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Email this3:02 pm
December 22, 2011
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I noticed Ally just opened a US$ savings account with a starting rate of 0.65%. That rate beats ING and Manulife but it looks like ICICI is still the leader at 0.75%. Just to let you know all US$ savings accounts is not covered by CDIC. Still, thats a good rate to park your US$ while you save for a cross border shopping trip or vacation in the USA. Peter, what's your taughts on having a column in the camparison chart for US$ saving rates?
7:10 pm
December 12, 2009
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That's good to know. Plus, Ally now has an internal mailing list (that I was added to) for customers that want to know if and when Ally eventually offers chequing accounts, so it's certainly on their radar. 
That said, I'd prefer the comparison chart to be in one currency. However, a second chart for foreign currency savings is certainly a good idea.
Cheers,
Doug
7:55 pm
December 22, 2011
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Oh ok Doug, sounds good. Yeah I had an Ally account for almost two years now and I seem to be happy with them so far. They only hold my funds for two business days when I transfer funds to them where as ING holds my funds for five business days. I have been after Ally for chequing accounts too and that would be a great feature along with a debit card.
10:27 pm
moneysaver said:
Oh ok Doug, sounds good. Yeah I had an Ally account for almost two years now and I seem to be happy with them so far. They only hold my funds for two business days when I transfer funds to them where as ING holds my funds for five business days. I have been after Ally for chequing accounts too and that would be a great feature along with a debit card.
While I am not a supporter of Ally I do like the interest, here, in US$ accounts.
Coast Capital in BC is where I hold the majority of my US$'s although interest rate is insignificant. I moved it from BMO when I discovered my US$ account was not covered by CDIC but was by CUDIC at Coast Capital. I find using BMO to purchase US$'s is very easy by doing an online transfer that is usually handled within an hour or so. I transfer from a CDN $ account to my US$ account and you can specify to transfer an amount in either US or CDN. I then have a US$ Mastercard at BMO and I pay it from the US$ account as a 'transfer' and you cannot post date the payment. I then move surplus US$ manually from BMO and deposit it to Coast Capital. BMO interest rate on US$ account is also insignificant. BMO has the best I have seen for buying US$'s, and paying US$ Mastercard. Coast Capital does NOT have an online transfer option nor does it have the option of paying a US$ credit card online either. Thus the need for an account at BMO and at a Credit Union.
Coast Capital all currencies … covered by …. The Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation (CUDIC), a statutory corporation, guarantees all deposits and non-equity shares of British Columbia credit unions as set out in the Financial Institutions Act.
https://www.coastcapitalsavings.com/Personal/Banking/Chequing_Accounts/Coast_US_Chequing_Account/
5:08 am
December 22, 2011
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Hi 88Kanaka. I looked at Coast Capital before but because I live in Ontario they won't let me open an account. This is what I do for US$ purchases. I have a BMO US$ account as well and a BMO US$ Mastercard. But I get 99% of my US$ from XE.COM. I have been a member of XE.COM for almost two years and they are great. They charge about one and a half cents over the mid market rate for US$. Then I have XE.COM setup as a Internet Biller from BMO and pay XE as it was a bill payment for free. (I have the premium account from BMO which gives me unlimited transactions). Because XE.COM banks with BMO too, the turn around time for me to get my US$ is about 1 to 2 business days, put right in my US$ Savings account at BMO. Then I transfer it to ING and park it there until I go cross border shopping or go on a vacation in the USA. But now I will be parking my US$ in the new Ally US$ savings account because of their higher interest. The other 1% of my US$ purchases is with ING. I noticed they are about one and a half cents over the mid market rate too but not all the time because ING sets their rate when they feel like it but XE.COM is every 60 seconds. I will be honest, I never bought a cent from BMO as of yet. How much do they charge 88Kanaka for US$? They keep telling me they will give me a better rate than others because of my premium account. XE.com is based out of Vancouver. Here's the link if you want to join. I highly recommend them.
9:47 am
May 15, 2007
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Interesting tip about xe.com; I'd never thought of them as more than just showing and calculating rates!
I would be interested to set up a separate chart (and perhaps others for other types of accounts such as GICs) but the issue is maintenance. Is anybody interested in helping moderate and update content on the site? Or do you have any suggestions on how to make it more of a distributed effort while maintaining accuracy and timeliness?
10:42 am
moneysaver said:
Hi 88Kanaka. I looked at Coast Capital before but because I live in Ontario they won't let me open an account. This is what I do for US$ purchases. I have a BMO US$ account as well and a BMO US$ Mastercard. But I get 99% of my US$ from XE.COM. I have been a member of XE.COM for almost two years and they are great. They charge about one and a half cents over the mid market rate for US$. Then I have XE.COM setup as a Internet Biller from BMO and pay XE as it was a bill payment for free. (I have the premium account from BMO which gives me unlimited transactions). Because XE.COM banks with BMO too, the turn around time for me to get my US$ is about 1 to 2 business days, put right in my US$ Savings account at BMO. Then I transfer it to ING and park it there until I go cross border shopping or go on a vacation in the USA. But now I will be parking my US$ in the new Ally US$ savings account because of their higher interest. The other 1% of my US$ purchases is with ING. I noticed they are about one and a half cents over the mid market rate too but not all the time because ING sets their rate when they feel like it but XE.COM is every 60 seconds. I will be honest, I never bought a cent from BMO as of yet. How much do they charge 88Kanaka for US$? They keep telling me they will give me a better rate than others because of my premium account. XE.com is based out of Vancouver. Here's the link if you want to join. I highly recommend them.
