EQ Bank USD RFD Thread

One should always be wondering for newly launched EQ Bank products if the rate is just a teaser (even if not disclosed as such)...

Looks like USD can transferred via Wise to the US. Anyone know what the fee is for this transfer (no conversion)?

Also, what’s EQ’s CAD-USD exchange rate?

IEpicDestroyer wrote: ↑ Looks like USD can transferred via Wise to the US. Anyone know what the fee is for this transfer (no conversion)?

Also, what’s EQ’s CAD-USD exchange rate?

I posted this in the main EQ thread last night. Looks like a fixed 1.13 USD fee to move USD from EQ to a US-based account.

From a quick test, if you let EQ convert CAD to USD the rate includes a ~1.5% marktup.

Anyone know if you can setup Direct Debits on the USD account? I don't see the ability to generate a void cheque for USD accounts, but wonder if I simply enter in the same bank/transit and USD account number if that'll work for say linking it from the Tangerine USD side? Or adding to Questrade as a USD funding bank account, etc

I'm also interested in transferring USD to EQ from Questrade (domestic), and from Wise (international) too. EQ's FAQ says:

What if I already have a Wise account?
Not a problem! If you already have a Wise account, you can connect it to your EQ Bank account online or from within our mobile app—nice and simple.

But EQ chat tells me that "connect" doesn't mean link, and that one cannot bring money in from Wise, only send it internationally "through" Wise. I'm also told that EQ does not send or receive wire transfers, so despite finding an apparently valid SWIFT code on Wise for EQ, chat strongly recommends against trying to use it to send money from within Wise. EQ chat suggests wiring money to a USD account with another Canadian bank and linking that USD account with the EQ account in order to transfer from Wise.

Comments welcome. Also +1 to the previous poster asking about experience with Questrade transfers.

Is anybody else seeing an interest rate on their EQ Bank USD account that is not 1.0%? I see 1.25% - just waiting for my external account links to be set up then I'm moving my Tangerine USD over...

Not a big fan of login in with your other bank's credentials.

Edit: when you try to enter banking info manually, they start force you to login through their partner institutions.

EDL67134234 wrote: ↑ Not a big fan of login in with your other bank's credentials.

Edit: when you try to enter banking info manually, they start force you to login through their partner institutions.

They don't want to pay micro deposits if they don't have to

Shawguy wrote: ↑ They don't want to pay micro deposits if they don't have to

They can claw the microdeposits back if they want. And most FIs that send microdeposits only send 1¢-6¢. This is not a large expense.

joshnet wrote: ↑ One should always be wondering for newly launched EQ Bank products if the rate is just a teaser (even if not disclosed as such)...

100% teaser rate, a month or two it will be down to 0.60 or 0.75%

angel_wing0 wrote: ↑ 100% teaser rate, a month or two it will be down to 0.60 or 0.75%

Still better than the next best options that only offer 0.5%, Canadian Western Bank and First Ontario Credit Union, the former of which charges $5/transaction and the latter of which is only available to Ontarians.

Creating a new thread because I wanna quickly post sort of an "FAQ" on this product. It gets referenced in other threads and would be great to quickly link back to this one. Should mods merge this into the RFD EQ thread, my only request is to either quote this post in OP or link to it, but my preference would be for this thread to remain as stand-alone so we can crunch this topic on its own. As usual, the disclaimer is please no referral soliciting in thread.


I'll apologize in advance, haven't signed up yet myself, though I intend to. It's really not a bad product. Let's crunch through it.


Use cases

• on-off ramp for Questrade or other brokerages) in USD. No withdrawal fees and earns competitive interest is not bad. Reason for Questrade is they don't offer deposit accounts, unlike the big banks where you could easily transfer USD between deposit account and brokerage at the same bank
• pay your Canadian issued USD CC's through pre-auth (NOT bill pay!!). Since it's "easy enough" to acquire US issued CC's, it's generally not a great idea to get Canadian issued USD CC's, though some Canadians prefer these for simplicity (USD income paid in Canada from jobs or stocks/investments, spend via Canadian issued USD CC's in USD)
• deposit USD in Canada, then send to US or anywhere else via Wise. US via ACH (domestic transfer) and elsewhere via SWIFH (wire)

Everything else to consider including workflows!

