Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Canadian banks with online international wire transfer in USD?

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  • Apr 27th, 2020 1:47 pm
Newbie
Nov 26, 2007
40 posts
Markham

Canadian banks with online international wire transfer in USD?

I currently have a small business bank account with TD and I need to make fairly frequent (2-4 times a month) international wire transfer payments in varying amounts to the US, in USD. While abroad, I found out that I needed to be physically in a branch to make such payments. It was a headache, but I managed to make the payment before being penalized. When I got back to Canada I started looking around for a bank to meet my requirements and have so far checked with CIBC and RBC, with no luck. A cursory Google search seems to turn up nothing. I'm going to call the other major banks in a bit, but it seems like this isn't an option in Canada? The services I'm being offered are things like "international money transfers" which are severely restricted, such as only being able to send CAD (I'd have to convert USD->CAD, then pay in CAD to the US, and thus have to purchase USD!) I have banked with Wells Fargo in the past and have done online wire transfers through them so it's not like the technology doesn't exist...

Is there a Canadian bank out there that has an online international wire transfer service? It was a headache to set up my business account with TD (I had credit related requirements) and would prefer to stay with them, but this is important enough for me to change banks.
43 replies
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Aug 2, 2010
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Here 'n There
No there is not.

Your best option is to open a US bank account with BMO Harris (see thread on here ), deposit US cash into it and then do wire transfers over the phone for a fee or have the payment pulled by the payee using ACH for free.

What kind of amounts are we talking here?
Newbie
Nov 26, 2007
40 posts
Markham
eonibm wrote: No there is not.

Your best option is to open a US bank account with BMO Harris (see thread on here ), deposit US cash into it and then do wire transfers over the phone for a fee or have the payment pulled by the payee using ACH for free.

What kind of amounts are we talking here?
That's disappointing. Currently anywhere from 1k-50k.

Hopefully I'll at least be able to move USD from TD to BMO Harris without too much hassle...
Newbie
Dec 19, 2017
4 posts
1 upvote
I make international wire transfers online in USD all the time, using RBC. The account is a USD chequing business account, and the wire transfers are $15 for each. As long as I've got the funds in the account, there's no conversions and no additional fees. The account is also based in Canada, so it isn't one of their US chequing accounts (which are $150 a month vs. the $9 we pay).
Newbie
Nov 26, 2007
40 posts
Markham
LumpyCustard wrote: I make international wire transfers online in USD all the time, using RBC. The account is a USD chequing business account, and the wire transfers are $15 for each. As long as I've got the funds in the account, there's no conversions and no additional fees. The account is also based in Canada, so it isn't one of their US chequing accounts (which are $150 a month vs. the $9 we pay).
Are you sure this isn't their "International Money Transfer" service with a daily $2500 limit? I'm not sure what the difference is, but in my experience, wire transfers are $30/transaction minimum.
Newbie
Dec 19, 2017
4 posts
1 upvote
kekekekyle wrote: Are you sure this isn't their "International Money Transfer" service with a daily $2500 limit? I'm not sure what the difference is, but in my experience, wire transfers are $30/transaction minimum.
Our limit is $10,000, and the fee is $15 if it's below $2,500, and $20 if it's $2,500-10,000. I hadn't realized that we actually haven't done any transactions over $10,000. Here's that info: https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/onlineserv ... edule.html

As for what the service is called, when we use it it simply says "International Wire Payment" at the top... not sure that helps. This might not be what you need if you transfer over $10k. I'm going to have to look into this too now!
Newbie
Nov 26, 2007
40 posts
Markham
LumpyCustard wrote: Our limit is $10,000, and the fee is $15 if it's below $2,500, and $20 if it's $2,500-10,000. I hadn't realized that we actually haven't done any transactions over $10,000. Here's that info: https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/onlineserv ... edule.html

As for what the service is called, when we use it it simply says "International Wire Payment" at the top... not sure that helps. This might not be what you need if you transfer over $10k. I'm going to have to look into this too now!
So I just came from a RBC branch. Even they're not sure that they can do it, wtf? Front desk rep said yes, but after confirmation with back office guy, says probably not. He also said there was some US policy that prevents incoming wire transfers from Canadian banks. Yeah.
Anyway, of all the banks I've gone to, they're the only ones said it may be possible. I've scheduled a meeting with a business adviser to get to the bottom of this. Based on what you've said, I think it'll work.

Thanks!
Newbie
Dec 19, 2017
4 posts
1 upvote
kekekekyle wrote: So I just came from a RBC branch. Even they're not sure that they can do it, wtf? Front desk rep said yes, but after confirmation with back office guy, says probably not. He also said there was some US policy that prevents incoming wire transfers from Canadian banks. Yeah.
Anyway, of all the banks I've gone to, they're the only ones said it may be possible. I've scheduled a meeting with a business adviser to get to the bottom of this. Based on what you've said, I think it'll work.

