Credit Cards

Cross-Border US Banking and Credit Cards Mega-Thread

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Figured most people that were interested probably saw it, but for anyone who is looking for AAdvantage miles, there is a ridiculously good promotion on at simplymiles that effectively lets you buy miles at 0.42c/mile (USD of course). Need to have a simplymiles account and a U.S. issued MasterCard.
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adamtheman wrote: How does the bank know you are a canadian citizen? Do they ask you if you have foreign citizenship when you open a chequing account? I don't get it... there's millions of foreigners in the US with bank accounts. Every snow bird, for starters, and none of them have SSN or drivers licenses in the US. So how come you are having so much trouble?
Presumably, you haven't been following this thread for years like some of us and are unaware that US financial institutions have a general set of regulations typically called "KYC" (Know Your Client) imposed by the US Federal Gov't that govern who can own and operate financial accounts within the USA.

There is also a difference between opening accounts remotely/on-line and in-person and a host of other factors and policies that vary by financial institution.

Short answer - you cannot assume in general that a foreigner can simply walk into any bank and open an account without disclosing who they are (KYC) and where they live. Beyond that, start on page 1 of this thread and read all the ins and outs.
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Is it possible to add a US Credit Card to the Canadian Apple Wallet? Or is there a workaround to be able to pay by tap in US Stores?

I want to be able to pay by tap while visiting the US.
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radiko wrote: Is it possible to add a US Credit Card to the Canadian Apple Wallet?
Yes that's possible.
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rhw123 wrote: Yes that's possible.
How does it work? Will it charge you in CAD or USD if used in the US?
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radiko wrote: How does it work? Will it charge you in CAD or USD if used in the US?
It works exactly the same as if you used the physical card. In Canada you'll be charged in CAD and in the US in USD.
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adamtheman wrote: Thanks Rob. I understand what you are saying, and I have heard of this. However, this was the first time I had heard of anyone having an issue opening a bank who met all the three following things: 1) SSN, 2) US Address and 3) US Drivers license.

Most of the time, people have #1 and #2, but not #3. Again there are millions of people in the US with bank accounts who don't even come close to meeting the first 3 requirements. I know many people (including myself) with US bank accounts that only have #2 and don't even have #1 or #3. Students, for example, they usually have all 3 of them and would have no problem getting a US bank account even though they are foreigners.

I was just wondering why this person was carrying around his Canadian passport. Wouldn't a US drivers license and US utility bill be enough to open a chequing account?
The examples secretalcoholic was stating (and your question was in response to) appear to conflate personal experience and other datapoints that are confusing as they suggest a variety of circumstances NOT necessarily all 3 things (1) SSN, 2) US Address and 3) US Drivers license.)

Clearly there is various policies amongst financial institutions and certainly Canadians can find banks that will open accounts for them whether resident or not in US, whether SSN/ITIN or not, and whether they have US address or not. The most flexibility is with subsidiaries of big Canadian Banks that will use access to Canadian records to satisfy KYC rules, whereas some big and small US banks are much more picky.
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adamtheman wrote: [snip]

this was the first time I had heard of anyone having an issue opening a bank who met all the three following things: 1) SSN, 2) US Address and 3) US Drivers license.
Same. I'm sure there have been others, but I haven't seen any DPs (besides this one) of Canadians that have a SSN/ITIN, U.S. address, and U.S. I.D. having issues getting a Chase Bank account.
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Mar 25, 2015
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adamtheman wrote: Can you kindly explain to me how a bank would know he is a Canadian? He walks into a bank and goes "Hi, I would like to open a chequing account". Then he hands over his SSN card, plus a US drivers license and a utility bill showing his US address. That's all they would need. Are you saying that banks ask every person who opens a chequing account to list all the other citizenships they hold around the world?
Sometimes banks require 2 different forms of ID with photo (hello ScotiaBank!) instead of one. If he had nothing aside of US DL, he might had to show Canadian passport.
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adamtheman wrote: Can you kindly explain to me how a bank would know he is a Canadian? He walks into a bank and goes "Hi, I would like to open a chequing account". Then he hands over his SSN card, plus a US drivers license and a utility bill showing his US address. That's all they would need. Are you saying that banks ask every person who opens a chequing account to list all the other citizenships they hold around the world?
dimon222 wrote: Sometimes banks require 2 different forms of ID with photo (hello ScotiaBank!) instead of one. If he had nothing aside of US DL, he might had to show Canadian passport.
I don't think his issue has anything to do with a Canadian passport. There are plenty of DPs of people getting a Chase bank account with only an ITIN, bank statement and Canadian passport.
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May 16, 2017
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adamtheman wrote: Can you kindly explain to me how a bank would know he is a Canadian? He walks into a bank and goes "Hi, I would like to open a chequing account". Then he hands over his SSN card, plus a US drivers license and a utility bill showing his US address. That's all they would need. Are you saying that banks ask every person who opens a chequing account to list all the other citizenships they hold around the world?
I never suggested what you're implying is the general case. I stated it varies a lot with KYC regulations and how each FI sets policies to satisfy KYC and their own client ID requirements.

