Canadians how do you cash american checks?
 

Do you just deposit them like normal and the bank makes the exchange rate adjustment in your account or do you have to do something else?

Do you have to pay exchange rate fees everytime you cash a check?

open a US account, deposite the check and bank do all the exchange rate for you

Didnt know they had US accounts...thanks

you have to wait 25 days for US checks to clear

Just make sure when you go to the Teller down at Peabodies Bank that you remind them"Dems Us American Dolla's..We havent seen them in this here parts...We have to wait until Friday when Billybob rides in on Matilda the mule for the mail to arrive...:glugglug

Get to know your tellers, they won't put holds on your cheques if they know you. They will put holds on for the first few months, but once they know you and know you always bring in US cheques, they won't put holds on them. Happened to me at several banks, and the tellers even know me by name. heh.
ZoiNk

not if you have a large enough balance...

Well that depends on how long you had the acct! and your relationship with your financial institution!:2 cents:

25 days for US checks to clear?
jesus are you fucking kidding me?

good think my main sponsor does direct deposits into my bank thats already linked to my atm card and my second biggest sponsor does paypal that i can transfer to my main account in days.

But I still get a lot of small $35-$200 checks from smaller sponsors and that sucks to wait a month for them to clear.

scotiabank seems to have the best policies for cashing american cheques. with cashback on your account, any teller will cash the cheques with no holds up to your cashback amount.

CIBC puts 5 day hold on anything over a grand and just
let's them through for under a grand. Companies that
send every 2 weeks, I don't get hassled regardless of
the value.

As to exchange rate. They look it up when you deposit
and ask you if you still want to make the deposit at
that rate. It's usually about .03 differance on the money
market posted rate.

It's amazing how people behave around those with a bigger balance than them. When I was just a punk I was treated like shit. Now that I have some money in the vault, they treat me like a fucking king. Fuckin' hoosers.

There are two options.

1. Deposit into your Canadian account and get paid the exchange rate that day.

2. Deposit into a US funds account and transfer money to your Canadian account another day.

Option #2 is good for people who watch the exchange rate often, and they can transfer money at the right time to get more on the exchange.

I agree, I use scotiabank and cash US cheques all the time and havent had any problems. They get pissed off if you tell them its in USD after they counted the money.

You can get around that easily ... you can cash US cheques at money mart ... They will take a 2.9% levy on the cheque ... but sure beats waiting 30 days ...

depending on the banks, they might freeze it for up to 1 month....

I'm at Royal Bank, and they're a class act..

got my two accounts... Canadian and USD Currency....

deposit US in the US account... or if I need it instantly in the Canadian one, deposit it there..

they use the market's current currency value to SELL Us Dollars...

usually I just go online and transfer from the Us to CDN to pay my bills... that's pretty much it...

real easy

Natinal Bank of Canada here

US account opened for my USD checks and I of course have also a canadian account. The bank froze my checks only once for 15 days, they now know me and I can withdraw anytime after deposit!

Royal Bank is a real good choice also for international stuff!

LOL! Well if you are depositing a cheque over $2000 CAN that means Money Mart is keeping $58! Plus the exchange rate they give you is nowhere as good as the bank gives you... I got 1.56% when I deposited a few cheques yesterday at CIBC. I doubt Moneymart will give you anywhere near that much...

Generally I agree with the statement about getting to know your tellers. Once they see you coming in every week and depositing $3000-4000 they get to trust you very quickly. :)

DH

Marcus,
In any bank around the world, if you are a new customer opening an account with few dollars you will have to go through this
rig-a-ma-row until they've got some feel of who you are and what you deposit.
To save yourself problems when you get here, have your bank write you a letter of reference on how you conduct your finances (what your average monthly balance is and if you've written bad checks or deposited bad checks). When you get here, open your account right away and have your important documents with you along with a credit card (so they know you are credit worthy).
If you have money that you will be bringing with you, make sure it's not cash, it's not over $ 10,000.00 (can't get through customs with that kind of money-and if you do, you'll have problems depositing it) Leave instructions with your bank that you will be advising them where you will require them to wire your funds to.
Please make sure you advise them that you want your funds to remain in US dollars. When you open your account, the smart thing to do will be to open a US and a Canadian account.
Make sure your original bank gets the US account number to transfer funds to or it will be in Canadian and you can't change it back without losing on the conversion.

If you think you will need about 2000 a month for expenses, please bring double so you can work around the 30day holds.

When they see you've had your money wired (hopefully enough to cover your first month's deposits) they will consider removing the holds. Try to speak directly with the manager of the bank and advise of your situation (the amount of US checks you will be depositing for some freelance work you do on the net).


Also, you may want to leave instructions with your bank on making your Credit Card payments as I recall, you can't make payments to credit cards that are not in the same currency.


Hope that helps!

Money Mart. Only 6 bucks on a hun!

actuall my bank ( a credit union) clears US checks right away, but makes me wait 7 days for a canadian check over $10K to clear. Their logic is that it's a much more serious criminal offense to write a large bad checkfroma US bank so they feel safer with US checks than canadian ones. Sad eh?

Yes it depends on your relationship with your bank. They CAN hold them up to 20-30 days.

If you ARE faced with that situation and they are refusing to budge you can try and get them to call the issusing bank in the US 5 days later to see if it has cleared the US bank because that's how long it really takes.

Whether you use a Canadian or a US account - it doesn't really matter - tho with a US account it looks better because you can deposit it first - then turn around and transfer it into Canadian funds online etc when you go home and use your debit card to get the $$.

I go to the bank ... give the teller my check ... flash my STAFF card, and it's all over... none of this 25 day BS ...

(btw, for those of you who are waiting 25 days, it's bullshit! Set up a meeting with them! and tell them you will be getting these 'type-o-checks' weekly/monthly whatever-ly " ... and if not right away, after a few good checks, they will comply ;-) )

Also, it can NEVER hurts to flirt with the hot looking
still-in-university teller ... and it can only increase your sex life ;-) hehehe

- Wes

Marcus,
If you have a good relationship with your bank, ask who their corresponding bank in Canada is and if they can open your account before you get here. With references from a corresponding bank and deposits going in before you get here, you should be good when you arrive.
That's probably your best bet.

If you don't have a Social Insurance Card and a Canadian Credit bureau, you'll have trouble from the start. Have your bank do the footwork for you in advance so it'll be easier for you when you get here.