Elizabeth

I think this question may have already been posted, but here goes..I
am moving to Canada. I have American bills, some ongoing and some
temporary (car loan, life insurance, student loan, and will have some
remaining credit card payments--not huge, but at least a couple of
months worth). I will need to send money at least monthly to my US
bank. Any suggestions on the best--and with the fewest fees--method of
doing this? When I lived overseas in Asia, I was able to wire money to
my US account monthly for a small fee..not sure how this would work
between CA US.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Vladimir Menkov

In article ,
Elizabeth wrote:
    >... I am moving to Canada. ...
    >I will need to send money at least monthly to my US
    >bank. Any suggestions on the best--and with the fewest fees--method of
    >doing this? When I lived overseas in Asia, I was able to wire money to
    >my US account monthly for a small fee..not sure how this would work
    >between CA US.


*Some* US banks (www.usaa.com for one) don't mind accepting Canadian
checks for deposit into your account. When I last tried it (in 2000),
if it was a US$ check (i.e., one written against your US$ checking
account in a Canadian bank), USAA FSB would credit the entire amount
with no fees deducted; if it was a CDN$ check, they would apply a very
reasonable exchange rate. They did not charge fees for depositing
Canadian checks (though they do charge a fee for depositing other
foreign checks).

But you need to check with your US bank before doing this: some banks
may charge you a fee for depositing a Canadian check; and, of course,
there may be a fund availability delay of several days or weeks.

For instant availability, wire transfers are also available, but they
will cost you a pretty penny. I think most Canadian banks will charge
$20-30 for a wire transfer to the USA. Most US banks won't charge a
fee for *receiving* a wire transfer.

--vladimir

S B

Elizabeth wrote:
    >
    > I think this question may have already been posted, but here goes..I
    > am moving to Canada. I have American bills, some ongoing and some
    > temporary (car loan, life insurance, student loan, and will have some
    > remaining credit card payments--not huge, but at least a couple of
    > months worth). I will need to send money at least monthly to my US
    > bank. Any suggestions on the best--and with the fewest fees--method of
    > doing this? When I lived overseas in Asia, I was able to wire money to
    > my US account monthly for a small fee..not sure how this would work
    > between CA US.
    >
    > Thanks for any suggestions.

Open a US$ account in Canada with US chequing privileges (they do exist)
and you can pay your bills that way. Or, get a US$ bank draft and mail
that to your US bank ... you may want to keep a float in the US bank so
that way you're a month ahead with the bills to stop holds causing
problems. Or, you can wire the money but the fee isn't exactly small.

sysclp

TD bank has an option to get a US checking account in their US division, TD Waterhouse. That way you can use online bill paying for your US bills, write checks on a US bank, and transfer money between your Canadian bank and US bank with a phone call for free. I have been in Canada for 2 years now and have been using this to pay my US credit cards and such with no problem. They also give you a Visa check card you can use in stores too.

Compiler

Oops!

Who's Eligible
Active duty, National Guard and Reserve enlisted personnel, officers
and officer candidates, and their families are eligible for membership
in USAA.
__________________________________________________ ________________________

[email protected] (Vladimir Menkov) wrote in message news:...
    > In article ,
    > Elizabeth wrote:
    > >... I am moving to Canada. ...
    > >I will need to send money at least monthly to my US
    > >bank. Any suggestions on the best--and with the fewest fees--method of
    > >doing this? When I lived overseas in Asia, I was able to wire money to
    > >my US account monthly for a small fee..not sure how this would work
    > >between CA US.
    >
    >
    > *Some* US banks (www.usaa.com for one) don't mind accepting Canadian
    > checks for deposit into your account. When I last tried it (in 2000),
    > if it was a US$ check (i.e., one written against your US$ checking
    > account in a Canadian bank), USAA FSB would credit the entire amount
    > with no fees deducted; if it was a CDN$ check, they would apply a very
    > reasonable exchange rate. They did not charge fees for depositing
    > Canadian checks (though they do charge a fee for depositing other
    > foreign checks).
    >
    > But you need to check with your US bank before doing this: some banks
    > may charge you a fee for depositing a Canadian check; and, of course,
    > there may be a fund availability delay of several days or weeks.
    >
    > For instant availability, wire transfers are also available, but they
    > will cost you a pretty penny. I think most Canadian banks will charge
    > $20-30 for a wire transfer to the USA. Most US banks won't charge a
    > fee for *receiving* a wire transfer.
    >
    > --vladimir