Thanks!
Online wire transfer is a fairly new service with them, as I used to have to go into the branch to do it. That could be the source of some of the confusion. Also, now that you mention a US policy, that would be something that doesn't apply to our case since we pay USD, but not to US companies (the funds go to Hong Kong). Anyway, good luck! Be sure to update this thread when you get to the bottom of it!
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Aug 2, 2010
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Here 'n There
I use BMO Harris' iPhone mobile app to deposit cheques denominated in US dollars, make a phone call to transfer money from that account to anywhere in the world and deposit cheques from that account into my BMO Canada USD account with zero holds even for 6-figure cheques. As mentioned I also have some suppliers use ACH to pull funds from my account at no charge.

The only issue you would have if you use BMO Harris is how long the funds deposited by cheque might be held given you are likely depositing cheques drawn on a US bank, but perhaps you could use a US bank draft which Canadian banks provided and they are, in fact, drawn on a US bank.
Member
Jan 11, 2008
467 posts
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Not sure about business accounts, but at TD you can have a USD personal account in Canada and you can transfer money to TD USA (also in USD of course) account free of charge online or call their cross border banking line. You can also have a USD credit card from TD Canada. From td canada website it does seem like they offer USD business account, but it doesn't mention about cross border banking, you might have to call and ask.
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
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Lots of better options available.

Open a true U.S. bank account, e.g. BMO Harris like eonibm says (we use them too).

Open an account for a forex service like Cambridge Mercantile that lets you do exchange, transfer and payment transactions online using their web portal. They even offer free same-currency transfers either way between U.S. and Canada.

Open a Transferwise borderless account and use their payment service: http://echeck.org/transferwise-borderle ... nt-review/

I'm sure there are others...
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Jan 1, 2012
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Sainte-Therese
I did exactly this with my BMO business account
Deal Expert
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KeitaRR wrote: Not sure about business accounts, but at TD you can have a USD personal account in Canada and you can transfer money to TD USA (also in USD of course) account free of charge online or call their cross border banking line. You can also have a USD credit card from TD Canada. From td canada website it does seem like they offer USD business account, but it doesn't mention about cross border banking, you might have to call and ask.
Personal USD Canadian & US bank accounts are a dime a dozen. OP is asking about business ones.
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Jan 9, 2011
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I don't know anything about CAN -> US wire transfers, but just reading this thread makes me slap my forehead. It's baffling that this is is as difficult and expensive as people here are reporting it is.

I have a free USD checquing account at my credit union. Several times per year I write US $200 to US $1500 cheques on this account, and snail mail them to someone in the US who deposits them in her bank. No fees for me, no fees for her. If it's this easy, painless, and cheap with old fashioned paper cheques and snail mail, it's completely baffling how electronic wire transfers are so full of headaches and high fees.
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Jul 3, 2017
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Kiraly wrote: I have a free USD chequing account at my credit union. Several times per year I write US $200 to US $1500 cheques on this account, and snail mail them to someone in the US who deposits them in her bank. No fees for me, no fees for her. If it's this easy, painless, and cheap with old fashioned paper cheques and snail mail, it's completely baffling how electronic wire transfers are so full of headaches and high fees.
That usually works, but there are potential issues. There can be a long delay involved both in mailing and in time for the cheque to clear. But even worse, many U.S. banks can't clear a US$ cheque drawn on a Canadian bank at all. They will either reject it, or forward it to a correspondent bank and charge a high fee. We had one instance where a contract trainer tried to cash their cheque at a US federal credit union, and was charged $350 in fees!

Wire transfer is the traditional method, but by traditional I mean outdated. It's expensive, sometimes difficult, and can be slow due to unexpected processing delays along the way. It's a last choice for routine international money transfers.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 21, 2007
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Markham
i thought rbc has an rbc express service which allows for wire transfers to be done online via online banking/website...maybe look into that?
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adeel wrote: i thought rbc has an rbc express service which allows for wire transfers to be done online via online banking/website...maybe look into that?
Again, OP is looking for business wire transfers not personal.
Newbie
Nov 26, 2007
40 posts
Markham
Just to clarify: I need to make USD wire payments. The recipient only accepts wire transfers as payment. They're a bit old school, too. I can already do this in branch but it's a PITA to have to do that when I am on the road.

I already have a USD business checking account.
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Dec 20, 2004
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Toronto
TransferWise borderless account is the solution to this problem. You'll get much lower rates than with the big banks, and the process is much simpler (ie you can initiate everything online and don't need to go into a branch).
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Aug 21, 2007
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Markham
eonibm wrote: Again, OP is looking for business wire transfers not personal.
rbc express is for business only,..its a more advanced online banking platform
kekekekyle wrote: Just to clarify: I need to make USD wire payments. The recipient only accepts wire transfers as payment. They're a bit old school, too. I can already do this in branch but it's a PITA to have to do that when I am on the road.

I already have a USD business checking account.
pretty sure RBC express would be an option for you...unfortunately not alot of info online...i recently inquired about rbc express services (was more curious than it being relevant to my small business) and could pass along contact info if interested

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