How to chose a bank..
@artsyfartsygypsy (755)
Canada
March 19, 2010 12:37pm CST
I need to find a bank here in Canada that I can use for everyday, personal banking and maybe that will loan money for school and such. Id like it to be one thats international and therefore can access anywhere I am in the world and will never be without cash. I would also like one thats 100% trustworthy and any more information you have on benefits (such as interest, travel points, etc) is helpful.
1 person likes this
1 response
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
19 Mar 10
Dream on, my good man! Canada has many good banks, but because of international crime, money laundering, etc. you can not get money across the border and into a foreign country except by wire. I am Canadian, but I live in Texas USA for 5 months each winter. The best way I've found to transfer money from Canada to the US is to have a US account in a Canadian bank, then I email my Canadian bank transferring money to my US account (this automatically changes Canadian funds to US funds. then I write a check on the US funds in the Canadian bank, and deposit it here in my Texas Bank Account. Its very unhandy, as I do all my banking via email, but this is the best solution I've been able to come up with.
@artsyfartsygypsy (755)
• Canada
21 Mar 10
Well I have no problem doing all my wire transactions through independant businesses (Western Union type thing and the likes) and paypal or another product such as it.
What bank do you use that is also there in Texas with you?
That dosnt sound like a very easy or good system especially sicne I will be traveling to many different countries and natiopns and tehrefore the amount of fines I will have for currency conversion will be enormous!
You say this is the best solution, what others have you tried or considered?
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
21 Mar 10
I would not consider wire transactions because of the cost. The banks all add a cost for handling currency exchange, and there are usually currency conversion costs. When we were traveling in Vietnam the US dollar was worth 16,000 Dong. When we first came to Texas we dealt with the IBC bank, but we had to wait for 30 days for our checks to clear. We soon found a bank that was more friendly to Canadians. I've been working to find the best solution for over ten years and this is the best I've been able to find.
