Personal Finance

Where to keep USD/how to move it there (Simplii USD account)

  • Last Updated:
  • Nov 29th, 2023 7:00 pm
Sr. Member
Nov 9, 2008
815 posts
464 upvotes
Ottawa

Where to keep USD/how to move it there (Simplii USD account)

I made the mistake of relying on simplii to get some USD from abroad. Called several times in advance, Was told $10 to accept wire transfer. Ended up paying $45 USD because oops they use a middle man. Whatever.

Now I cant withdraw it in cash. They wont transfer it easily to other banks. Simplii usd/cad exchange rate isnt great.

I Need to wire it somewhere. Or get a money order/bank draft(good luck depositing usd). Would it be stuck at the new bank too? Is it simplii that is messy/backwards or all banks when it comes to USD?

Currency exchange is also complicated. I’ve heard of knigthsbridgefx. Called them once, no option to do anything online. rude people. And again i need to wire it in. Takes days. Then They deposit the money into my account. Exchange offices in the city only accept cash. I would do it but i cant get my cash out.

Alternative is to forget about usd. Exchange it into CAD online and pay simplii 2-3% hidden cOnversion fee and stay in CAD. Not happy that usd has been falling while i was trying to find out what simplii can and cannot do.

Am I missing something. Any suggestions? I’d like to keep it in a savings account or invest in some low risk stuff. Why is USD treated like some weird uncommon stuff here?

Oh Simplii’s savings account has an amazing 0.1% annual interest.
18 replies
Newbie
Jan 15, 2013
42 posts
34 upvotes
From my research there really is no upside to keeping USD in a Canadian bank. USD should be kept in a brokerage account, a us domiciled bank account or wise. The fastest solution is probably getting a wise account and doing a free transfer from simplii and spending though the wise card. Also signing up for a us domiciled bank account is actually really easy as a Canadian for Canadian banks with a us presence eg BMO, CIBC, TD, RBC.

Since you just want to save it. I would send it to wise (free), then from wise send it to Interactive Brokers ($0.39USD) then buy a high interest cash etf like HSUV.U. Interactive brokers is a discount brokerage for advanced users so it can be a little confusing but gives you the most flexibly with multiple currencies. They have the cheapest conversion fees ($2 USD under 100k), they have free incoming wires and 1 free outgoing a month for multiple currencies.

You can also use other brokerages like questrade which can be funded via bank draft but they are not as flexible getting the money out.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 11, 2020
7187 posts
5619 upvotes
Thornhill
vzmvzm wrote: From my research there really is no upside to keeping USD in a Canadian bank. USD should be kept in a brokerage account, a us domiciled bank account or wise. The fastest solution is probably getting a wise account and doing a free transfer from simplii and spending though the wise card. Also signing up for a us domiciled bank account is actually really easy as a Canadian for Canadian banks with a us presence eg BMO, CIBC, TD, RBC.

Since you just want to save it. I would send it to wise (free), then from wise send it to Interactive Brokers ($0.39USD) then buy a high interest cash etf like HSUV.U. Interactive brokers is a discount brokerage for advanced users so it can be a little confusing but gives you the most flexibly with multiple currencies. They have the cheapest conversion fees ($2 USD under 100k), they have free incoming wires and 1 free outgoing a month for multiple currencies.

You can also use other brokerages like questrade which can be funded via bank draft but they are not as flexible getting the money out.
My money has always gone into Questrade, but it's never come out. They're connected to Finch Station in Toronto.
This is a good response, exactly what I'd do - IBKR and grab HSUV.U's 4% interest rate.

Hey, it's not a big deal to have USD, I'd rather have USD than CAD. In fact, only my emergency reserve is kept in CAD lol, everything else is US assets.

