Opening a Canadian Bank Account

niceguy_tourist

Would anyone know what you would need to open up a Canadian bank account while living in the UK. Would be very grateful for any info you could give me.

Thanks in advance

tonys_3

Need some clarification first.
Are you Canadian or British?
Do you want a current account or a savings one?
Do you want the account in Canadian dollars or Sterling?
Do you want the bank to be in Britain or Canada?
Do you have,or can you get an address in the country where you want the account to be?
Do you already have a Sterling bank account in Britain?

BountyHunter

Some banks, HSBC being one of them, will allow you to open a Canadian account in the UK if you already have a UK account with them as they know your credit history etc.

niceguy_tourist

1) I am British

2) Wouldn't mind current or savings account (would need to come with a cheque book though if possible)

3) I would want the account to be in Canadian dollars

4) Wouldn't mind it being in Britian or Canada (just need to be able to send cheques to canada to save me paying bank fees on sending money to Canada)

5) No address in Canada

6) Yes I do have a sterling bank account in Britain

jonesMUFCforever

niceguy_tourist wrote:

1) I am British

2) Wouldn't mind current or savings account (would need to come with a cheque book though if possible)

3) I would want the account to be in Canadian dollars

4) Wouldn't mind it being in Britian or Canada (just need to be able to send cheques to canada to save me paying bank fees on sending money to Canada)

5) No address in Canada

6) Yes I do have a sterling bank account in Britain

A note for point 4
I know some banks charge a fee regardless if you are paying cheques into a foreign currency account (or cash for that matter)
Eric

tonys_3

You don't need to open an account with a Canadian bank to maintain a canadian dollar account.You can get it from your current bank.
The concensus of opinion though is that the setting up costs and continuing bank charges may make the idea a non starter,especially if all the transactions are one way.Most Banks look for minimum deposits of $1000.Charges vary widely so it does pay to shop around,and try the Building Societies as well.

Also if you are paying by check,although YOU will save on bank charges,the recipient will still get stuffed and it takes a lot longer to clear a cheque over there than here.
Trying to open accounts abroad is time consuming and difficult and expensive-partly because of worries about money laundering not to mention greed on the part of Banks.
If holding sums of dollars in your account,you would have to be aware of currency
fluctuations against the pound also.

Have you looked at the possibility of paying by credit card?The payee would get their money much quicker,so you would not have to remit the funds so early perhaps.And their charges cannot be any heavier than banks,can they?

The best bet is to talk to your own bank first.They can then advise you whether the amounts you wish to send,and their frequency make it economic to open a foreign
currency account.Have a word with your credit card company too,and compare costs,
ease of use,speed etc before sticking with what you are doing at the moment.lol