DiaryofaDisneyKid
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2017
We like the FIDO (Rogers) MC. You get charged a 2.5% foreign transaction fee but get back 4% in rewards.
I called RBC yesterday about getting a US visa. We have a US$ account with them. He told me that unless we do a high volume of shopping in the U.S., it's not worth it. And there is a $60 annual fee.
He suggested going with their U.S. based Visa. I'm debating whether I want to even have an account based in the U.S. or not.
Depends on your regular RBC banking accounts , I have two USD Visa accounts with RBC and pay no annual fee on them.
I have everything with them - all of my accounts, WJ M/C, mortgage, etc. This is for the US Visa based in Canada that he told me has an annual fee. He said if we went with the US Visa based in the U.S., that's different. I really had not wanted to have any accounts based in the U.S., but may have to change that, as we travel down there more than we used to.
I have one based here, one RBC Visa stateside.
The rep I spoke to about the Cdn based one certainly wasn't trying to get me to sign up for it. He actually seemed to be encouraging me NOT to get it. He expressed to me that it was time consuming and a real "pain for me" to apply over the phone and that he'd have to run a full credit check, etc. on me, even though I already had a Mastercard with them and had had an RBC credit card and other RBC accounts for almost 40 years. Ahh, maybe it was coming up on his break time, and he didn't want to miss his break!!!!!
For the U.S based one?
Maybe..
I opened mine when RBC was conducting business as RBC Centura in Florida and still have the bank acct there as well as a US account here. Bit overkill I guess ..
Hmmm wonder why?No, he was discouraging me against the Canadian based one. And encouraging me to get a U.S. based one. And this was through online banking here in Canada.
Who knows. I'll just stick with my Canadian cc for now and suck it up.
If you are talking about this card (https://acconversion.cibc.com/cholder/ccartwelcome.action) then you don't need an account with CIBC to get one. Keep in mind that the card still dings you for the 2.5% f/x fee, just like most other cards.[snip]
CIBC offers prepaid credit cards in USD EURO and GBP but you do need an account with them to purchase.
There's a whole thread about this change ..here's the linkSo we used our amazon for every us purchase to save the conversion fee. Husband just found out it’s folding in March!!!! Any other options that a free and don’t charge the extra per purchase.
Same with the Marriott card. We looked around and there are 2 cards available, it’s either the Rogers or the Fido MasterCard.There's a whole thread about this change ..here's the link
Amazon Visa Card
Hopefully if I find the time, I'll put together a bunch of info in a new thread, as most of the content here is old.We are planning on an October 2019 trip.
I see this thread hasn't been updated in awhile and wondered whate the best way to avoid the foreign conversion rate is now?
I do have a US account with Meridian Credit Union, but my CC is Capital One.
We will have the $$ to pay for the trip, but I would like to know if I should get Disney gift cards or a US account.
We've travelled in the US a lot, I just never realized I was getting charged extra until I read these pages!
That is very misleading. Particularly this part: "If you buy cash, charge it on a credit card, or use debit you are ALWAYS paying 2.5% somewhere in the exchange process. It is NOT an additional fee. "I have posted this at least 3 times in this thread, but I know it’s a long thread and nobody wants or has time to read the whole thing. First let me disclose: I’m a Financial Sales Rep for CIBC (for 15 yrs).
Just so everything is clear: You are NOT being charged an additional 2.5% fee to when you charge something on any Canadian credit card. What the 2.5% “conversion” fee, that is in your credit card disclosurer is the exchange rate difference (spread) between the trading rate (stocks market) and the sell rate for you to buy US dollars. Eg: The news says: “The US dollar is trading at 1.34 Cdn” If you were to go to your bank and buy US cash you would be paying 1.3668 Cdn (1.34 + 2.5%= 1.3668)
If you buy cash, charge it on a credit card, or use debit you are ALWAYS paying 2.5% somewhere in the exchange process. It is NOT an additional fee. The reason it is worded like that on the banks/credit card companies disclosures is because many years ago credit card had all different “spread” amounts on foreign currency purchases. One card would be as high as 4%, some 3.6% ripping off the customers by not disclosing the true amount of exchange fees. It was hidden in the exchange rate. That’s why it was legally changed to protect the consumer. There are still cards that charge higher exchange fees but it has to be disclosed in the fine print.
****Main point*****
There is NOT an additional fee to make foreign purchases on most Canadian credit cards!
You pay the same 2.5% when buying cash, use a credit card or debit card.
Having a prepaid US Debit Card or US Visa card is only for convenience! Someway or other you will be converting Cdn dollars into US and be paying 2.5% to do that.
I can (as many others here also have already done too) list the reasons why those other methods are convenient and would work.
Excately my point, that’s the advantage of having a US bank account and US Visa card, to lessen the exchange rate flucations, buying it when its lower somewhere else, instead of being subject to the rates at the time of your vacation.That's very helpful, MaMudduck. I have a US$ Visa card and US$ bank account through TD (in Canada), but the way I try to lessen the hit of exchange is to exchange money at a private currency exchange place. E.g. right now, the place that is across the street from me sells USD at $1.345 Canadian. TD's posted cash exchange rate is $1.3741. Their non-cash rate is $1.3709. Even the preferred rate they have right now for me is $1.3648. So I buy USD, then walk it over to the TD, deposit it in my USD bank account and transfer it to my US$ Visa.