up on this!

jericho

HSBC are fine if you are in Vancouver, but you'll struggle to find a local branch anywhere else.

HGerchikov

They are all over Southern Ontario. To the OP - yes a chequing account seems to be the same as a current account. If you rent a property you may need to provide post dated cheques for the duration of your stay, when we put our kids in daycare they wanted post dated cheques for the whole year. It was incredible how quickly those 5 books disappeared.

KuroKuro

Luckily I will be going to live in BC & possibly work in Vancouver. I think I'll probably end up switching to another company for convenience at a later date if it's an issue. Thanks.

Atlantic Xpat

On cheque use, aside from those occasions where a voided cheque is needed to set up a regular payment (Canada not being aware of the miracle of simplicty that is a direct debit form), we only write cheques for daycare and the cleaner. Everything else is interac or visa. Carrying folding money itself seems to be a rarity these days.

dbd33

Interac used to be a reasonable way to pay until they introduced chip and pin. Now it's very slow and ought to be banned from express check out lanes.

JB0591

Setting up the account is fine, the linked accounts with HSBC has been around for years.

BUT in my experience they will be crap and not provide any support once you are here. We tried to get our crappy $400 interact transaction amount increased and they ran a bloody credit check on us and said "no".....WTF has credit report got to do with it. A year later we asked for help getting a credit card, in person at branch, the account manager said "no problems, even if it has to be secured we will make it x1 balance"....next day "it has to be x2 regardless"...closed the account a few days later.

Opened a BMO account and got unsecured credit card 2 weeks later....account manager said "i'll removed the new account foreign cheque hold period for you"...guess what...she did as she promised.

Soz but HSBC just gets my blood boiling.

willrr

Yes have heard a lot of horror stories, but thankfully my experience so far (albeit only in the UK) has been positive.

JonboyE

I was with HSBC in the UK and we both opened accounts with them in Vancouver. Yes, there are more branches of HSBC here than you can shake a blunt stick at. We found their service to be excellent. I have used them for business as well and not changed my opinion on their service. They proved to be refreshingly straightforward and honest to deal with.

If I have a criticism it is that, as a bank, they are expensive and quite conservative. I moved accounts because another bank offered me a home equity line of credit at a time HSBC did not have them. This was very useful for some transactions I was making at the time. My wife moved her account because HSBC were charging her $8 a month and our local credit union paid her to look after her money.

That said, generally retail banking is much of a muchness. All the banks offer a similar standard of service. As with many things in Canada it comes down to personal relationships. If you are dealing with someone who is competent and who you get on with banking can be easy and a pleasure. However, we all know someone who has had a bad experience with one bank or another.

RickD

I was looking at opening an HSBC account in Vancouver prior to moving there in a couple of months for the same reasons as the OP, it would be nice to manage all my accounts in one place.However their website says it costs £100..... £100 for what exactly, to scan some docs and send a couple of emails. I don't think so, I'll just go with someone else when I get there :/

JB0591

I was with HSBC in the UK for 15 years, yep never had an issue in the UK. I would rather take a slightly long route to transfer money to UK than deal with HSBC Canada.

Also check there is no monthly fee after the first 12 months, for a premium/advanced account is is $25 unless you have $25,000 in the account. That is very expensive for an account fee out here.

What I am truing to say is the main stream Canadian banks are open to new residents. Some have links with UK banks directly.

ultrarunner

HSBC is shite pure and unadulterated shite. Get yourself a decent bank and find one that gives you easy access / link to one here in Canada

Canadian Banks in London
The Canadian High Commission does not accept responsibility for the competence or reliability of the firms listed here.

Bank of Montreal
Bucklersbury House
11 Walbrook
London, EC4N 8ED
Tel: 020 7236 1010
Fax: 020 7664 8161

Bank of Nova Scotia
Scotia House
33 Finsbury Square
London, EC2A 1BB
Tel: 020 7638 5644
Fax: 020 7638 8488

BMO Nesbitt Burns Int'l
Bucklersbury House
3 Queen Victoria Street
London, EC4N 8NT
Tel: 020 7666 5101
Fax: 020 7329 0371

CIBC World Markets
Cotton Centre
Cotton Lane
London, SE1 2QL
Tel: 020 7234 6000
Fax: 020 7407 4127

National Bank of Canada
Princes House
95 Gresham Street
London, EC2V 7LU
Tel: 020 7726 6581

Royal Bank of Canada
71 Queen Victoria Street
London, EC4V 4DE
Tel: 020 7489 1188
Fax: 020 7329 6144

TD Canada Trust
Triton Court
14-18 Finsbury Square
London, EC2A 1DB
Tel: 020 7920 0272
Fax: 020 7638 1042

Madnellie

I'm so glad it's not just me! Bloody machines must be powered by hamsters on little wheels

JimLondon

We decided to go with HSBC, paid the £100 fee to transfer our credit history to Canada, received our bank cards and check book. In fact we were pretty happy. Until we arrived and realized the card is Interac (not Visa, so can't pay for anything on line), there is also a limit of $500 per transaction in a day, so you will struggle to buy any furniture. We ended up relying on our UK credit card. When trying to apply for the HSBC credit card- which they said I could do on arrival as I needed an address here. The HSBC rep couldn't find my credit reference. I had to call the UK twice, but in the end the HSBC Canada rep should be requesting the info from the UK. I emailed him 3 times and he point blank refused. The following week I went to TD bank and opened an account with my PR card and SIN card. They issued me an immediate Visa debit card. They also gave me a credit card with $1000 limit as a new comer with no job. Which is way more than what I have acquired with HSBC's £100 fee and 13 years banking in the UK.
Genuinely, if I had known all the limitations with the HSBC card/account, I would have waited and opened a TD account.
Good luck