Best ATM card for Canadians traveling to the US and really backwards countries

[redflagguy2u]

That was a terrible title! Sorry.

Many banks in Canada charge a $5 fee plus a currency exchange fee of 2.5% plus they often give you a lousy exchange rate.
Any recommendations? I've heard some banks don't charge the $5 fee.
ING charges $2 but they won't let you take the money out of your US$ account! Crazy!
What I'd really like is to be able to withdraw US cash from my US $ Canadian bank account in other countries. That would be the best because then I could shop around for the best rate locally. You usually get a horrible rate back home compared to the country you're in. Not for US $ but for 3rd world currencies so its crucial to control the exchange process.
The key to all this is to never change currency if you don't absolutely have to.
Apparently Cirrus has a $2 fee.
Remember: The key is to withdraw US cash - never the local currency. Only then can you control the rate.
If you're lucky the ATM will tell you how much the transaction will cost. But in some poor countries, good luck for that to occur. But you might see the fee right away on your bank balance so at least you'll know for future transactions. That's a lot better than getting surprised at month end.

Now if its impossible to find a Canadian bank that can spit out US cash when I'm traveling the answer is to open a bank account with a bank physically in the US that can dispense US cash outside of the US. Might be difficult. And it will never happen outside of the biggest cities probably.

[PitchyDawg]

I have no advice but I love that "the US" is grouped together with "and really backwards countries." HA HA HA!

[GemInite]

My Select Service account with TD waives the "fee" TD charges when using foreign PLUS ATM machines. I only pay the local spread (which is usually the spot rate) + whatever the local bank charge fee is ($2-4)

Gives me a free US account also.

[Paulfistinyourface]

My Select Service account with TD waives the "fee" TD charges when using foreign PLUS ATM machines. I only pay the local spread (which is usually the spot rate) + whatever the local bank charge fee is ($2-4)

Gives me a free US account also.
That's what I was going to say. But TD will refund the local bank charge if you ask politely and don't abuse the privilege. If they see you went to an ATM every other day and took out $20 each time and incurred $35 in ATM fees over the course of 2 weeks, they'll laugh at you. If they see you went once and withdrew $300, incurred a $3 local bank ATM charge, they will refund the $3 without hesitation.

Just an FYI: ANY TD debit card can now be used at any TD Bank ATM in the USA. I just got this message in Easyweb the other day. There's like 1400 TD Bank branches down the east coast. There are no fees. You just have to pay the US/CDN exchange rate, whatever it is on that day.

side note: I was never allowed to tie my US$ bank account to my debit card, so I could never take out US cash directly out of my US$ account. Maybe that is part of the recent change as well. But I don't know about that, to be honest.

(It's funny. When I went to Ft. Lauderdale a couple winters ago, and Tampa last winter, to take money out of my TD Canada Trust account free-of-charge I had to go to a Mercantile Bank branch ATM. Their ATMs were treated like my home branch ATM, meaning no fee whatsoever. I could even do an ATM deposit there if I wanted to. There was plenty of TD Bank USA branches around, but they weren't tied to the TD Bank Canada system, which I found very odd. Now I have Select Service, so it didn't matter which ATM I went to, but if I needed any TD in-branch services I was told [by at least 3 different TD Canada employees] to ignore TD Bank USA and visit a Mercantile Bank branch. So it looks like that's changed now.)

[emmpeethree]

icici and ing both charge $1.5 for international withdrawals. with no need for $5000 in the account to waive fees ($500 must be in icici account)

[redflagguy2u]

I have no advice but I love that "the US" is grouped together with "and really backwards countries." HA HA HA!

:) Didn't mean it to sound disparaging to our American neighbors. Actually I'm trying to point out that what might be easy in Canada and the US could be impossible elsewhere.

[redflagguy2u]

No 2.5% currency exchange fee? $1.50 is great if you're pulling out a few hundred dollars.
But you're still at their mercy for their exchange rate.
Like I wonder how their rates compare with street or bank rates in some Latin American countries.

[redflagguy2u]

> icici and ing both charge $1.5 for international withdrawals.

ING is $2 at least that's what they told me today for the typical bank account most people use. Too bad they won't let you link up your US$ account though. Do you have another account that charges $1.50? ING does have the best exchange rate for CA to US so if there's any bank that has to do the exchange rate that's one of the best.

[wszeto28]

TD has a VISA debit card that withdraws funds directly from your account and acts like a VISA card. You can look into that. I'm not 100% sure on the fees.

[redflagguy2u]

Just talked to TD. That Visa/Debit card incurs $5 international withdrawl fees.

[Forhad]

While traveling I use Payoneer.

[emmpeethree]

No 2.5% currency exchange fee? - if you are using an international network - cirrus, plus, maestro etc, you will be paying 2.5% there's no way around this unless you get a local bank account

td is free if you have a) select service account b) $5000 balance in chequing for entire month (not an average, but for every day of the month)


While traveling I use Payoneer.

i dont understand why. it just incurs extra fees over a regular bank card.

[redflagguy2u]

I wanted to withdraw US cash to avoid the 2.5% currency exchange fee. You're right - it does seem to be quite universal with most banks I've talked to. $5000 @ 2% interest (the highest bank interest paid now) is $100 minus about 30% for tax (average I guess) = $70 divided by 12 = $6 a month service fees. Considering one withdraw from almost every bank is $5....not a bad place for your $5000. Also TD would encourage you to make more frequent, smaller withdraws and that's got to be good. The other way you're often carrying around way more cash than you should for your own safety. Maybe there are other advantages to that account as well for most people. Here's the info page. I see many services I could use here.
http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/banking/accounts/chequing-accounts/select.jsp
The higher your tax bracket for interest income the better this looks. After all that's what makes it cheaper, right?