Canadian Bank Account?

delorean_2

Hi all

I'm moving to Vancouver in October to live and wondered if anyone knows which bank in Canada is best to go with?

I should get a SSI number the first day I arrive as that's being sorted for me. But I wondered who in Canada is best to bank with and who would be kind to bank transfers from the UK and vice versa.

Anyone got any hints or tips?

Many thanks.

TheChillPill

TD Bank are known for being good for emigrants, and HSBC are apparently good if you have a UK account with them now (they will transfer everything over for you apparently).

morg_monster

My aunt moved from England to Canada about 28 years ago, she always kept her old Midland Bank account, and then opened a HSBC account in Canada about 8 years ago thinking it would make transfers easier but turns out it didn't... She still struggles to make transfers in under 2 weeks bank to bank and has to ring up to arrange it each time. Apparently HSBC Canada and HSBC UK use different 'clearing' banks, so it is actually no different or quicker than transferring money between two accounts with two unrelated banks. Just something to think about, sorry I don't have any good suggestions for other banks.

delorean_2

TheChillPill wrote:

TD Bank are known for being good for emigrants, and HSBC are apparently good if you have a UK account with them now (they will transfer everything over for you apparently).

Do you mean this one?

http://www.td.com/

TheChillPill

Yup, but the personal banking site is http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/

nives316

I had an account with them oncw and they were pretty good..

delorean_2

Thanks all, I will likely use TD then. Is there any other good ones though or are TD better than the rest?

TheChillPill

One thing about Canada that differs from over here is that alot of Banks still value the 'personal touch'. It may not be quite as apparent in somewhere like Vancouver, but certainly on the east coast you would expect to always be on first name terms with the tellers. Certainly makes banking alot easier (and when you need something, such as an overdraft, it can make a big difference because they 'know' you).

So, I would say check out whichever banks are nearest to where you will be living too. I had an account with Scotiabank, who I found to be good. It's worth remembering that most Canadian accounts you pay by transaction and in some cases a monthly fee aswell - so worth checking the tariffs depending on your expected usage.

delorean_2

So i have to pay to use an ATM for example? That's a bit cheeky!

TheChillPill

All banks differ and it can take a while to compare them to be honest. As a general guide, they typically work on the basis of lower monthly fee = less transactions allowed. It can be as high as $1.50 to use the ATM machine if you're on a low monthly fee tariff. If however you expect to use it daily (as I suspect most people here do) then an account costing between $20 - $30 per month should have unlimited transactions for free, or certainly enough to cover the typical number of transactions you'd be used to over here.

I should point out though that I haven't used or held a Canadian account around 5 years now, so it may have changed slightly in that time.