How to Open a US Bank Account as a Canadian Citizen
October 6th, 2007 by Michael KwanCall me ignorant if you will, but I wasn’t sure what the procedure was for a Canadian citizen to open a US bank account in the United States. I was under the impression that you probably needed a US mailing address, but this was not the case when I took a short road trip to Bellingham.
The main objective for this trip was to go shopping and see if I could score any good deals — I ended up buying a pair of shoes, jeans, and a couple other things — but I figured since I was going, I might as well look into opening a US account.
As a freelance writer, most of my projects are done over the web and several of these are for clients based in the United States. I typically accept payment via Paypal simply because it’s so convenient. The biggest shortcoming of this arrangement, however, is that I cannot withdraw money from that account directly. You see, Paypal refuses to send US funds to an account based in Canada, even if it’s a US dollar account. As a result, if I take money out, I get dinged with a ~3% exchange fee and that’s on top of the US-Canada exchange rate. With the currency parity, the Canadian dollars I’d receive would be less that their stated value in US dollars.
So, by opening a US dollar account in the United States, I am now able to take money out from Paypal directly. Well, after transferring out of my Paypal account but there are no fees to do that. After the money is in my US dollar account — I opened with Key Bank because they have a location across the street from Bellis Fair in Bellingham — I can either spend it through a debit card when I travel through the States or I can withdraw the cash and do with it what I will.
For Canadian citizens to open a US bank account in the United States, all they need are two pieces of identification. You do not need a US mailing address to open a bank account.
Yes, that’s it. For my two pieces of ID, I gave the account representative my driver’s license and my passport. We sat down while she collected other bits of information like my employer (myself), my phone number, and (Canadian) mailing address. I opted for the zero fee checking account. On the downside, the rep said that I could not make use of their online banking services, because I needed a social security number (SSN) for that. I could, however, access my account via telephone and I’d receive statements every month. That’s a bummer, because I’ve come to rely on Internet banking for most of my banking needs.
So, the long and the short of it is that the process for a Canadian to open a US checking account in the United States is fundamentally no different than opening a bank account here in Canada. There are no complications (or at least none that I encountered). The entire meeting with the Key Bank account manager took maybe 15 minutes.
I’m not sure how this extends to citizens of other areas of the world like Asia, Europe, or Australia, but I now know that the process is very easy for Canadians.
UPDATE (05/16/08): I just received an email from reader Kamil Jiwa, saying that “in lieu of an SSN, you can obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) by mailing Form W-7 per the instructions on this page.”
Filed under Money.
Paypal’s exchange rate seems to be wrong, usually, anyways…
Good meeting you yesterday Michael! I’ll try and make it along for lunch again sometime soon.
Peter
I need to do this soon also. All my payments come from the states, and in USD. I hate paypal’s rate. Also, if anyone was wondering why Paypal’s exchange rate is wrong, it’s because they knock the rate down a bit so they make a few cents on every dollar you exchange as well.
So they double-ding us (just saying “ding” reminds me of the credit union commercial that’s always on TV).
Anyways, I have to head down soon so I’ll probably set one up. And, instead of online banking. Perhaps you could use something like MyMint, which syncs up your bank account. It has some API that it uses with the banks, so maybe it will work for all accounts, not just people with online banking.
Interesting. Didn’t know it was that easy to open an American account, but then again, i guess that bank gets a lot of Canadian customers since we’re so close to them.
Its even easier than that. If you go to any Royal Bank branch you can open an account with their US bank RBC Centura. The best thing about this is you can link it online to a RBC account and transfer money between them for free.
could you explain how you would create the account with US bank RBC Centura?
I’ve opened the account, and have the routing # and transit, branch, account number.
The deposits have been made, but I do not see them in my account….
hi i am opening up a business in the states preferably where there is less red tape, but i am encountering one problem even though i have a successful canadian business with bank statements to prove it, i have called around the border towns close to montreal such as plattsburgh new york and since we are not opening up offices for at least a year how can we get around this the differnt banks say they need to check our store front which in our case is going to be a mail box for now
if you have any ideas where to go or how to open up a bank acct commmercial acct that is and how to go about it once our new corporation is up and going
let me know
richard
Hi,
I own a Delaware, USA Corporation for my online retail business and I live in Victoria, BC, Canada. So far I have also been unsuccessful opening a US Commercial Account with any US Bank. If anyone has RECENTLY (due to US Patriot Act) opened a US commercial or business account as a Canadian Citizen please reply and you would help me out tremendously.
At this point I am going to go to Washington State and open a personal US funds account so I can at least take my money out of PayPal without the ridiculous fees.
Anyone else with any ideas how to open a US Commercial Account or any PayPal money transferring tips please let us know!