That said - depending upon what SSN data they pull, the SSN data will indicate whether the person is a US Citizen or permanent resident or some other resident-alien/non-resident category.
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Feb 4, 2015
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robsaw wrote: I never suggested what you're implying is the general case. I stated it varies a lot with KYC regulations and how each FI sets policies to satisfy KYC and their own client ID requirements.

That said - depending upon what SSN data they pull, the SSN data will indicate whether the person is a US Citizen or permanent resident or some other resident-alien/non-resident category.
Always thought having SSN meant person was citizen or permanent resident but was wrong.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) assigns nine-digit Social Security numbers (SSNs) to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and eligible nonimmigrant workers in the United States

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/studen ... ity-number
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May 24, 2019
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dimon222 wrote: Sometimes banks require 2 different forms of ID with photo (hello ScotiaBank!) instead of one. If he had nothing aside of US DL, he might had to show Canadian passport.
What they find acceptable as pieces of IDs does depend on the branch you go to.
(For Scotiabank, I personally opened my chequing, savings and Visa with my driver's license, phone bill and credit card from other bank. They asked for my SIN but I did not give that to them either until years later when I opened a TFSA).

In the USA I think they have more of a way of knowing if someone has been residing there because of bureaus like LexisNexus that have a more complete history including rental history, utility bills and phone bills, car / life / medical insurance payments, fines, sometimes taxes, etc; so if they find nothing in it, it might raise some red flags.
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Aug 13, 2018
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adamtheman wrote: Can you kindly explain to me how a bank would know he is a Canadian? He walks into a bank and goes "Hi, I would like to open a chequing account". Then he hands over his SSN card, plus a US drivers license and a utility bill showing his US address. That's all they would need. Are you saying that banks ask every person who opens a chequing account to list all the other citizenships they hold around the world?
They will ask on an IRS form. You have to fill it out and swear under penalty of perjury. In fact, I've seen application forms where they ask for every citizenship and tax ID number you have.
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Jan 14, 2017
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Anyone with US TD bank CC getting message on their portal says it's being migrated from tdcardservices.com to tdbank.com?

When you sign up your existing card on tdbank.com it's asking for SSN , I put SIN there but it did not accept.

Do I have to call?
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Jan 30, 2012
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doujincore wrote: Anyone with US TD bank CC getting message on their portal says it's being migrated from tdcardservices.com to tdbank.com?

When you sign up your existing card on tdbank.com it's asking for SSN , I put SIN there but it did not accept.

Do I have to call?
It seems they are having problem with the system accepting Canadian cardholders.
I contacted them several times, no one seemed to be able to help.

td-cash-visa-td-bank-n-2201330/69/#p35425396
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Jul 26, 2018
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Canada, eh?
dimon222 wrote: Sometimes banks require 2 different forms of ID with photo (hello ScotiaBank!) instead of one. If he had nothing aside of US DL, he might had to show Canadian passport.
Yup, it'll be YMMV. Depending on the bank I was asked for different documents.
US subsidiary's for Canadian banks are definitely more flexible, but unfortunately they have zero presence on the west coast -- so I stuck with the ones listed in my original post.

FATCA, KYC/AML/Bank Secrecy Act, Patriot Act all contribute to the cumbersome requirements. I guess I didn't make it clear enough that I personally do not know the reason for account closure or refusal to open. They're not allowed/won't disclose it...so it could be Canadian passport, age, time in US, SSN, or something ridiculously arbitrary. I filed CFPB complaints and they went nowhere (same answer, not required to disclose it).

There's also ChexSystems that bank's use. I got my copy couple of days ago through the mail and it's clean.

A Google on Chase's account closure seems to indicate that Chase has a relatively sensitive system to automatically close user accounts for various reasons (e.g., after Zelle usage, international incoming wire transfers, bill payments, etc.). These including Americans; So perhaps that's why? Either way I'll never know.
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Jul 26, 2018
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Canada, eh?
georvu wrote: Always thought having SSN meant person was citizen or permanent resident but was wrong.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) assigns nine-digit Social Security numbers (SSNs) to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and eligible nonimmigrant workers in the United States

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/studen ... ity-number
Ya my SSA card has a huge text printed "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION"
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Oct 25, 2007
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Guys quick question
as i never really used the TD USA debit card and wondering what are the charges to withdraw cash out side of north america ?
As stack is no longer covering the FX fees and the Wealthsimple Visa card physical card not yet received, wondering is the TD USA debit card is worth carrying to withdraw funds or simply take the case and convert locally?
Location is Colombia though it does not really matter as scotia operates down there itseems.
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Mar 25, 2015
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mkannuri wrote: Guys quick question
as i never really used the TD USA debit card and wondering what are the charges to withdraw cash out side of north america ?
As stack is no longer covering the FX fees and the Wealthsimple Visa card physical card not yet received, wondering is the TD USA debit card is worth carrying to withdraw funds or simply take the case and convert locally?
Location is Colombia though it does not really matter as scotia operates down there itseems.
Pretty sure it's same as most cards around 3$ + FX penalty and foreign ATM fee. For now more economical option is WS Cash and CDC combination or Scotia Debit due to much larger network of cross-country be agreements for relatively cheap withdrawal

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