Is it a good way to open a USD account in Canada and transfer the money in USD?

[slowokan]

Hi guys.

I've searched the forum, but couldn't find anything about the method, I wonder. Here is the thing;

I will be landing in Edmonton in April. I asked RBC and they said I am able to open an account before landing in Canada. What I am thinking to do is, I will open a USD account at RBC. I will transfer all my USD from my account at a Turkish bank to the USD account at RBC. Then when I get to Canada, I will withdraw as much as I need and exchange the USD to CAD at a exchange office to get better rates.

I think only expense will be the wiring fees. No high exchange rates from banks, which are 0.02 or more shorter than the real rates most of the time.

What do you think about this method? Am I missing something?

 

[jazibkg]

Well most banks in Canada will accept USD deposits even into CAD accounts. And you can withdraw USD even from CAD accounts at the interbank rate. I bank with CIBC and they facilitate this, I don't think RBC should be any different.

You really don't need to go through the long process of withdrawing USD, then converting into CAD, the bank can do it for you. So going through this long process may be unnecessary.

So you can just open a CAD account in Canada if possible, send money to it, and wire transfer whichever currency it will ultimately convert to CAD. Currently, you'll get a very good rate as the CAD is low compared to the USD.

 

[CanV]

Well most banks in Canada will accept USD deposits even into CAD accounts. And you can withdraw USD even from CAD accounts at the interbank rate. I bank with CIBC and they facilitate this, I don't think RBC should be any different.

You really don't need to go through the long process of withdrawing USD, then converting into CAD, the bank can do it for you. So going through this long process may be unnecessary.

So you can just open a CAD account in Canada if possible, send money to it, and wire transfer whichever currency it will ultimately convert to CAD. Currently, you'll get a very good rate as the CAD is low compared to the USD.

Do you work in a bank or are you heavily invested in one? Banks exchange rate (thats what they call it when it's actually market exchange rate plus their FEES) is way higher than other local currency exchange businesses.

 

[jazibkg]

It might cost a few bucks more, but it will be convenient in the end. Plus, this way conversion is only done ONCE.

Newcomer accounts are exempt from service fees nowadays.

 

[slowokan]

I probably will choose to open a CAD account at RBC and send my Turkish Liras direct to my Canadian account and be ready to be affected from banks' crazy exchange rates. Finding that much CAD at exchange offices in Turkey is another story.. ???

I don't work at a bank. I am an engineer. That's just my savings.

Thanks for advice, guys..

 

[CanV]

I probably will choose to open a CAD account at RBC and send my Turkish Liras direct to my Canadian account and be ready to be affected from banks' crazy exchange rates. Finding that much CAD at exchange offices in Turkey is another story.. ???

I don't work at a bank. I am an engineer. That's just my savings.

Thanks for advice, guys..

You might wanna do the math if you are talking about a large amount. Exchanging Turkish Liras to Canadian Dollars is expensive to start with, banks love those transactions, they make alot of money of. You might wanna compare it to exchanging your Lira to USD in Turkey then bringing the money and exchanging USD to CAD.

 

[slowokan]

You might wanna do the math if you are talking about a large amount. Exchanging Turkish Liras to Canadian Dollars is expensive to start with, banks love those transactions, they make alot of money of. You might wanna compare it to exchanging your Lira to USD in Turkey then bringing the money and exchanging USD to CAD.

Yes, that's my plan. But it is quite a bit hassle, to withdraw that much and go to the exchange office and then go back to the bank. Too much hassle and stressful moments. Maybe, I will do it in amounts of 10,000 to reduce the risk, I don't know.

Thanks for the comments guys..

 

[david1697]

I think if you want to get the most of your money and loose the least of it in fees, then you should go to USFOREX.COM and use their service to transfer your funds to Canada.
They are very fast and will cost you the least to transfer your funds in excess of $10000

If convenience is your top priority and you don't mind loosing hundreds of dollars on exchange rates then do as the poster above suggested, deposit USD funds to USD account of one of Canadian Banks with affiliates where you are and then just go and withdraw your funds in CAD in Canada.

RBC Royal for example has option where you can deposit your funds in USD through PNC branch, and (assuming you have RBS US Bank account and RBC Royal account in Canada) you can transfer your funds instantly to your CAD account in Canada, or to your USD account in Canada from which you can transfer it to your CAD account or withdraw at current exchange rates of RBC Bank.

 

[slowokan]

Thank you david1697. I checked USForex. But even in their rate, CAD is 3 cents higher than my exchange office. With my savings to be exchanged, I will be losing almost 3,000 CAD due to high rates.

The best way I found out is I will open a CAD account here in Turkey, and I will withdraw my Turkish Liras and exchange it amounts of 10,000 CAD. Even finding 10,000 CAD is not easy in Turkey. It is not a common currency here.

For sure my bank advisor will advise me to let them open a CAD account for me and do the exchange without letting me to withdraw, exchange and deposit again. It is super easy for sure, only thing I need to do is to call them and tell them to do. But in this way I will be losing 3,000 CAD or so.

Thanks anyway..

 

[david1697]

slowokan, I don't know what your bank charges for currency exchange.

I know that unless you are a bank, you can't get an exchange of currency at the interbank rates.

All banks charge individuals exchange fees (included in exchange rate), and in most cases it costs a lot.

When I compared rates of USFOREX to what our banks would charge, I found it to be a money-saver, especially for exchanges in excess of $10000
Therefore I normally advise people to take advantage of those rates which are better than what banks here offer.

By all means if your bank offers you a better rate than USFOREX, take it.

Good luck.

 

[slowokan]

Ok. Thank you david1697. Appreciated..

I'll try my best.

 

[david1697]

You are very welcome.

Make sure you read fine print and understand what you are actually paying for exchange and transfer of funds.

Best of luck

 

[next2015]

Slowakan,
I appreciate that you want convenience but you also need as much money as you can get your hands on (we're only human ). If you really want a good deal on your money, you're better off getting USD in turkey then convert that to CAD. With the way the Canadian economy is now, you will get more CAD for your USD.

You could consider opening a USD account and CAD account - do the exchange elsewhere and deposit the CAD.

For me it's all about maximising value.

 

[david1697]

I don't know if they have usforex.com offering international money transfer in OP country and I am not sure he checked the rates on usforex.com site before posting a reply to my suggestion, but I can assure anyone reading this that I have not found a Bank in US or Canada that would exchange and transfer funds from US to Canada (one vice versa) with greater savings than US Forex does (if transferring $10000 USD or more).

 

[mrbeachman]

Be careful wiring US finds into Canadian US account.

If you open a US account from any Canadian bank what may happen is that you may have to pay for conversion twice. Once the money is sent into Canada it will be converted to Canadian dollars and then back into US dollars. This is known to happen from time to time. The safest bet when wiring money would be to open a US bank account with physical location in USA. TD, Royal Bank and BMO offer this service.