Thanks.
Contact Chase.com to open a US commercial account owned by the non-resident non-citizen. As far as I can tell they’re the only bank not worried about us Canucks rowing canoes into their skyscrapers!
hi, your blog is so impressed.
Very interesting. I am thinking about opening a bank of America account in Bellingham or Blaine WA. Anybody else opened an account at Bank of America?
Thanks
Im trying to do the samething but i havent found any information Gino if you did and you were successful let me know plz
I have the exact same problem, getting destroyed on this exchange rate. I wonder is there is any way to open the account from within Canada?
try tdbanknorth its an affilliate of tdcanadatrust and you can do it online..
As someone stated above. The best and only bank in Canada where you can open a US based bank account is RBC. Your credit history from Canada even transfers over to your US account.
Here is the website
http://www.rbcbankusa.com/specialtybanking/cid-96799.html
Great info! But if you did want a US Mailbox, a great place to get one is http://www.ccmailmanagement.com They are close to Montreal and are really nice people!
I use a place called Border Mail Services which is just at the Lacolle border in Champlain. Great place. http://www.bordermail.us
Go to http://www.usa2ca.com for usa mailing address. We make border package deliveries on the Vermont border which is 45mins from Montreal.
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Not sure if I’d be willing to go through the process of getting an ITIN, since I think you are then supposed to file US Tax Returns, which doesn’t sound fun at all.
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All my wondering questions are answered here.
Greedy paypal takes lot of money, their greedy fee to receive money, and ex. rates usually 4/5 cents below market value.
Yeahhh.
Thank you all
VIVAH
Hey guysss…
im opening an acount with amazon.com but they asked me for an US bank account and a credit card… what should i do? how can i get a US bank acount in Blain? or Bank Of America? plz help me out
As I mentioned in this article, I opened an account with Key Bank and all it took was two pieces of ID. I’m thinking that Bank of America has a similar policy.
okay michael but i called the Bank of America and they said i need to have the social insurance number and i have to be US citizen.. on the other hand i called RBC for their US based bank account and they said all if have to do is go there and just open that account.. but will amazon accept that as my US account? what do you think Michael?
Try contacting Amazon about that. Is there any reason why you don’t want to use Key Bank?
No i have no reason to use Key Bank as long as i can get an US account ill be good. Do you think i should try key Bank before do anything with RBC? and should i call them first or should i just go there? cuz i live in vancouver witch is 1 hour from boarder so i can go there…
Banking with RBC would probably be easier, but Amazon may require a bank account with a US address. That’s why I suggested Key.
Hi Michael,
It looks like with RBC Centura, you need to open up a US chequing account which states: Access USA®
* Avoid Monthly fees with $700 minimum balance (otherwise $3.95 US)
* Includes free Online Banking and Bill Pay
* Free check card
* No-charge check writing
* No RBC Bank fees for ATMs transactions; get rebates on fees charged by other bank ATMs1
Therefore you are paying $3.95/month unless you keep a balance of $700. You get a credit card but again it will cost you approx. $48/year. It is a debit/credit card.
QUESTION: With the Key Bank credit card, are you able to make purchases online with retailers that require a US credit card and a US billing address? If you have provided your Canadian Address, how does that work? I would love to know so I can zip down and apply for an account.
Thanks again for the great info
When I tried to purchase additional prepaid airtime with a cellular company, I was able to enter my credit card number but there was no way for me to enter my Canadian address. I tried to use the address of Key Bank instead and the transaction did not go through (account address does not match provided address), so I’m assuming that the same thing would happen with other online retailers as well.
I think the best solution, if that’s what you need, is to open an account with a shipping company in Blaine or Point Roberts. That way, you have a US mailing address.
Thanks Michael. I already have one in Blaine. I was really hoping I would be able to get a US credit card with a US address. Thanks again for all the great info.
Michael,
can you give me a little more detail about opening an account with a shipping company?? btw, i know where is point reboerts but i have no idea where is Blaine, hehe
Brian,
I haven’t opened an account with them myself, but you can check out TSB Shipping (I think they’re called) in Point Roberts. In effect, you rent a P.O. Box.
Blaine is the town on the American side of the Peace Arch.
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Hi Michael,
I have a quick question regarding paypal. I just recently opened a us bank account from key bank in bellis fair. What do i have to change in my paypal account to have my money transferred to my key bank account.
When you log into your PayPal account, you’ll find a place to add another bank account. From there, you’ll enter your account information from Key Bank. PayPal will deposit two small amounts (a few cents) into your Key Bank account. Check these amounts and enter them in PayPal a few days later. This verifies your account, just as you would with a Canadian chequing account. After verification, you can transfer funds between your Key Bank account and your PayPal account in US dollars.