My Scotia/Tangerine/EQBank have USD accounts but all my USD is in my gambling accounts at Questrade and IBKR.
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Sr. Member
Nov 9, 2008
815 posts
464 upvotes
Ottawa
vzmvzm wrote: From my research there really is no upside to keeping USD in a Canadian bank. USD should be kept in a brokerage account, a us domiciled bank account or wise. The fastest solution is probably getting a wise account and doing a free transfer from simplii and spending though the wise card. Also signing up for a us domiciled bank account is actually really easy as a Canadian for Canadian banks with a us presence eg BMO, CIBC, TD, RBC.

Since you just want to save it. I would send it to wise (free), then from wise send it to Interactive Brokers ($0.39USD) then buy a high interest cash etf like HSUV.U. Interactive brokers is a discount brokerage for advanced users so it can be a little confusing but gives you the most flexibly with multiple currencies. They have the cheapest conversion fees ($2 USD under 100k), they have free incoming wires and 1 free outgoing a month for multiple currencies.

You can also use other brokerages like questrade which can be funded via bank draft but they are not as flexible getting the money out.
Thanks for your detailed response.

How do you send money to wise for free? It seems like simplii charges for everything and they dont have many options.
Newbie
Jan 15, 2013
42 posts
34 upvotes
It says that you can send to us accounts for free here, and wise gives you us banking info.
Deal Addict
Dec 27, 2017
1035 posts
1114 upvotes
Ontario
I agree a brokerage account is the best place for it. One caveat is that if for some reason you need to file US Taxes you need to check on the PFIC status of what you invest the USD in, as many ETFs will generate PFIC filing requirements with the IRS. An alternative that is CDIC insured are the ISA USD accounts with rates of around 3.25-3.5 depending on which underlying bank. More here: https://mrthrifty.ca/investment-savings ... e-account/
Member
Oct 4, 2009
378 posts
422 upvotes
vzmvzm wrote: From my research there really is no upside to keeping USD in a Canadian bank. USD should be kept in a brokerage account, a us domiciled bank account or wise. The fastest solution is probably getting a wise account and doing a free transfer from simplii and spending though the wise card. Also signing up for a us domiciled bank account is actually really easy as a Canadian for Canadian banks with a us presence eg BMO, CIBC, TD, RBC.

Since you just want to save it. I would send it to wise (free), then from wise send it to Interactive Brokers ($0.39USD) then buy a high interest cash etf like HSUV.U. Interactive brokers is a discount brokerage for advanced users so it can be a little confusing but gives you the most flexibly with multiple currencies. They have the cheapest conversion fees ($2 USD under 100k), they have free incoming wires and 1 free outgoing a month for multiple currencies.

You can also use other brokerages like questrade which can be funded via bank draft but they are not as flexible getting the money out.
I have an IBRK account and my money is in USD in Wise. How do I transfer it to IBRK for $0.39USD? I see only ACH, Wire (costs money) and SWIFT transfer options in my Wise account. In IBKR the only options to deposit are Wire (costs money), EFT (Wise doesn't have this option when sending USD), Online Bill Pay (again not an option with sending USD).
Deal Fanatic
May 13, 2005
5147 posts
5847 upvotes
Montreal
demil7 wrote: I have an IBRK account and my money is in USD in Wise. How do I transfer it to IBRK for $0.39USD? I see only ACH, Wire (costs money) and SWIFT transfer options in my Wise account. In IBKR the only options to deposit are Wire (costs money), EFT (Wise doesn't have this option when sending USD), Online Bill Pay (again not an option with sending USD).
IKBR integrated with Wise few months ago.
Some people got invited and see the Transfer from Wise Balance option in their IKBR account.
Don't know if anyone having IKBR Canada able to see that option for linking. You might ask IKBR to see if they give that option for your IKBR account.
https://wise.com/us/blog/wise-platform- ... rs-team-up
https://tearsheet.co/payments/behind-wi ... t-funding/


===

If you have US bank account (ie. Alliant Credit Union (ACU)) then you could
1) ACH link Wise with ACU
2) Transfer USD from Wise to ACU
3) From ACU, do a USD bill payment to IKBR

