Hi all,

We like most are in the Emigration que. Here in the UK I have a "CLass A" Credit rating from my bank. They have given me that in writing, as a credit reference to use in canada.

I have been told that this will not count for much as it was Uk based & not Canadian. We are going to Calgary in August for a holiday, my idea is to open a bank account say with $10,000.00 to create a credit listing.

Although this account will not be used, can anyone tell me whether as the months go by, this as it is banked will create a rating for us so when we do get there, I will in fact have a rating!

Anyone have any idea's? Also can anyone recommend a decent bank or anyone who would offer a great exchange & interest rate.

Many Thanks


Gary

Hi Gary,

Better to get a MBNA credit card here with a small balance, and then transfer it to MBNA Canada when you make the move. That will give you access to a Credit Card to use in Canada which will help with a credit rating.

Regards

John

I went with TD Bank becuase my UK bank Natwest understands that particular banks method of international bank transfers.

Also TD have a great easy to use online banking system with money transfer outside of its own bank....for instance, I can email from my TD bank some money to someone that doens't bank with TD.

So in a nutshell here is what I am doing at the moment.

Work and live here in the UK
Send money back to Canada via money transfer to TD
Go Online, pay any bills or my Credit card...Maintain my credit rating.....

I would suggest you do this in reverse to maintain your UK credit rating....I Ping Ponged so am grateful I did what I did, hope to go back again 3rd time and last time back to Canada next year.

Regards

John

Try these links below to other areas on this forum, they're threads on the same subject so you may get the answers you're looking for here.

We use HSBC in the UK and opened a bank account in Canada from here. They're giving us a credit card with a 5,000 dollar credit without asking. Not sure if that would happen with everyone though.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=credit+rating

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=credit+rating

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=credit+rating

Hi
I found that my UK credit rating counted for nothing. I even had problems trying to get a contract cell phone at first and although I have one now, I cannot use it to phone hte UK unless I put down a hefty safety deposit.

The advice everyone over here told me was to get a credit card and use it and pay it off regularly. In other words start racking up bills and prove you can pay them off. I was told to use a credit card rather than debit for this purpose.

We have a HSBC account in UK & Canada (with Debit & Credit cards). Can transfer funds between accounts no problem.

Have been told because both accounts are with HSBC our UK credit history will follow us across to Canada, but not sure about this.

Just to play it safe, once I got my Canadian HSBC Mastercard, I used it in the UK to pay for petrol once a month, then pay it off on-line when the bill came in.

Also have a Sears card in my name but with my brothers address in Canada. Buy a couple of small things every time we go over, then pay them off before we leave. Not sure whether this helps in credit rating!

HTH

They gave you a Canadian credit card even though you live in the UK ?

Yup sure did!

BUT, we sold our house over two years ago and have been living in a furnished rented flat since. The proceeds from the house sale went into our bank account and because there was over "x" amount of £'s (can't remember the exact figure that's required) we were automatically bumped up to a "Premier Account".

Were then able to open an international account in Toronto, free of charge, issued with Canadian Debit and Credit cards and any on-line transactions between UK / CDN accounts is free of charge. Also with the Canadian HSBC account you don't get charged on the amount of cheques or ATM withdrawals per month, as long as it's from a HSBC or BOM machine.

Once we land, buy a car, buy a house, obviously our funds will reduce considerably. Then it may be time to look for a different bank.

All I can say is that at this moment in time, HSBC Premier has been very beneficial for us.

Having cash in an account, even a large amount, doesn't get you a credit rating afaik... only taking credit does. And not all items that are recorded on your credit file count towards your score - mobile phone bills for one, maybe line of credit and some others don't either? I can't remember exactly, but there might be details in the archive.

Like many of the others who have already contributed to this discussion we also had an excellent UK credit rating. In our experience it means nothing here. We are with the HSBC (we have an account with them in the UK too) and we thought they might 'share' credit history, but not so. We had some good advice from this site before we left the UK which was to bring a UK credit card with you so that you can use it for the items you have to have one for i.e booking holidays, car hire etc. We would have been stuck without it, I have applied for a card here but have been refused 3 times now. We were advised here to take out a lease on a car to start to build a credit history which we have (although I would have preferred not to.)
OH and I have secure jobs and regular salaries crediting a healthy balance account each month but all to no avail. I guess it is just a case of waiting ..

Borrow some money and pay it back soon after.

Would a small mortgage help towards your credit rating. We do not actually need a mortgage but thought taking out a small one might help.

Sandra

We have 2 small Canadian mortgages, but were told that they would not contribute to a credit rating!
Kenny