ralphster

Has anyone managed to get a credit card (with no Cdn credit history and not through HSBC) without having to with pay some annual fee or having to secured the card (i.e. by giving the card provider $1000 for 2 years in order to get a credit limit of $1000).

I guess I am too used to the UK system, but I really don't want to have to "buy" a credit history over here.

Also, does anyone know if store cards add to your credit history - I've had conflicting reports.

Thanks!

JonboyE

Generally they do.

Steve.gibbs007

I was in NS less than a year, I was working so my wages were being paid into an account with RBS. I just walked in, spoke with an Account Manageress and she asked me what credit limit I wanted!

Happy days.........

RKS_in_Calgary

Yup - we got one with TD - had to show our TWP / passports / employment letter but walked out with one shortly later - at least here you dont wait 7-10 days for a card to arrive!!

rubberduckofdeath

Yep, on a 1 year WHV and got a credit card once I had my first pay slip in hand.

Almost Canadian

We obtained one from TD with PR, no job and no Canadian credit history. It had a $1000 limit and we were not required to provide any security. The limit increased steadily and is now at a far higher level than anyone really needs.

BristolUK

I was in Canada for nearly three years before PR came through. Three banks turned me down for chequing accounts during this period; all insisting on PR first.

With the proceeds of the sale of my UK home, I bought my house and duplex outright, rental income going into my Canadian wife's account.

I just carried on with my UK credit cards and UK bank account for this period.

When I got PR and ran my new bank account for a few months, I was turned down for a TD credit card but allowed one when I supplied them with a printout of the activity on my UK credit card account.

Others have had similar difficulties while others seem to have experienced
the Carlsberg system.

JB0591

We were with HSBC Canada for nearly 12 months and even with two monthly incomes they would not give us an unsecured credit card......

....moved to BMO and after one payment by each employer (over a period of about three weeks) they gave us unsecure credit cards without hesitation. They did say if we were turned down then the bank would ring up and get it approved.

englishrose1

Scotia Bank have a newcomers programme recently launched. The account will issue chequing, credit card, car loan and mortgages for newcomers with full PR. If your in toronto I will send you the scotia bank branch that helped me. They were fantastic. I even have a visa debit card. I can order from next now online lol.

ralphster

Thanks for all your responses! Sounds like once you have your first pay cheque things get a bit easier. For self-employed folk, TD sounds like the best bet! Scotia also seems like a good option.

For TD and Scotia card did you have to pay an annual fee though?

The irony is you don't really need that high a credit limit ($500 to £1k would be fine) so long as you can pay off during the month as you spend it. The catch is continuing to live off UK credit card whilst abroad and missing out on the oopportunityto start building that credit history. Someone said to me the other day that entering Canada from the UK puts you on a similar status to bankrupt Canadian, even if you have a phenomenal credit history in the UK!

RKS_in_Calgary

you generally pay fees for all banking here but depends on your circumstances. We were given a credit card initially with $500 between the two of us, max'd it out and paid it off several times a month for about 3 months then asked for an increase and got $5000 and they waived the charges. You really want to start building your Canadian credit history ASAP and not live off UK cards as that is so expensive - if you are working here then it shouldnt be too difficult - we also got a car loan and after a few months we now get offered other lines of credit so it can be pretty quick

Almost Canadian

No

Pretty Flowers

Few pointers that might help....

If you have a UK credit card from MBNA, they used to use your UK credit history to determine your credit worthiness - they would issue a card based on that history. This was 5 years ago, so I don't know if their policies have changed.

Also, one thing I found useful in early credit applications was providing a copy of my UK credit report. I used this as part of my initial mortgage application....

R I C H

Past posts on this subject indicate very different experiences amongst new immigrants. FWIW, mine was (6+ years ago) as follows, in chronological order:

Tourist status - personal and business bank accounts.
Tourist status - commercial mortgage (no proof of income, 50% deposit, business plan submitted).
Tourist status - $100k credit line.
Tourist status - no credit card.
TWP (yr 1) - business credit card, not permitted a personal credit card. Store card applications rejected.
TWP (yr 1) - interest free credit for business equipment (running beyond TWP expiration date).
TWP (yr 1) - 0.5% interest vehicle lease agreements secured (running beyond TWP expiration date, no security deposit required).
TWP (yr 2) - personal credit card and store cards.

There appears little logic to some of that.

Howefamily

we arrived as visitors on an 8 month visitors visa but with NS nomination, we opened an RBC bank and got credit cards immediately with a $500 limit each and no deposit. I am sure it helped that they had a chunk of our money that was moved to the bank account almost instantly as it was at that point being held with Halo Financial and they could also see all the cash in our UK bank account from house sale.

Since then, with a TWP and job we got our credit limit increased.