However, if we only interest in USD and have IKBR and ACU then we probably don't need Wise anymore as we could use ACU to do US bill payment, send money to US people, etc...
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/u-s-bas ... #p37059444
Last edited by X360 on Aug 15th, 2023 8:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Member
Oct 4, 2009
378 posts
422 upvotes
X360 wrote: IKBR integrated with Wise few months ago.
Some people got invited and see the Transfer from Wise Balance option in their IKBR account.
Don't know if anyone having IKBR Canada able to see that option for linking. You might ask IKBR to see if they give that option for your IKBR account.
https://wise.com/us/blog/wise-platform- ... rs-team-up
https://tearsheet.co/payments/behind-wi ... t-funding/
I spoke with customer support earlier and they said that accounts with Canadian residency don't have that option. I think all the people who got invited were US residents. The customer service rep was adamant that no Canadian residents have that option.
Deal Fanatic
May 13, 2005
5147 posts
5847 upvotes
Montreal
demil7 wrote: I spoke with customer support earlier and they said that accounts with Canadian residency don't have that option. I think all the people who got invited were US residents. The customer service rep was adamant that no Canadian residents have that option.
If this is the case then you have to pay Wire transfer fee to move USD from Wise to IKBR.

Or move USD from Wise to a real US bank account and do a USD bill payment to IKBR.
Newbie
Jun 9, 2020
10 posts
3 upvotes
Does the IRS levies tax on interest received on USD HISA (e.g. HSUV, HISU) if it is in a Canadian TFSA? Like they do with dividend...
Deal Addict
Mar 5, 2007
1468 posts
386 upvotes
Toronto
demil7 wrote: I spoke with customer support earlier and they said that accounts with Canadian residency don't have that option. I think all the people who got invited were US residents. The customer service rep was adamant that no Canadian residents have that option.
Any idea if this would be implemented for Canadians in the near future and when that might be?
Member
Oct 4, 2009
378 posts
422 upvotes
r3ddrag0nx wrote: Any idea if this would be implemented for Canadians in the near future and when that might be?
Wish I knew :(
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jan 9, 2011
19732 posts
28609 upvotes
Vancouver
vzmvzm wrote: From my research there really is no upside to keeping USD in a Canadian bank. USD should be kept in a brokerage account, a us domiciled bank account or wise.
There are some use cases. I have a free USD chequing account at Vancity. I snail mail a cheque to a contact in the USA about once a year. She deposits it at her own bank. No fees on either end for either of us. When I started doing this 20 years ago it was the easiest and cheapest way to send money to the USA if I can't use a credit card or wise, and actually still is.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jan 9, 2011
19732 posts
28609 upvotes
Vancouver
X360 wrote: IKBR integrated with Wise few months ago.
Some people got invited and see the Transfer from Wise Balance option in their IKBR account.
Don't know if anyone having IKBR Canada able to see that option for linking. You might ask IKBR to see if they give that option for your IKBR account.
https://wise.com/us/blog/wise-platform- ... rs-team-up
https://tearsheet.co/payments/behind-wi ... t-funding/
===

If you have US bank account (ie. Alliant Credit Union (ACU)) then you could
1) ACH link Wise with ACU
2) Transfer USD from Wise to ACU
3) From ACU, do a USD bill payment to IKBR

However, if we only interest in USD and have IKBR and ACU then we probably don't need Wise anymore as we could use ACU to do US bill payment, send money to US people, etc...
u-s-based-td-bank-account-now-available ... #p37059444
I don't think we have Interactive Krobers in Canada.
I'll show myself out now.
Member
Mar 31, 2013
346 posts
1112 upvotes
Courtenay, BC
I can push/pull $US funds directly into/out of my Scotia $US savings account to my Interactive Broker account, this was set up from the IB side.......if you deal with Simpli, why not set up an IB account and see if that will work, rather than setting up multiple accounts as a work around(if you are going to set up an account there anyway).
IB's fees can't be beat on $US stock trades, especially if you deal in options at all....spot market currency conversion.....the one downfall is their realtime stock quote fee subscription fees, but if you are ok with delayed quotes you are golden. I

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