USD to CAD Converting Ways

[CobraYu]

Hey guys,

Well, heres my problem, and any tips on what to do would be appreciated greatly.

I have about $500USD sitting in my Paypal account right now, im located in Vancouver, BC. Paypal's system doesnt allow me to withdraw $500USD straight up into a US Dollar banking account on Canadian soil. Basically, i HAVE to pay the currency exchange rate, 1.10 as of July 21/06, if i'd like to withdraw the funds from my Paypal to any back in Canada. The paypal representative said in order to avoid the currency exchange rate, she'd recommend me open up a bank account in United States soil, transfer the funds into that bank account, and then withdraw it or something.

Does anyone have any amazing ideas for me to get the most of my money from my paypal account to my personal bank located in Canada?

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to share any ideas.

-Cobra

[cloudycanada]

find a friend that will give you US cash that also wants or can use US dollar in paypal ...

look out for fraudsters, find a real friend if possible (not online friends)

[tkyoshi]

If you see yourself doing this in the future you can open an RBC Centura account. It will work because Centura is a US Based bank, but you can get access to your money here in Canada.

[CobraYu]

Are there any branches in the Lower mainland of BC?

[tkyoshi]

Are there any branches in the Lower mainland of BC?

For RBC Centura? Yes! Any RBC Royal Bank ;)

[Paksis]

Your not talking big bucks here, 5 0r 10 dollars at most I think. Your going to spend 5 times that screwing around trying to save 5 or 10 bucks. Just eat the charge. I do and I transfer a bit more than 500 dollars. It isn't worth the trouble. Just my 2 cents.

[volan]

sometimes you just have to take the hit and be thankful it's not a bigger hit

[bar777]

Paypal has a debit card which my wife has and uses when we cross the border. Which is no different than what we have in Canada. If you get the card I'm sure you can go to an ATM in the US and withdraw your funds and deposit it back into your US account. Hope that helps.

[tkyoshi]

Paypal has a debit card which my wife has and uses when we cross the border. Which is no different than what we have in Canada. If you get the card I'm sure you can go to an ATM in the US and withdraw your funds and deposit it back into your US account. Hope that helps.

The card technically is not available for Canadian residents. If you have a Canadian account you cannot apply for the card.

I think originally they might have offered it to Canadians for a short time when they were first starting out but not anymore.

[jerryhung]

You just have to buy stuff on eBay that's USD-denominated :)

[CobraYu]

Thanks guy .. well since the CAD is a bit lower .. i think im just gona directly withdraw .. take the currency hit .. though i wish i could avoid it .. because i'd much rather USD Cash .. then i can put it into a bank under a US Account. Oh wells, i'll convert back to USD when the CAD is high. which wont be for a while .. unless this world war 3 stuff really starts up..

[rborek]

If you see yourself doing this in the future you can open an RBC Centura account. It will work because Centura is a US Based bank, but you can get access to your money here in Canada.

The RBC US Dollar account will work as well, as it clears through the US banking system, not through the Canadian system (the cheques are US MICR encoded, through a virtual branch of the Royal Bank of Canada in New York)

[AlexElder]

If you see yourself doing this in the future you can open an RBC Centura account. It will work because Centura is a US Based bank, but you can get access to your money here in Canada.

The RBC US Dollar account will work as well, as it clears through the US banking system, not through the Canadian system (the cheques are US MICR encoded, through a virtual branch of the Royal Bank of Canada in New York)

Have you been successful in opening a centura account recently? In November i tried and the rep said only people with temp us address' can get them now. so basically for snow birds.

And to rborek have you hooked up your regular rbc account to your paypal account? If so then this is THE solution.

I have always been looking for a way to transfer out from my paypal straight to cash. Even though loosing on the rate is not that bad for one transaction, if you are doing it all the time it really does build up. Especially if you need to convert from usd to cad and back to usd to send out a wire or something like that.

[n a m]

Take the hit and spare yourself a couple of indulgences

I find that the currently conversion of a couple of cents doesnt impact much unless your transferring thousands... otherwise having the money in a couple of days in your bank account give you that peace of mind.

[angelove]

OMG I know how you feel. Isn't it wrong for Paypal to have their own rates than the current exchange rate?

A few weeks ago I got an email supposedly from Paypal saying they are going to open a Paypal Canada (paypal.ca?). All Canadian residents will automatically be transferred this.

It will be operating on Aug. 1! I was surprised no one has made a topic about this... unless I missed it. ^^;

Sample of the email:

PayPal, Inc. is pleased to announce that we are preparing to introduce PayPal CA Limited (PayPal Canada) - a PayPal group company incorporated in Canada - as the service provider for PayPal customers in Canada. Going forward, this development will help us improve services for our Canadian customers.

We anticipate that PayPal Canada will begin operating on August 1, 2006.

Please note that no action will be necessary on your part. You will be able to continue using your PayPal account as you do today.

Your Existing Customer Relationship with PayPal

Until PayPal Canada begins operating in August 2006, your customer relationship continues to be with PayPal, Inc. (a U.S. company) under the PayPal User Agreement, which is governed by California law.

A New Customer Relationship with PayPal

With the introduction of our new Canadian company, your customer relationship will automatically be transferred to PayPal Canada. We anticipate that this will occur on August 1, 2006. At that time, we will introduce minor changes to both the User Agreement and its incorporated policies, as well as to the Privacy Policy. The new User Agreement will be similar to the current Agreement, and will contain no adverse amendments from a customer's perspective. It will also no longer contain U.S.-specific references.

If you do not wish to hold a PayPal Canada account and would prefer to continue your relationship with PayPal, Inc., you may only do so if you are a resident of the United States, and if the primary address in your PayPal account as of August 1, 2006 is a legitimate postal address within the United States.

If your primary address is not in the United States, you may close your account at any time, either before or after the transition to PayPal Canada, by logging in to your PayPal account and clicking Profile. We value your business and hope you'll transfer with us to PayPal Canada, where you'll be able to use PayPal in the same way you do today.

Once the transition from PayPal, Inc. to PayPal Canada occurs, we will post updated versions of our User Agreement and its incorporated policies, as well as our Privacy Policy, to our website.

If you have any questions prior to August 1, 2006 about these upcoming changes, please contact Customer Support. You can get contact information by logging in to your PayPal account and clicking Contact Us at the bottom of your Account Overview page.

[CobraYu]

Well, if Paypal Canada opens up.. then that would save us the trouble of taking hits from the currency fluxuations. Even if i were not transferring thousands, paypal is still taking money from me that should be mine, and that thought just makes me mad, because i cant seem to find a way to avoid that currency. Paypal's converting rates are always 2% off of the most current rates.

I think paypal must be making some funds off that .. i dont think it costs a lot for paypal to actually make the conversion and deposit it into a bank.

I havnt been to RBC yet, im going there today, hopefully they'll let me .. but has anyone here linked their paypal to their RBC Centura? It has to be a confirmed bank account for someone to withdraw funds from paypal.