Personal Finance

Getting a US Credit Card?

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  • May 18th, 2005 9:10 pm
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Deal Fanatic
Dec 9, 2003
5132 posts
981 upvotes
Calgary

Getting a US Credit Card?

I was trying to order stuff of the Samsclub.com (US) website for delivery to a US address today. Like Priceline used to be, they dont accept cards from Canadian banks and must have the billing address with a State and Zip code (no pulldowns for provinces, no fields for post code)

So now I want to get a US visa card (US$, US Bank) but dont want a US bank account. And preferably one with Canadian links so I could pay my bills online from my Canadian Bank account. I have a US address I can use for the "billing address" but since my bills will go there evry month (and probably go astray/get delayed in the forwarding process) I would like a fully online and simple payment process. I thought I could use TD Waterbouse (Bank) in the US but they for some reason are not allowed to accept any new Canadian clients. I think it might be something to do with the Patriot Act? Anyone know how I would go about this. Specifically has anyone done it?
15 replies
Sr. Member
User avatar
Nov 12, 2003
672 posts
9 upvotes
TD has a US Visa called the US Advantage, it may work for you.
Sr. Member
Jan 12, 2005
938 posts
17 upvotes
I know somebody get a US store VISA at some shopping mall near Canada using a Canadian address. I think this should be a good way of doing it! :idea:
Deal Addict
Apr 21, 2004
1956 posts
2 upvotes
I know somebody get a US store VISA at some shopping mall near Canada using a Canadian address. I think this should be a good way of doing it!
:razz: gees how about translating into proper english before posting :rolleyes:



If you live close to the border best to just open up an account
with an american bank that's looking for Canadian depositors
I have a US checking account that costs me nothing
and they gave me a Visa card that can be used for purchases
in Canada and the states just like a regular Visa card.
(It's technically a debit card, with payments withdrawn directly
from the checking balance)
Deal Fanatic
Dec 9, 2003
5132 posts
981 upvotes
Calgary
I have a TD US$ Advantage card. It doesnt work. The problem is the card number 4805xxxx is recognized as issued by a Canadian Bank and therefore rejected. Same would happen with a BMO US$ card.

Maybe I'll try the border bank route, but as I said I really dont want a bank account - just a Visa card.

Any other sugegstions?
Deal Guru
User avatar
Oct 17, 2001
11978 posts
115 upvotes
I guess I'm kinda lucky because I lived in the US for a while.
Having an SSN makes it MUCH easier to get stuff like credit cards, a bank account, etc.
Otherwise you'll have to make do with Visa check cards which you can get at any bank in the US after opening an account with them. It's basically a debit card but handled by Visa so it looks like a CC transaction to anybody.
Oh and those stupid US $ credit cards offered by Canuck banks don't work at specific retailers. They can immediately see you're not a resident.
Sr. Member
Jan 12, 2005
938 posts
17 upvotes
Spent wrote: :razz: gees how about translating into proper english before posting :rolleyes:



If you live close to the border best to just open up an account
with an american bank that's looking for Canadian depositors
I have a US checking account that costs me nothing
and they gave me a Visa card that can be used for purchases
in Canada and the states just like a regular Visa card.
(It's technically a debit card, with payments withdrawn directly
from the checking balance)
Maybe we should have a english learning forum? :?:
What kind of US bank will seek for Canadian depositors? All banks near the border? I really do want to open a US chq acct with a US bank, I think I can get a better interest rate and maybe other services. Can you share your bank's info here? e.g. name, location, etc...
Sr. Member
Jan 12, 2005
938 posts
17 upvotes
sfu_lifer wrote:I guess I'm kinda lucky because I lived in the US for a while.
Having an SSN makes it MUCH easier to get stuff like credit cards, a bank account, etc.
Otherwise you'll have to make do with Visa check cards which you can get at any bank in the US after opening an account with them. It's basically a debit card but handled by Visa so it looks like a CC transaction to anybody.
Oh and those stupid US $ credit cards offered by Canuck banks don't work at specific retailers. They can immediately see you're not a resident.
Is that possible to open a acct without a SSN in US? or maybe just chq acct?
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 8, 2001
5275 posts
32 upvotes
I happened to be at Overstock and spoke online (keyboard) and the agent felt that an AMEX card would work. I applied over the phone at Amex Canada and will see if it works. I have my doubts as it will show as ..bill Canada....ship US.
Thank the lord for A-mazon.
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:twisted:
Deal Guru
User avatar
Oct 17, 2001
11978 posts
115 upvotes
taile wrote:Is that possible to open a acct without a SSN in US? or maybe just chq acct?
Go to any US border (or close by) bank and they will happily take your business even if you don't have an SSN.
However, those same companies that reject your Canadian credit card may still reject your US Visa Check card if they verify that your billing address is in Canada.
Member
Jan 18, 2005
408 posts
83 upvotes
sfu_lifer wrote:Go to any US border (or close by) bank and they will happily take your business even if you don't have an SSN.
However, those same companies that reject your Canadian credit card may still reject your US Visa Check card if they verify that your billing address is in Canada.
Yes, that's exactly what will happen. It doesn't matter, even if you have a second address that's in the US on file with your bank. What they want to see is that your CC billing address is in the US. So I guess you could rent a mailbox or something in the US and have your statements sent there.

I got around this (newegg.com, which refused an order paid for with my Bank of America Visa card, shipped to an American address) by continually arguing that my bank has already verified my American address, so why should newegg care that my bank statements are sent to Canada?!? I finally spoke with a supervisor who let the order through manually, but said all future orders would have this same problem.

So far Newegg has been the only place that I've had problems with. Everywhere else that I order online from in the states has worked fine.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Aug 9, 2004
22170 posts
824 upvotes
Newmarket
taile wrote:Maybe we should have a english learning forum? :?:
Lol....I dont know where to begin with this one :D
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Aug 19, 2001
5170 posts
115 upvotes
Vancouver
The problem is some merchants will set up their merchant accounts to automatically reject credit cards issued by foreign banks. And it doesn't matter what your billing address is.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 8, 2001
5275 posts
32 upvotes
:
grant wrote:The problem is some merchants will set up their merchant accounts to automatically reject credit cards issued by foreign banks. And it doesn't matter what your billing address is.

.....isnt that almost the same thing? :confused:
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:twisted:
Member
Jan 18, 2005
408 posts
83 upvotes
grant wrote:The problem is some merchants will set up their merchant accounts to automatically reject credit cards issued by foreign banks. And it doesn't matter what your billing address is.
I think the point was that some retailers are rejecting even cc's from American Banks, because of the billing address.

Obviously if your credit card is from a foreign bank, the merchant could care less where your billing address is, assuming they were rejecting foreign cc's.

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