I believe BMO charges 2% on top of the buy rate. I also think that Coast Capital charges a little less (need to confirm). I lived in BC and then AB for a few years and had a Coast Capital account while living in both provinces. You may want to check your local Credit Union to see what they cover. I did buy from a money exhange company in Vancouver, 2 hrs drive return, and seven dollars to park. The expense in gas, time, and parking far exceeded the cost to buy locally at a bank or credit union. I later found out that the company I bought from was being watched for money laundering. So if I need anything other than US$ .... like Eruo, Pounds, or Peso .... I can order it a week ahead of time. I prefer to charge everything. Sice the rate is not too bad right now I use my CDN $ Mastercard. I rarely use cash, just for the security of not carrying a lot, but I do take $200 or so and usually bring most of it back with me. I have a stash of US$ that I bought at par or under par that I am holding on to. If the rate goes back up I will use my US$ Mastercard and pay it from my stash. You also get a lower rate from BMO if you move money from a savings or chequing account to your US $ account and then withdraw from there. If you walk up to the counter with cash and buy US$ apparently it will cost you more. I am close to 2 BMO branches and Coast Capital so the availability is good.
6:17 pm
December 22, 2011
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Sounds good 88Kanaka. I will get BMO to give me a quote the next time I buy US$. I will see if they beat XE.com or ING. With Ally's new US$ account, I noticed you can buy straight from them as well. Their rate looks good for buying at the moment. Not sure if Ally will increase their margin for buying US$ down the road.
6:36 pm
moneysaver said:
Sounds good 88Kanaka. I will get BMO to give me a quote the next time I buy US$. I will see if they beat XE.com or ING. With Ally's new US$ account, I noticed you can buy straight from them as well. Their rate looks good for buying at the moment. Not sure if Ally will increase their margin for buying US$ down the road.
I just checked your DICO in Ontario does NOT cover foreign funds.
http://www.dico.com/DICOpublic.....penElement
I guess a section on this site would be good for US$ accounts including some other currencies. I can see that Ontario folks may have to put their US money under their bed or in a safety deposit box for safe keeping if the banks and credit unions don't cover it.
I wonder who would cover for you folks in Ontario. While I don't see it likely that BMO goes under but I guess if they had some trouble they could forfeit what is not covered by CDIC first.
10:11 pm
December 12, 2009
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It's interesting you mention "safe deposit boxes". Those aren't insured by CDIC which begs the question, if you trust the bank enough to put your valuables in a safe deposit box in their vault, why not in a bank account - with or without CDIC insurance?
People get lulled into a false sense of security with CDIC insurance. You have to trust the institution you're banking with.
Cheers,
Doug
9:59 am
moneysaver said:
Hi 88Kanaka. I looked at Coast Capital before but because I live in Ontario they won't let me open an account. This is what I do for US$ purchases. I have a BMO US$ account as well and a BMO US$ Mastercard. But I get 99% of my US$ from XE.COM. I have been a member of XE.COM for almost two years and they are great. They charge about one and a half cents over the mid market rate for US$. Then I have XE.COM setup as a Internet Biller from BMO and pay XE as it was a bill payment for free. (I have the premium account from BMO which gives me unlimited transactions). Because XE.COM banks with BMO too, the turn around time for me to get my US$ is about 1 to 2 business days, put right in my US$ Savings account at BMO. Then I transfer it to ING and park it there until I go cross border shopping or go on a vacation in the USA. But now I will be parking my US$ in the new Ally US$ savings account because of their higher interest. The other 1% of my US$ purchases is with ING. I noticed they are about one and a half cents over the mid market rate too but not all the time because ING sets their rate when they feel like it but XE.COM is every 60 seconds. I will be honest, I never bought a cent from BMO as of yet. How much do they charge 88Kanaka for US$? They keep telling me they will give me a better rate than others because of my premium account. XE.com is based out of Vancouver. Here's the link if you want to join. I highly recommend them.
Hi MoneySaver,
Was trying to setup XE as biller on my BMO acocunt, but unable to determine the proper payee name for them...could you provide.
thanks
10:39 am
"In Canada, Internet Biller is also now available with participating financial institutions in Canada. Please check with your own bank to see if “Custom House” can be added to your bill payment list."
Quoted from http://www.xe.com/xetrade/help.....faq3-5.htm
10:42 am
December 22, 2011
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Hi Shal:
Yes, as Jordan said in the above post, You have to add "Custom House" as a Bill with BMO. The account number XE will give you, just add that number in the Account number field for "Custom House" with BMO. Hope that helps.
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