Originally Posted by CDSmith

As far as I know, and I'm speaking about all the banks I know of in my area, anyone can take US cash in and exchange it for Canadian. And yes, they take a small cut but so what? It's close enough to current exchange to be worth it.

Also, at least at my own banks, they take no cut of what I, an account holder, transfer. None. I get current exchange rate, period. Don't know about anyone else's bank.

You do know that the "buy" rate is always a bit different than the "sell" rate at banks, don't you? When exchanging US for Canadian you are always going to get a bit less per dollar, usually about 2 cents.