Withdrawing Foreign Cash | Tangerine Bank | Discussion forum

Quite awhile back didn't some one do an article for Forex or ?? To buy foreign funds online? I forget how it was picked up or delivered but had better exchange rates and no fees. In Vancouver we have http://www.vbce.ca but I found the expense to drive and pay for parking it was not worth it. Recently we needed some British pounds and BMO did not have (had to order) and had a $5.00 fee. We also deal at Coast Capital and they had lots and no fee.....just lucked out they had some. Sometimes the airport will have an exchange....but they ask for your passport (and make a copy of it) which I did not like.

If you only need a few hundred USD notes, I suggest RBC Royal Bank ATM. Open a US-e-savings with RBC. It is no fee and 1 free debit per month. Setup an XE account, which debits your other CAD account and credits this RBC US-e-savings. I managed to contact XE to get 1% spread over the spot FX rate. This is the way I get USD cash for day trips to US.

As for EURO cash, I do not have an experience.

Ed said

Loonie said

Seems right to me. You won't get it from Tangerine.
I suppose you might get a better exchange rate an an independent place, but then you'd have to go there and do the transaction, which may not be convenient at all. Theoretically, you could withdraw Cdn cash from Tang through ATM and then take it to an independent forex outlet, skipping TD. (I think you can still use ATM for Tang, can't you? I never have used it.) You could call around and see who offers the best exchange rate, but it's a moving target. Perhaps you can even do this online now. It's a long time since I've done any overseas travel.

The Bank of Canada sets its exchange rate at the end of each day. Foreign exchange counters use it as a reference point for setting their retail rate which may or may not include their commission depending on whether or not they charge or do not charge a commission. In some cases, a commission is embedded in the exchange rate, even though a fee is also charged.

I think Calan was asking what is the best/cheapest way to get USD and EURO cash.

When looking at doing this through bank cards and credit cards, it would be wise to look closely at the costs involved.
There are often 2 ways you can lose money.
One is on the exchange rate itself, i.e. what you have to pay in Cdn$ in order to get X amount of desired currency. This varies from one institution to the next, although not usually by a huge amount, and varies from day today according to the markets.
The other is a service charge which the institution tacks on. With the bank-issued credit cards, it's usually 2.5%. This is the fee that the Amazon card says it does not charge.

A friend of mine got the Amazon card recently, after I suggested it, but was not sure that, in the end, he was necessarily better off. I am not sure about why that might be the case, or even if it was true. There was no added fee on his statement, which I did not see, so I wondered if perhaps Chase has a less favourable exchange rate instead. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Loonie said

When looking at doing this through bank cards and credit cards, it would be wise to look closely at the costs involved.
There are often 2 ways you can lose money.
One is on the exchange rate itself, i.e. what you have to pay in Cdn$ in order to get X amount of desired currency. This varies from one institution to the next, although not usually by a huge amount, and varies from day today according to the markets.

I searched and it seems Tangerine uses global Master Card rates directly from CAD to the foreign exchange rate. I still need to confirm with them as I couldn't find an official statement regarding this on their web site.

Loonie said
The other is a service charge which the institution tacks on. With the bank-issued credit cards, it's usually 2.5%. This is the fee that the Amazon card says it does not charge.

A friend of mine got the Amazon card recently, after I suggested it, but was not sure that, in the end, he was necessarily better off. I am not sure about why that might be the case, or even if it was true. There was no added fee on his statement, which I did not see, so I wondered if perhaps Chase has a less favourable exchange rate instead. Does anyone have any experience with this?

One of 3 Credit Cards in Canada that doesn't charge you 2.5% in paying with foreign currency is Amazon Visa. I used it to buy online and so far bought from Turkey and USA. Their exchange rate is almost identical to the one I search in Google and 100% same as Global Visa rates. There was no hidden fees or exchange rates surprises. I haven't physically used it outside Canada but I don't think there would be any issue. I will update in a month after going through the experience.

Peseta said

I travel for work a lot and, after lots of research, I have come to a conclusion that Tangerine ATM card and one of Chase-issued credit cards is the best way to go when it comes to foreign transactions. I stay away from any type of airport foreign exchange kiosks nor do I exchange cash at a bank.

Chase is definitely honest when it says that they don't add forex commission. I have a Sears MasterCard and all of my foreign transactions always seem to be very close to published Interbank rates (within a few cents).

With respect to Tangerine, they also don't add forex commission to foreign ATM withdrawals (I clarified this with them via email). That's not to say that the ATM's owner won't, but at least you save 2.5% with your own bank. In addition, there are two big advantages to Tangerine Chequing withdrawals in a foreign country:

1. Since Scotiabank acquired them, they've become a member of Scotiabank's Global ATM Alliance (see http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/c.....-banks.pdf). Any withdrawal from the Alliance member ATM is fee-free and shows up as "Scotiabank ATM Withdrawal" on the statement. They are not in every country, but they have a pretty big footprint.

2. For withdrawals from a non-alliance ATMs, the fee is only $2, which is the lowest in the country from what I've seen.

And I did the exact thing before my trip this year. I am happy that I am going to use my Tangerine debit card outside Canada which I received last night plus my Chase credit card. No 2.5% lost is a win for me. Also as you mentioned $2 is the minumum in Canada. I have PC Financial and it is $3 + 2.5% and I am sure big banks are even worse.

james1900 said

Hi Yas, is your Chase credit card from Chase Canada?

Hello James1900. Yes, It is from Chase Canada.