1. CAD<->USD ~1.5% spread apparently. Use Knightsbridge for ~up to 0.55% spread (can haggle) and PAD deposit USD (or CAD) via KBFX. Wise ~0.5% spread for buying USD with the intention of sending abroad
2. To unlock US banking on the cheap, get BMO Harris checking. Send USD from EQ Bank to BMO Harris via Wise without converting afaik. Can hold USD in Canada and earn some interest until it's time to pay US issued CC's
3. DO NOT fund crypto exchanges in USD directly from EQ Bank. No way to link for ACH transfers and for SWIFT, Wise blocks funding crypto exchanges wherever they can identify this. Given the experience reported by @Bull Dog, it'll be even trickier if you do this through EQ's integrated Wise. If the end-goal is to fund/withdraw a crypto exchange IN USD via SWIFT, use BMO Harris or another US Bank, or even wire USD from a Canadian big bank at their lame fees
4. Fund IBKR in USD. Push USD to the US (BMO Harris, etc.) and bill pay IBKR from the US
5. Again, no debit card for EQ, so to pick up cash, push USD to RBC USD savings or a USD savings/chequing account at another bank or credit union that offers local branches (not DUCA, since their USD account does not support PAD)

titaniumtux wrote: ↑ on-off ramp for Questrade. No withdrawal fees and earns competitive interest is not bad

titaniumtux wrote: ↑ Fund IBKR in USD. Push USD to the US (BMO Harris, etc.) and bill pay IBKR from the US

Are you implying Questrade is the only Canadian brokerage that allows you to deposit or withdraw funds from a Canadian USD account? Surely that isn't true.

someweirdo wrote: ↑ Are you implying Questrade is the only Canadian brokerage that allows you to deposit or withdraw funds from a Canadian USD account? Surely that isn't true.

No. I listed this as probably the biggest use case. Most ppl here will probably bite the big bank fee table to move USD between USD account and brokerage with the same bank, if they use a big bank brokerage (speed and convenience).

I'll gladly add DP's or more info to OP if shared in thread. I didn't think my post suggested I was implying exclusivity to Questrade.

Too bad they are partnering with Wise for USD transfers. I wish they were creating their own USD money transfer product.

I had a terrible experience with Wise where they told me they were keeping over $1,000 of my funds for 60 business days. The money was transferred from my EQ Bank account and no reason was provided on why they were going to hold my funds. I ended up complaining to EQ Bank and they were able to get my money back in around 30 business days, but I will never do business with Wise again.

Be careful when transacting with Wise as they are fully within their rights to hold your funds for up to 60 days for any reason they see fit.

I haven't had any issue with Wise holding up my transfers to any of the 3 countries I've sent money to for family, although a couple of times it's taken days longer than promised. But I tried many other methods before Wise, and in general international transfers are a total gong show - frequent failures and inexplicable holdups, high fees and poor exchange rates, and staff who haven't got a clue.

@titaniumtux are you saying that you have actually used Wise to send USD to USD without converting? I didn't think that was possible.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ @titaniumtux are you saying that you have actually used Wise to send USD to USD without converting? I didn't think that was possible.

Per Wise's own documentation it's possible to send USD anywhere but outside the US they charge an extra fee and they'll use SWIFT.

https://wise.com/help/articles/2946451/ ... ide-the-us

Scote64 wrote: ↑ I haven't had any issue with Wise holding up my transfers to any of the 3 countries I've sent money to for family, although a couple of times it's taken days longer than promised. But I tried many other methods before Wise, and in general international transfers are a total gong show - frequent failures and inexplicable holdups, high fees and poor exchange rates, and staff who haven't got a clue.

@titaniumtux are you saying that you have actually used Wise to send USD to USD without converting? I didn't think that was possible.

I have not. But via Wise, can send USD from EQ abroad without converting based on the info they give.

I see the recent thread split and merge is a mess.

rhw123 wrote: ↑ Per Wise's own documentation it's possible to send USD anywhere but outside the US they charge an extra fee and they'll use SWIFT.

https://wise.com/help/articles/2946451/ ... ide-the-us

Thanks. That doesn't look promising.

It's not clear if they can transfer USD between Canadian banks and financial institutions, or whether they would use the SWIFT method if so. SWIFT is the traditional international bank transfer method and it's horrible. Slow, arbitrary fees of up to $50 deducted by intermediary banks with no record provided, etc.. I would never use it by choice,