Getting credit in Canada
 

News for those wondering about how they will get credit in Canada.

I can recommend this article as being excellent as a starting point..... it's US centric but applies to Canada mainly the same, as the banking system is very similar:

http://britishexpats.com/articles/us...nce-in-the-us/

Anyways peeps we started out like most folks do after moving here with a Canadian banks checking and savings account etc. HSBC wouldn't give us credit unless we paid a fund down so we politely said screw you, unhelpful people, and moved to RBC. We were most unhappy because HSBC had our mortage, wages paid every 2 weeks by direct deposit and a bunch of cash in savings, yet we weren't good enough to have a credit carde. Was I pissed, yeah man I was, raging pissed. RBC they offered a very reasonable limit so we started using their card to whack up the rating, paying off before the bill came.

We applied for a HBC store card when we first arrived, it was denied because we hadn't been in-country long enough...the manager was excellent, said to reapply in 3 months, gave us the completed form to save, and offered us 20% discount of a bunch of stuff we had in our trolley. Wow !!! that was like $100 worth of savings !

Anyway, applied for HBC credot card and that has come through again with a very reasonable limit. Today we had confirmation that our Canadian Tire card was accepted fine and we now have that too albeit with a smaller credit limit. If you need to make any big buys and can wait a few months after landing remember you get 10% discount off your first purchase (first two for HBC) and if you get a card per person maybe 10% per card x 2 ??? That can add up to a few bucks savings.

The great thing is we don't actually need these credit cards but they help with getting extra consumer points/savings/offers and will be useful when travelling in Canada. And, we can now lose our UK credit cards which we had saved as emergency backup.

So to conclude if anyone is worrying about getting credit, one has to be patient but it sorts itself out in the end, assuming there is a salary coming in for at least one of you. Just ensure you have enough cash savings and retain UK credit cards just for the interim period, say 3-4 months, and don't forget it won't matter much how much cash $ is in your account as this seems to have no effect on your credit rating.

I guess, now we have credit, we actually 'exist' in the context of the North American universe ?

Rich,

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Hello Rich! Living up to the name i see! :)

I totally agree with what you are saying. This was the first card recieved after months of trying. I did get a cibc visa after a rejection and a heated discussion on the phone to the office.

I just applied for the presidents choice visa and got it!
it is as you say! this is really about being recongnised as a person with income and not for lavish spending.
i will keep applying to all companies until i have a truck load then maybe..just maybe i will be classed as normal!

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Very useful to know, thanks.

Would you say that it would be a good idea to make at least one small monthly payment on each card and pay it off in full (once you have them)- would that help establish a credit history, do you think, even if you don't need the cards initially?

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

HERE IS WHAT I DID TO ESTABLISH A GOOD RECORD
basicly what you said.
I registered my card with my bank and i played with my wages each month. I would pay a bill on the credit card and pay the cash from my bank striaght onto it. So the card is forever being used but no money is left owing. I could have paid the bills directly from my bank but this way i look smart. This showed good cash flow and healthy transactions.
I also got a cell phone and this really help to bump up the rating.

if anyone purchased or leased a car in the uk! this can also help with a purchase of a new vehicle. I was talking to a guy from ford and he said they can go back to ford UK and check customer records. Good to know!

anyway, good luck

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

If you have an MBNA credit card in the UK, they will use your UK credit history and give you a Canadian MBNA credit card...

HTH

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

On the subject of credit, does anyone know if the chip and PIN system is now mandatory in the UK? I'll be there next week and I have no idea what the PIN is for my UK credit card. My Canadian credit card has no PIN.

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

It actually starts from Feb 14. I was over at Christmas and someone at Harvey Nichols warned me. For foreign credit cards, I think that they can still get you to sign...

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Chip & PIN is only mandatory from 14th February 2006, so you should be ok. Bear in mind that not everybody knows this, so you have to be quite insistent with some shop assistants etc. who don't want to let you sign.

Whoops, beaten to it!

Thanks for the credit rating advice too. Didn't realise that about cellphones.

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

For anybody still in the uk. Get an American Express Card, its directly transferable to Canada, full credit history, the lot!! ;)

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Nice post Rich.

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Are you sure about that? I had an Gold Amex card in the UK. I asked if I could transfer it and was told, in no uncertain terms, that I couldn't.

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Really? But you can't use them anywhere!

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Ta. I'll use my Visa Desjardins card (no chip). It probably makes sense anyway, given the exchange rate at the moment.

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

You can certainly use Amex more in the US and it's what we did when we lived in NYC for a year. Plus it helped enormously when getting utilities etc to have a US credit card. Not sure if it's a similar set up in Canada.

Re: Getting credit in Canada
 

Well we checked last month and customer service here said no worries, give them a call with the new canadian adress and its updated in 48 hours. Do it on the net and it should be quicker.