Banking information

• All banks seem to charge about $5-15/month to maintain a checking account, but this is not true for credit unions (at least Van City).
• You can hold money in US or Canadian dollars (or have 2 accounts), and then move money between them when the exchange rate is favorable.
• It takes 15 business days for US checks to clear (!).
• It takes 2-3 days to wire money (for a small fee).
• CIBC does not issue check books unless you explicitly ask for them, even on checking accounts. It takes a week for a check book to arrive.
• If you want to convert large sums of money, you can ask your bank for a better exchange rate, and this may work. However, your best bet is the Vancouver Bullion & Credit Exchange - http://www.vbce.ca. They offer much better rates if you're converting over $10,000. Have a money order or cashier's check made out to VBCE in the original currency. If you give them one from a US bank, they'll post-date the check by up to 10 business days. Call them and ask for a quote - the rates on the webpage don't reflect these large transaction rates.
• If you're looking for a bank, I've been very happy with Van City. Fantastic customer service, you can do lots of stuff online including bill pay at no additional charge and transferring money to a US Account totally electronically (you can xfer $1K per day instantly). -Tamara, 3 Mar 2006

-- RachelPottinger - 10 Apr 2005