JaninaK

Hi, Myself and my partner are moving to Canada in mid January with permanent residency. We completed our landing 18 months ago but haven't been able to move until now. I am seeking some advice with banking in Canada and setting up a new bank account. Interested to get views on
- Is it worth opening an account before we arrive or should we just leave this to do in our first few days. (Scotiabank is the only option we have found to open an account before we arrive)
- Any recommendations on the best bank to use, especially for newcomers credit cards
- Has anyone had any challenges with specific FX companies and not being able to use them to move money to Canada. Read a few things online but not sure what to believe
Apologies if this has all been asked before, i'm sure it has but would still appreciate any views and advice.
Thanks

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

You will find our wiki to be of use - we have a section just on banking
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Banking-Canada

They all do 'newcomer' packages sometimes including a credit card, free or low cost transfers and things like car loans.... find one that has a branch near to where you live, other than that it's all down to the customer service manager you see as to what you get offered, generally speaking.

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

http://www.rbc.com/newcomers/
https://www.rbc.com/newcomers/what-we-offer.html


http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,2468,00.html

https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/planni...nada/index.jsp

https://www.cibc.com/ca/chequing-savings/newcomers.html

http://www.bmo.com/newstart/en/

theotherlebowski

worth checking this out too: https://thefinancialbrand.com/69560/...digital-banks/ CIBC have an online only bank and there's Tangerine which is online/app based too. no transaction fees and Tangerine say they don't have branches, they have cafes!

Hurlabrick

With Tangerine you can use any Scotiabank branch for cash withdrawals, but they will not help you with anything else. Also Tangerine do NOT accept true 'wire transfers' - I know this first hand for a fact!

JaninaK

Kanukki

If wire transfers are a requirement, Simplii (CIBC's equivalent to Tangerine) handles them perfectly fine! They also allow free withdrawals from CIBC ATMs and unlimited free INTERAC e-Transfers for no monthly fee. It won't work if you need traditional branch banking services, but I'd found it perfectly sufficient for my day-to-day banking needs since arriving 2 years ago.

Tumbling_Dice

The newcomers packages at most banks are pretty good, especially the necessary bit about getting a credit card. Some may offer you a secured credit card, meaning you have to lock up the equivalent of the credit limit in a savings account for a year. But the credit card is what you want. Use it regularly, pay it off. There is lots of debate about how much of your limit you should use, with most people seeming to suggest 60-70% of the limit (I have worked at one of the banks and even there it is hard to get a consensus).

What may eat your lunch is the fantastic menu of fees for things that, certainly in the UK, are free. So, after your first year, it may be worth looking at Tangerine or Simplii - these are on-line only, but have no transactions fees, for example. Their services are sometimes annoying as you have to call up, so you would need to judge what you need to do with the bank account.

We have banked with TD and Simplii and have been happy with both, although happier with the latter because of no fees.

Hurlabrick

You can do normal Canadian bank to bank transfers, but you cannot do 'true' wire transfers - trust me I know to my cost! My Canadian lawyer tried to wire house proceed funds from RBC to Tangerine and they never showed up. I called Tangerine technical help desk and they confirmed they do not accept incoming wire transfers as it is optional for banks and they opted out a couple of years ago. After over one week, the money was returned to the originating RBC bank. This was in September 2018, perhaps it has changed, but you would be well advised to check first or risk the anxiety of large sums of money not arriving as expected.

Danny B

Avoid HSBC Canada like the plague. They are useless.

Tumbling_Dice

That must have been a horrible week!!! Glad it got sorted.

For Simplii, I have transferred in large sums of money by wire transfer with no problem, but had to call them up to tell them what was happening etc. (!!). OP definitely needs to work out what services they require, but I think the newcomers deals at the mainstream banks tend to be a good place to start.

stoobee1

I've used Transferwise to move money from my UK to Canadian account. Set one up before you move so you can be authenticated. The transfer arrived in my Canadian account by EFT in a day or so, no inbound wire transfer fees. I also have Revolut which is a cheap way to spend foreign currency.

You will soon get used to the archaic banking system here which tries to ding you with fees for everything. Most of the "free" foreign transfer offers by the Canadian banks offer the worst rates imaginable.

Day-to-day banking I use no fee Simplii (part of CIBC) similar to First Direct and HSBC. For newcomers the bigger banks like RBC offer no fee newcomer packages for 12 months with a credit card which is a great as you'll have zero credit history. Just switch before the 12 month period is up when you've got some history.

tweed_wearer

Siouxie

You can print off a void cheque if using RBC's online banking

MarylandNed

TD Bank has a growing presence along the east coast of the US - including Florida. If you open an account with TD Canada Trust, you can use TD Bank ATMs in the US without incurring any fees. My eldest daughter used TD Canada Trust when she was a student in Canada and also for a few years after while working there. I had no trouble transferring money to her from the US with XE.com

tweed_wearer