Banking in the USA? (Canadian asking)

[quilledink]

Hi all,

I'm moving from Vancouver to Ithaca, NY to begin my doctoral studies in August. Does anyone have any suggestions for banking (and is this the right place to post this)? I'm primarily interested in making sure I can easily move funds between my Canadian and US accounts, at least initially. I suspect by the time I'm 6 months in, I'll be using my US account primarily.

 

I currently bank with RBC, and they do have US accounts, but they charge something like $4/month which is ridiculous. Has anyone seen anything better?

(And any further advice on the move would be appreciated!)

Cheers,

quilledink

[TakeruK]

We use BMO in Canada. I like BMO because you just need a minimum balance in one account and all accounts do not have extra charges. The way we transfered our money was to first open a US Dollar account at BMO (it also gives you a slightly better exchange rate) and then we wrote bank drafts in US Dollars out of that account (the drafts are drawn from BMO's US Bank affiliate so it counts as a US cheque). BMO creates these drafts for us for free and we just carried these across the border and deposited them in our new US account. Having a US Bank Draft makes things go a lot faster because it only takes a few days for the money to clear, not weeks!

 

Another option is to use TD, because they have branches in eastern US too and they actually allow you just make this transfer online. This would be the best route to use! However, this wasn't an option for us since TD doesn't exist in California  

[1Q84]

I've been holding off (for two years) to bring my Canadian bucks over the border. Alas, the loonie has fallen even more since then. Bah! 

[quilledink]

We use BMO in Canada. I like BMO because you just need a minimum balance in one account and all accounts do not have extra charges. The way we transfered our money was to first open a US Dollar account at BMO (it also gives you a slightly better exchange rate) and then we wrote bank drafts in US Dollars out of that account (the drafts are drawn from BMO's US Bank affiliate so it counts as a US cheque). BMO creates these drafts for us for free and we just carried these across the border and deposited them in our new US account. Having a US Bank Draft makes things go a lot faster because it only takes a few days for the money to clear, not weeks!

 

Another option is to use TD, because they have branches in eastern US too and they actually allow you just make this transfer online. This would be the best route to use! However, this wasn't an option for us since TD doesn't exist in California

 

Great, thanks! I didn't know that BMO let you do that, or that TD had branches in the Eastern US. I'll definitely look into them

And, yeah, the Canadian dollar has dropped a ridiculous amount. I'm trying to put down a security deposit on an apartment right now and the conversion rate is brutal, to say the least...

[TakeruK]

I was really lucky and managed to move the initial money I needed when the Canadian dollar was at par or even slightly better than the US dollar! 

 

My school offers an interest-free, fee-free startup loan ($2500) for new students. You get it a month before the program starts, then there is a 6 month grace period, and then you pay off the $2500 in 18 equal monthly installments. This is extremely helpful for things like apartment deposits and other startup costs! Maybe your school can offer something similar, which can help you keep your savings in Canada (all of our savings are still there!)

[quilledink]

I was really lucky and managed to move the initial money I needed when the Canadian dollar was at par or even slightly better than the US dollar! 

 

My school offers an interest-free, fee-free startup loan ($2500) for new students. You get it a month before the program starts, then there is a 6 month grace period, and then you pay off the $2500 in 18 equal monthly installments. This is extremely helpful for things like apartment deposits and other startup costs! Maybe your school can offer something similar, which can help you keep your savings in Canada (all of our savings are still there!)

Thanks for the tip! I had no idea that this was even a thing. I've already put down the security deposit, but it sounds extremely useful for paying my first month's rent and such... thanks!

[CDNTrish]

I opened an RBC Bank USA account through RBC. That was a few years ago, I think they are now RBC Georgia. I am able to move my money easily online either between my Canadian RBC USD account or regular checking account to my RBC Georgia account. I've gotten checks from them too, and a visa/debit card. It's really easy and convenient. The only down side is that they don't really have branches in the Northeast, but since you can do most things online, it wasn't an issue for me, and I prefered having everything in one place.

[MathCat]

Does anyone have suggestions for banking in California? I'm currently with ScotiaBank in Canada, with a savings account and a credit card, but there's nothing great about my accounts and I would be happy to move to another bank that is easier for banking in the US. Opening a USD account with them (in Canada, for transfers to whatever American account I open) would have a monthly fee + charges associated with transfers, so it sounds like there are better deals out there.

[TakeruK]

quilledink, no problem! I am not sure if this type of program is common across US schools or if my school is special though. Hope I didn't set you up for disappointment if your school cannot offer something like that!

 

MathCat, we looked long and hard but there are no banks in California that has synergy with Canadian banks We are using Citibank right now (which is international and there are investment offices in Canada, but no regular banking) and they are fine. We mostly chose them because they were closest to us, but they just decided to stop opening on Saturdays (for all but one location in town). I think the big banks down here--Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi--are pretty much the same.

 

Also, ScotiaBank doesn't have good deals on their accounts at all in Canada! As I said above, we also looked at a lot of different Canadian banks to find the best deal and with BMO, we can get a very good service plan with no fees for a fairly small minimum balance. The service plan even includes a limited number of no-fee ATM withdrawals internationally, which is good for emergencies.

[MathCat]

Yeah, I'm only still with ScotiaBank because I have no service fees as long as I'm a student. I am planning on moving banks anyway. I guess I'll just switch and worry about what to do in California separately. Thanks TakeruK.

[kyjin]

Mathcat- If you're looking at banks in SoCal, the big ones down here are Wells Fargo, Chase, and Bank of America. I've had Wells Fargo for a couple years and it's quite convenient.

 

Looks like the others have found options for the east coast already, but as an American who went to Canada and back for a couple years, I do have to second the recommendation for TD if you're on the east coast. I was with TD for nine years (technically less because TD bought my original bank), and when I moved to Canada for my MA, I got a TD account up there. When I moved back to the US, transferring my money to USD and back to my US TD account was easy and did not involve exorbitant fees. Unfortunately no TD banks on the west coast, hence a switch when I moved for my PhD.

 

Good luck!

[1Q84]

I was really lucky and managed to move the initial money I needed when the Canadian dollar was at par or even slightly better than the US dollar! 

 

My school offers an interest-free, fee-free startup loan ($2500) for new students. You get it a month before the program starts, then there is a 6 month grace period, and then you pay off the $2500 in 18 equal monthly installments. This is extremely helpful for things like apartment deposits and other startup costs! Maybe your school can offer something similar, which can help you keep your savings in Canada (all of our savings are still there!)

 

TakeruK! Thanks for the tip on looking at what schools offer. I went searching and stumbled upon the USC Credit Union. I was happy to find that they provide super low interest rates... and that was something that was stressing me out when I saw another one of your posts that mentioned owning a car can cost about $5000 per year in California (probably more in LA!)

[TakeruK]

The actual annual cost for just the car right now is a little under $3000 ($1300 for insurance, $500 gas, $500 maintenance, $300 parking, $200 registration). We took out a very low interest car loan to buy the car, so it's only because I'm including these car payments that the cost swells up to $5000+ per year....if you already have a car and it's already paid off, then your cost should be lower, I hope!!

 

My wife and I would not have been able to afford buying a new-ish used car in LA county if we weren't both working! In fact, we did not buy a car until we both have established incomes (took about a year).