eversmannx

Hey guys,
With less than a month to go with our big move, i am double checking the options - especially for stuff I have to sort out while in UK like opening extra bank accounts.

I am all set with Transferwise - I don't have a Canada bank account yet, but setup Transferwise, authenticated and did a test transfer to a friend - it just works so smoothly.
I just wanna double check about REVOLUT in case i missed something here - is this a better option to have or even side by side with TransferWise as an option?

p.s. I've setup a Monzo account, just so I can move a bit of cash from my traditional high street bank, and thinking these modern mobile bank accounts are easy to operate from Canada than my high street bank.

Cheers

eversmannx

after some research :-) i concluded it's not worth getting a revolut acc - it seems to be good if you're a traveller and no fee exchange under 1000 or so. but for larger transfers TW seems to be safe and sound.

jandro

Revolut hasn't been around in Canada as long as it has in the UK and doesn't have as many features. Only recently they allowed deposits other than by credit card.

whytrigg

Why don't you have canadian accounts? My bank opened canadian accounts for me months before I came over, it was one less thing to worry about. I used HSBC and can see my UK and Canadian accounts all in one app, although you will need the country specific app to do payments or transfers etc. I did use transferwise to transfer cross border, HSBC to HSBC had horrific rates in comparison, and transferwise usually deposits the very next day.

HSBC also has the cheapest mortgage rates in Canada which was very helpful and something to think about when choosing a bank - a lot of them have monthly fees for accounts which are waived if you have a mortgage with them, so your banking tends to follow your mortgage. We waited a year to buy but I still wanted to establish a relationship/history with them, we also needed to established credit records and learn the lay of the land before choosing what area to put down roots. I had an entertaining time with an independant mortgage broker here where I set her off looking for the best rate possible for me, with the caveat that I'm not going to use her if she can't beat the price my local bank. To cut a long story short she didn't get my business and couldn't even come close which I felt was a testiment to HSBC, I'm looking at renewing my mortgage very soon and have been offered 1.59%.

It's not all roses, the domestic banks (TD, RBC etc) are on every single street corner whereas there are only a handful of HSBC branches here, but I seldom need or want to go into a branch (even cheques are deposited from your phone camera using the app). I also notice HSBC are a bit slow with e-transfers (instant payments, similar to bank to bank transfers), instead of being instant they take about 30 minutes to come through. I've learned not to use e-transfers when picking up kijiji purchases so I can live with that too.

Obviously do you own research, but hopefully this is some food for thought.

eversmannx

Thanks. good to hear your feedback on HSBC.
I've looked into opening an account before arriving, but pretty much all of them need my work permit papers which are only given at the border. Not sure if this is the case with HSBC, but since i dont bank with them here, i didn't push it too much - opening a Canadian bank account seemed more like a nice to have rather than a necessity after doing a lot of reading here in the forum.
As per mortgage, it's good to know. So even if i choose to bank with one of the Canadian banks, I may run an HSBC account to explore.

Cheers

Siouxie

Do check out the links to the newcomer accounts in our wiki - you can definitely open a bank account prior to arriving and obtaining your work permit or PR - you can't use it (other than to transfer funds into it)until you have arrived and 'validated' your information though https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Banking-Canada

rivingtonpike

I didn’t think work permits were being processed and granted at borders at the moment

eversmannx

sorry i should've been clear. you can open an account and have it ready in the way you suggested, but i didn't see much value as opposed to sorting it out quickly after arrival. such is also the general consensus i got from reading previous posts.

Siouxie

Others may read your posts in the future so I wanted to ensure that they wouldn't think that it's impossible to open an account in advance.

It has advantages to start the process prior to arrival - including that you can have money transferred in 'ready' for when you arrive, rather than having to wait until your account is set up and then arrange it (delays will be involved).

eversmannx

Of course. I did think about it serious, because there was a period where the exchange rate was really good and if i were to transfer a few grand before arrival , would've made a big difference. Who knows whats gonna happen in the coming months and days, the exchange rates swing like crazy.

CAN_do_attitude

I set up HSBC “international” account to start with. Huge waste of time for me. Luckily I discovered TransferWise: bliss.
you have to watch the bank’s exchange rates! TransferWise uses spot rates and explicit, very low fees.

The banks don’t like TransferWise. This may explain why TW does not yet have a Canadian hub...so you can move dollars from TW to a Canadian bank but not vice-versa.

Siouxie

???
According to their website you can.

CAN_do_attitude

Let me clarify. 🙂
Each of my TW currency accounts, except CAD, specifies transfer details (account details, ABA no., etc) which is needed to tell the source bank where to send funds. So there is no account info to wire funds into my TW CAD account.

Yes, I could have Canadian funds wired into one of my other currency accounts and then convert it into my CAD account, but that involves multiple currency exchanges.

I may be missing something but I do not know how to wire Canadian dollars directly in to my TW CAD account.

Siouxie

I wasn't able to open a TW multi currency (borderless) account due to lack of ID required, but the company I was dealing with in the UK opened one and sent me a transfer direct to my Canadian bank account from their UK transferwise account... I just had to give them my account details (I could also have given my email address for an interac transfer)... perhaps that may be a way around the issue for you.
https://transferwise.com/gb/borderle...xplainer-video

DigitalGhost

Has anyone ever used a newcomer account with NBC? Tbh I'd never heard of this bank before but they offer an account that can be initially setup from abroad like the Scotiabank one can and also comes with no fees for the first 3 years and a free Mastercard without a credit history

https://www.nbc.ca/personal/accounts/newcomers.html.