Sending USD to a US bank account

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travesty
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Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by travesty »

I have various Canadian bank accounts, some denominated in USD and some in CAD. I also have US-domiciled accounts at RBC Bank (was RBC Centura) and TD Bank, which (evidently) are in USD.

I'd like to send some USD to someone at a different bank (BoA) as cheaply as possible and online (perhaps with some initial one-time in-person setup). This appears quite difficult!

One option is a wire transfer, but this apparently pretty much needs to be done in-person, and has fees of something like $45 + $20 (sending and receiving ends), making it pretty uneconomical for small transfers.

RBC and other banks have an "international remittance" function, which is really just a cheap wire transfer that costs usually around $10 or $15, but they only let you pay in Canadian funds, so you take at least one currency conversion (and up to two if you pay from a USD account). They are also limited to a relatively small total amount.

The US banks, RBC Bank and TD Bank appear to have essentially zero support for sending cash to other US banks.

Is there some kind of way to use an intermediary to do this transfer? For example, I could billpay them from my US bank (or do something from a USD account from my Canadian banks) and then ACH to the destination bank.

The receiver of these funds can't use paypall or anything like that. It must be a transfer to their accounts with the routing + account number, etc.
Joebaba
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by Joebaba »

Hi,

Have you looked at Zelle? Also known as clearXchange.
https://www.zellepay.com/how-it-works
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClearXchange

I'm not recommending it, nor vouching for it - I simply stumbled upon it while Google searching.
It sounds a bit like our Interac transfers.

Joe
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cedeebee
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by cedeebee »

This isn't quite the answer you're looking for... more of an FYI since you're in Vancouver and may not know about them...

Banner Bank has locations just across the border in Blaine and Point Roberts. There are no fees at all with their basic account, which is open to Canadians. I set one up to make shopping at easier, as well as to transfer funds to a friend in the US. Were you to be transferring funds to the US with any frequency, it might be worth it to set up an account with them. You can't link to a CDN account, of course, but it works well with Paypal should you ever have the need, so it's handy nonetheless--at least for me.
SQRT
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by SQRT »

US banks including TD for sure, have bill payment functions that effectively send checks on your behalf. Service is free with minimum balances. You simply set up the payee with name and address and the bank will print off a check and send it to them. Works pretty well although there will be the usual postal delivery delay. The recipient will also gave to deposit the check into their account. Not perfect but not bad. To the best of my knowledge they dont have anything as good as Interac transfers.
simms
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by simms »

Typically I have used Venmo to send cash between people. It's connected to checking account via ABA/account and money is sent that way, and free. It's the less cumbersome, app-ified version of EMTs.

Otherwise, I've had to use domestic wires which can be free with certain accounts (ie: PNC performance select).
https://www.pnc.com/en/personal-banking ... cking.html
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deaddog
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by deaddog »

I send a US dollar cheque drawn on a Canadian bank via snail mail.

Be aware that some US banks have a charge for clearing foreign cheques. I deal with Chase; no charge.
"And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days" RW Hubbard
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by Wing »

deaddog wrote: 18 Dec 2017 11:46 I send a US dollar cheque drawn on a Canadian bank via snail mail.

Be aware that some US banks have a charge for clearing foreign cheques. I deal with Chase; no charge.
Not all Canadian bank offer cheques with ABA codings. Which bank do you use? Wonder if that works for US credit card bills as well.
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deaddog
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Re: Sending USD to a US bank account

Post by deaddog »

Wing wrote: 23 Dec 2017 13:33
deaddog wrote: 18 Dec 2017 11:46 I send a US dollar cheque drawn on a Canadian bank via snail mail.

Be aware that some US banks have a charge for clearing foreign cheques. I deal with Chase; no charge.
Not all Canadian bank offer cheques with ABA codings. Which bank do you use? Wonder if that works for US credit card bills as well.
I use BMO both for banking and trading. BMO investorline links my US dollar investment account to a US dollar bank account. It is an easy transfer to my US dollar chequing account.

I have BMO mastercrd that is denominated in US dollars. There is an annual fee for this card but it is waived if you spend more than $1,000 per year. I pay the balance monthly out of my US dollar chequing account with an online transfer.

I use this US dollar creditcard for online purchases, with paypal and when wintering in the US.

I have a Canadian dollar credit card for use when dealing in Canadian dollars.

All fees are covered because I keep a minimum balance of $6000 in one of my bank accounts. (BMO Premium plan)

I believe all the Big 5 banks have similar plans. RBC did when I dealt with them although they had a monthly fee.(VIP plan)

In the US i deal with Chase Bank. I have a no charge chequing account that I am able to fund with cheques drawn on my US dollar BMO account. I have not requested a credit card from Chase but I have a debit card that I can use.
"And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days" RW Hubbard
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