Canadian Webmasters: How do you bank?
 

Do you have a CDN$ or US$ bank account?
For those receiving checks in US$ funds, what are your holds like?

wires :)

RBC holds US checks for 30 working days

credit union - I have a US dollar account with them. no holds on wires. never received checks over $30K (everything just seemed to go to wire transfers after the amounts went over $10K) but the larger checks I did cash never had a hold on them.

I use both, US and Canadian bank accounts.

I have both US and Canadian accounts...

My bank doesn't hold any of my revenues anymore. As I made it perfectly clear that if they did I would take all my RRSP's, savings and future lending to the bank across the street.

Hehe they pretty much give me whatever I want now.

DH

RBC does not hold my checks. Complain about it, they will cash then like Canadian checks.

If they dont, change bank. Your new bank will want your biz and most prob. wont hold the checks.


Ray

US account with a credit union. No holds on checks.



shemp

both CDN$ and US$ accounts at credit union and no holds.

CDN and US as well

15 day hold
but i'm in no rush

scotiabank is the best to deal with. after 3 months, they give you cashback on your account and you can cash anything up to that amount.

royal bank has no procedures for us cheques, they just fuck you around. i'm with scotiabank and they don't dick you around at all.

wires for my paysites.

i get some minor US checks, but they don't dare give me any 'hold' bullshit. though when i first started out, the whole reason i went to wires is because of the hold back BS...

Well, I bank with several institutions....

We have a large chunk of change with RBC - US and Cad $ accounts. They still hold our funds... and we been banking with them for two years.. business accounts. They want us to develop a relationship with one of their managers... but the managers dont return calls. If we didnt need RBC to process credit cards we would leave.

Also Bank with BMO. Business and Personal. They also hold all check and deposits... personally I have banked their for 5 years. Personally I have a LOC and a decent chunk of cash in a savings account and a bunch of RRSP's... and yet they still hold my checks and that pisses me off.

On the business accounts, BMO is really expensive.. the fees we pay end up being close to $1000 per month.. wires and shit cost a bunch.

I hate banks but I dont feel comfortable with a few hundred grand under my mattress

Open a US and a Canadian bank account.

With RB you can transfer from US to Canadian account at the current rate whenver you want.

You will get less hassles and look more like a playa if you deposit a US check to your US account, then go home and transfer it to Canadian and you're done.

Though, they can still put a hold on it regardless of what account you try and deposit it into. They CAN hold it for up to 30 days. I KNOW that they can call down to the issuing bank in the US 5-6 biz days later and confirm that the check is good and then release the funds for you - I've had it done by RB.

Obviously wires are a non-issue because they are gauranteed funds and you never have to communicate with a teller to recevie them.

Lastly, talk to someone at your bank. I never have US checks held and sometimes there is barely any money in that account, because I have notes added to my accounts saying not to hold us checks because I spoke with them after having a few large checks go thru no problem and explained to them that I rec'v 5 us checks/week etc.

If you don't have the greatest image at your bank - find another branch and befriend someone there, then have them switch your accounts to that branch, put the notes on, then you can go to ANY branch and just say 'check the notes biotch' - no holds ;p

And without the notes - remember that it is the teller's discretion and they can cash a $5k us check with a library card if they felt like it. So.... don't go to a new/young teller, look for the person that has been there a while and likes effeciency. Wait for them, let other people go ahead of you if need be. And give them the check with authority and dress nice.

Good luck ;)

i'm with the b of m. i was actually about to do just that. buy a really nice brief case and pull all of my cash, after i was defrauded for about 35K US this summer - but they begged and cried, refunded me the money stolen right away, and gave me free banking fees (including wires) for 6 months, so i'm still with them lol.

I fuckin hate the BoM - about 10 years ago I went to get a mortage on my first house. I was paying $750/month rent (for winnipeg that's HIGH and a NICE pad 10 years ago) but since I was only 4 years self employed at that point even though I had a good income they told me a $420/month mortage was far too much. UNREAL!!! I walked out and into a credit union that just laughed at that and told me to pretty much go buy any house I wanted. Never been back to the BoM since and done all my business with credit unions ever since.

We use ScotiaBank and they are awesome here. Then again this is a very small branch in a small town where everyone knows everyone. And the hubby's parents bank there and they are well known and respected, so that helps too.. We can get a mortgage over the phone, or any size loan pretty much.. we have a us and canadian business account and they don't EVER hold our cheques. The Scotiabank in Calgary, however was the EXACT opposite.. what a bunch of fucking losers! They never got ANYTHING right, and they acctually tried to put a hold on a MONEY ORDER once. Fucking morons.

I'm happy with our bank now though :) They basically kiss our asses, and they have some hot tellers too.

BMO set me up with no holds on a US chequing account. Funds instantly.

I just talked to the branch manager where I have dealt for years.

You're Canadian?

great that you've had a good experience with them. they were my first bank, and i told them to fuck off over all the hassles they gave me.

i think a lot of it depends on which branch you're dealing with...

...jeez. You, too? This is one canuckian board.

that sucks. i've had very good experiences with the over the years, other than the fraud thing. and even then, they went the extra mile for me.

i don't have a mortage (or any debt) so i can't comment on that...

Scotiabank was the bank that had my student loans... at the time I had to start paying them back, I was working for HSBC...

so I set up an eft transfer from my hsbc account to my scotiabank students loans at the beginning of every month..

the loan amount was $480 per month...

