Can Canadian Residents open USD A/C in USA?

[hw904]

I am located in Canada and would like to open a USD account in USA so i can transfer my USD from PayPal to the USA account. Is it very complicated to open one for Canadian without a USA address?

[zarzuella]

Check the Royal Bank:


http://www.rbccentura.com/personal/snowbirds/index.html

Ann

[ricarmic]

Just a note that I tried the Royal Bank and they declined it because I didn't have a US address. I had to drive to the US and open an account with a US bank. If you do that you need your birth certificate, SIN number and your drivers license (photo type), an additional piece of ID with photo helps too.

[alero0]

I opened a RBC Centura account a couple of years ago. I had a friend who worked for the Royal bank and he told me when appling for the Centura account don't tell them you're using it for business. Tell them you want it for vacation purposes like Flordia trips etc... I had no problems getting the account. Possibly the rules changed since then but I suggest you try the vacation story.
If you do get the account you'll find it's great especially if you have a Royal Bank Canadian account because you can directly transfer money from your US account to your CAN account from the same web page.
Harvey

[recped]

You should be able to open an account at any US bank if you physically visit a branch, doing so by telephone or online has become much more difficult in recent years (used to be easy).

In addition to the id mentioned above the bank will (should?) require you to fill out the additional IRS form W-8BEN.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[woodworkingdirect]

I am assuming the major advantage of doing this as opposed to transferring from paypal to a Cdn account is a penny or two in exchange rate savings? Is that right?

[ricarmic]

Couple things:
Regarding the W-8BEN, they never said anything to me about that form, although I filled out some stuff, it may have been one of them and I didn't recognize it.

Regarding the exchange. According to my calculations, getting the US$ across the border and using XEtrade saves about 2.6% combined. That adds up a fair bit if one sells enough on eBay.

[3jcc14]

Yep, no problem with opening an account in the USA. The bank I visited also gave me a VISA Check/Debit card which works sort of like Interac for us only its accepted like a VISA. You can also write a cheque back to yourself to your Canadian US Dollar account to get the money back to Canada and immunize yourself against exchange rate issues. Also, US Dollar Term Deposits in the USA are higher than in Canada right now if you are looking to temporarily park your money but there could be tax implications with that. As for the W-8BEN, that has to do with Withholding Tax and the bank had me sign a form that they printed for me as they processed my application. I think alot of banks close to the border are familiar with processing Canadians.

[lockotronic]

I lives in Richmond,BC. Went to Point Roberts, got an account opened with Banner Bank in like 20 minutes. They are more than willing to help. No problem, they done it before. easy steps. Got a debit card to use anywhere. You should have no problem getting one.

[jimmy_uw]

I tried city bank in baffulo but the manager there said the system was down, not sure if it's true or he doesn't want to open the account for me.
I treid royal bank here the staff told me I can't do that without a US address.
I'm gonna try another US bank, any suggestions on which bank should I go? Any difference between those small banks and big ones like citi?
Thanks

[recped]

in Buffalo try M+T
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[chantalscraftycorner]

I crossed over the border to Champlain, NY and opened one there, no problems whatsoever. Call before hand and make sure you bring the proper documentation with you, I beleive they wanted a copy of one of my bank statements here in Canada and a photo id.

Chantal

[sportscardcartel]

why not open a USD account via your canadian bank?

[jakeeangel]

Because you can't transfer USD into a Canadian bank account regardless of denomination. In order to bypass the PP conversion fees it's best to transfer USD to USD. This can only be done with a US bank account not merely a USD bank account.

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