What is the best rewards card for me given my spending habits ? | Page 2 | Credit card reward programs | Discussion forum

Kanaka:

I don't do a transfer from BMO Chq to BMO Mastercard.

I have BMO Mastercard pull the funds from BMO Chq so I have no involvement, other than getting the funds going from ING to BMO. I usually postdate that to a date about 5 days prior to the BMO Mastercard due date to allow stuff to settle.

Greg

Old thread, however I was intrigued that GS is doing the same thing I am do to move money between Canada and US, even with the inclusion of ING (Tangerine) to move US funds around in Canada. GS, I understand exactly what you mean about $2.95 monthly free from RBC Georgia bank. The good news is this can be avoided if you choose the Personal Saving account which allows a $300 monthly balance to waive the monthly $5 fee. You can pay your RBC US Visa directly from the savings account via a transfer (in the pass you had to call customer service to do this). As a bonus you'll start getting the lousy double decimal interest rates. If you still have checking account needs, as I do for my other US credit cards, pop into a TD bank on the next US visit and open a Convenience Checking account which requires only a $100 balance to waive the $15 monthly fee. TD banks are everywhere on the west coast and they even open on Sundays. You can then link your RBC Georgia Savings account with the TD US checking account. With this setup, you can continue with your cross boarder banking from RBC Canada to RBC Georgia and use your RBC Georgia Saving to top up your TD US Checking. All this with no banking fees. Keep in mind that the RBC Georgia Savings only allows 6 free transfers to external banks.

And not to completely hijack the OP thread, if you frequent the US for shopping, look into RBC's cross boarder banking and their Visa Signature Black cards. The Plus card with a $75 annual fee offer 1.5 points for every dollar spent. The points can be used for pretty much anything and even convert back to cash (applied to your credit card) at a rate of 8000 point for $100. The other Black card has no fees and offer 1 point for every dollar. You do NOT need a US address to apply for RBC US services. My only gripe about these cards is the 1.5% foreign transaction fee (FTF). Getting hit with a $18 FTF for a China purchase was the last straw so I got a CapitalOne Quicksaver card which gives 1.5% cash back and no FTF. Note that RBC Georgia reports to the US credit bureaus so once you have a credit history you will be able to apply for other US credits/loans.