At this time, I was banking small cash - $10 per hour. I think my twice monthly checks were $680 or so... so $1200 per month...

anyways, scotiabank double eft'ed me two months in a row - they wouldnt give me my money back either even tho they admitted it was their error.

I was literally starving for the last two weeks of the second month.. no money, no food, no nothing. I couldnt even drive to work (no gas), I had to walk for an hour or more to work, and 1.5 hours back, I lived at the top of a mountain <westwood plateau> and worked down on lougheed, sucked.

Anyways, I never will do biz with scotia again. They could be awesome now and I still wouldnt use them.

I've got a US and Canadian account with TD and they don't hold my cheques. I've been banking there for years and everybody in the branch knows me so I think that helps.

The banks put 30day holds or whatever so they can make money off that cash while you don't get access to it. So 30days they play with it, make some cash then give it to you.

If you got hold on your checks your getting suckered. But if you don't need access to the cash who really gives a fuck.

I use TD Canada Trust, Canadian bank account, 0 days hold b/c all the tellers know me, and wouldn't even try and put a hold of them.

I used to use Alberta Treasury Branch, Canadian bank account, 0 days hold if I told them I had cleared a cheque from that company before.

(Reason for the switch is I moved cities and there was a TD canadian trust across the street from me. hehe)

ZoiNk

I havn't had a mortage for a long time now either. Very nice.

currently, i get a hold of about 15 business days, where as the standard is 20 business days. back in the day, i had no holds, but then i had a few bad checks from xpics.

i'm going to be getting this account very soon:
http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/usbanking/checking.jsp

it's a US$ checking account offered by TD Waterhouse, TD's american counterpart.

Pros:
- no holds
- you get a visa check card
- your funds are insured
- you have no problems writing checks
- you get preferntial rates when transferring to your CDN$ bank account
- they offer web/phone banking (most banks don't offer that for US$ accounts)

Cons:
- if you're depositing checks, you gotta mail them in
- you gotta have an existing TD account

Royal Bank

I'm friendly with the tellers so I get no holding periods for my US checks.

By the way, any know the maximum amount you can deposit before setting off a Revenue Canada flag? I do pay taxes btw, just curious

Dude, do you not understand the concept behind check holds?
It's to allow the check to clear. If a check bounces, it costs money to all those involved.
The length of the hold is decided by a few things. First and foremost is the bank's trust in you. If you've had bad checks before, or you have a poor credit history or a history of fraud done on your account, they'll put a hold on it. Also, if the check is coming from a foreign institution, it takes longer to clear, hence the longer hold period.

The bank isn't "playing" with your money, because they don't know if that money exists. They'd be taking a risk and subsequently a loss if your check bounces.

If your checks are being held for more than 30 days, you're getting raped.

it only take a couple weeks to clear. 30 days is getting raped. longest i've seen is 21 days and thats pretty much standard at any branch around here from royal, cibc and scotia.

You mean it is possible to make money as a Canadian?? Dammit..

Cheers,
Matt

It's all about knowing the guys in the branch, i got TD and now that its been 6 months of cashing US checkes they love me so much they would cash anything. U also gotta push it a bit, ask for more all the time, since the bank across the street is always open, so why not take advantage of competition!

Apply for their credit cards, they give it out right away.

I have us and can accounts, i deposit checks into my us, i wait for a good rate, and convert.

i have an account with Royal Bank, for the past 6 years,with a u.s and canadian acct,and my checks get processed the next day.
:thumbsup

If you have any relationship with your bank, there should be NO holds....

me too

I work for my bank. They still put holds cause I've had bad checks in the past from american internet companies.

why does the branch give you a credit card, no questions asked? cause they make commission off of it. they get about 2% of whatever limit they give you. they give you a 10k limit, they get $200 commission. and what if you don't pay the credit card? no problem, cause it's the responsibility of a different department.

I worked for a bank for a few years.

Checks take 1 night to clear now if they are from Canada (for Canadian banks).

International checks can still take up to 5 days to clear, but average was around 3 days.

There is no reason for these insane 30 day holds... the onlly reason the bank gives is that someone could cancel the check and so the hold is to protect the bank against that. But that is also BS. The hold is there to have funds to play with for the banks... not that I have proof of that, but why else put a hold on the checks when the funds go thru the clearing house so quickly?

Why hold it for longer? Cause if it turns out to be a phony check and they give you the money, they take a loss.
A phony check can clear, and then 2 weeks later it may turn up that the funds in the other account were phony (bad check, empty envelope deposit in an atm).
so like i said, it all boils down to the bank's trust in you.

as for an international check taking 5 days to clear, i don't agree with that... unless you worked for a US bank and things are different down there.

International clearing house is actually quite efficient - 5 days is the outside.

I forget but I believe a check can be cancelled up to 90 days after it is written? Anyways, if the check had a stop payment on it, the funds wouldnt make it thru the clearinghouse... so once again the 30 day hold is crazy :)

I dont mind an overnight hold for a large CAD check deposit or a hold for a few days on large US check deposit. But 5 days for a CAD check and 27 days for a US check is insane.

I worked for HSBC for about 4 years.... although I havent worked there for 4 years now - I am sure things have improved in the banking industry.. I mean, I would hope so.