Elizabeth

Thanks for the great info. With TD Canada, do you have to have a
primary account open with them before you can get the US checking
account? I went to their Web site and there was something on there
about getting a "regular" TD account established beforehand. Also, we
do have a ScotiaBank account open in Ontario, they appear to have a US
funds type of account. Is this type of account an "actual" US account
with correct ABA/routing numbers, etc.?

thanks again..


sysclp wrote in message news:...
    > TD bank has an option to get a US checking account in their US division,
    > TD Waterhouse. That way you can use online bill paying for your US
    > bills, write checks on a US bank, and transfer money between your
    > Canadian bank and US bank with a phone call for free. I have been in
    > Canada for 2 years now and have been using this to pay my US credit
    > cards and such with no problem. They also give you a Visa check card
    > you can use in stores too.

sysclp

I don't know about Scotia Bank since my Canadian chequing account is with TD. I do know a TD US dollar account (the regular one, not the Waterhouse kind) would not let me pay my bills online and at least one of them (Discover) refused to accept checks not drawn on a US bank. So if I hadn't gotten the Waterhouse account I would have driven to Buffalo and opened one at a local bank there instead.

John D

Hello, I think the only acc that is an actual "US acc" is the Waterhouse
acc, in order to open the Waterhouse acc you need to open a regular TD acc,
no big deal, the good thing is that you receive a "check debit card", this
is not known in Canada but this card is a regular "debit card" with the Visa
Logo on it that you can use to buy online and use it as a credit card, the
only difference is that every purchase you make is debited from your
checking acc, hope this helps....



John

"Elizabeth" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Thanks for the great info. With TD Canada, do you have to have a
    > primary account open with them before you can get the US checking
    > account? I went to their Web site and there was something on there
    > about getting a "regular" TD account established beforehand. Also, we
    > do have a ScotiaBank account open in Ontario, they appear to have a US
    > funds type of account. Is this type of account an "actual" US account
    > with correct ABA/routing numbers, etc.?
    > thanks again..
    > sysclp wrote in message
news:...
    > > TD bank has an option to get a US checking account in their US division,
    > > TD Waterhouse. That way you can use online bill paying for your US
    > > bills, write checks on a US bank, and transfer money between your
    > > Canadian bank and US bank with a phone call for free. I have been in
    > > Canada for 2 years now and have been using this to pay my US credit
    > > cards and such with no problem. They also give you a Visa check card
    > > you can use in stores too.

John Paul Minda

Thanks for the good advice!

"John D" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hello, I think the only acc that is an actual "US acc" is the Waterhouse
    > acc, in order to open the Waterhouse acc you need to open a regular TD
acc,
    > no big deal, the good thing is that you receive a "check debit card", this
    > is not known in Canada but this card is a regular "debit card" with the
Visa
    > Logo on it that you can use to buy online and use it as a credit card, the
    > only difference is that every purchase you make is debited from your
    > checking acc, hope this helps....
    > John
    > "Elizabeth" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Thanks for the great info. With TD Canada, do you have to have a
    > > primary account open with them before you can get the US checking
    > > account? I went to their Web site and there was something on there
    > > about getting a "regular" TD account established beforehand. Also, we
    > > do have a ScotiaBank account open in Ontario, they appear to have a US
    > > funds type of account. Is this type of account an "actual" US account
    > > with correct ABA/routing numbers, etc.?
    > >
    > > thanks again..
    > >
    > >
    > > sysclp wrote in message
    > news:...
    > > > TD bank has an option to get a US checking account in their US
division,
    > > > TD Waterhouse. That way you can use online bill paying for your US
    > > > bills, write checks on a US bank, and transfer money between your
    > > > Canadian bank and US bank with a phone call for free. I have been in
    > > > Canada for 2 years now and have been using this to pay my US credit
    > > > cards and such with no problem. They also give you a Visa check card
    > > > you can use in stores too.