Establishing cost-efficient ways to store and receive funds in USD is vital to Canadian businesses who often swap between the two currencies. By opening a bank account that specifically deals with US dollars, you can avoid the unfavourable mark-ups that stem from frequent currency conversions.
With a USD bank account you can utilize those funds directly without the need to convert from CAD first. This can be extremely helpful when you’re making periodic payments and money transfers in USD regardless of their business purpose.
If you’d like to develop sizeable cash balance in USD, while dismissing the foreign exchange fees that often accumulate with credit cards and PayPal, all you need to do is book a transaction with KnightsbridgeFX. Using KFX to exchange thousands of CAD to USD can allow you to save hundreds of dollars on your transaction.
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Finding the right US dollar bank account and navigating their terms and conditions can be a tedious process. With so many offerings on the market, glancing through different fee structures and account benefits to find one that best suits your needs may be difficult.
To save you some time on your search, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite US dollar denominated bank accounts based on their competitive features.
The major Canadian financial institution RBC offers 2 different types of USD-denominated bank accounts. Naturally, they both come with separate features and conditions.
Although this account is centred on individuals rather than businesses, the associated fee structure is quite modest. Keeping the account active only requires a payment of $2 every month and there is absolutely no minimum necessary balance.
Owners of this type of account have access to six charge-free debit transaction each month (each transaction surpassing the limit will cost a fixed fee of $1.60). You could also obtain overdraft protection, bank drafts, and personal cheques at an additional cost.
This account is primarily a savings account instead of a chequing account, so we wouldn’t recommend placing multiple transactions from this account’s balance. You only get one free monthly transaction and any additional transactions made directly from the account costs a fixed fee of $3 each time.
The main benefit however to this USD HISA is that you’ll earn accumulating interest of 0.25% on your current balance. Unlike their USD chequing account counterpart you won’t be able to acquire personalized cheques.
Coincidentally TD also offers two separate forms of US dollar balance accounts. Unlike RBC, they don’t specifically offer a high interest savings account in USD. Instead, TD offers twin chequing accounts with distinct features.
This is the bank’s more “general” US denominated account. It has absolutely no monthly fee and it even comes with a modest interest rate assuming your balance exceeds $1000. Of course its interest rate may not be as competitive as some of the other high interest savers on this list.
The absolute best feature of this account is the ability to have zero transaction fees. As long as you keep an active account balance that exceeds $1500 you won’t pay any transaction fee – otherwise you will pay $1.25 each time.
Slightly different from the aforementioned TD USD account, this account type has a monthly fee ($4.95) but it comes with limitless zero-charge transactions. Furthermore, if you can manage to keep an active account balance that is over $3000, even the monthly fee can be dismissed.
Based on the size of your account balance the interest rate paid out to this account will be anywhere from 0% to 0.1%. Either one of these TD accounts are accessible at a local branch or digitally through their online service.
CIBC only currently offers one form of US dollar account, and it’s somewhat similar to TD’s personal chequing account offering. Once again, this account is more commonly requested by Canadian individuals and not specifically businesses.
This account offered by CIBC grants its balance holders a decent rate of interest (0.25%) with zero monthly fees and no requirements for a minimum balance. It also lets owners send outbound personalized cheques (in USD) and withdraw freely in US dollars from all CIBC branches and ATMs.
The one drawback is that every transaction will come with a fixed fee and the cost cannot be waived. Each transaction placed involving this balance will come with a $0.75 charge, which is not unreasonable compared to other plans.
BMO’s US dollar accounts are easily separated by their individual purpose: one is designed for frequent transactions (chequing) and other is meant to be more static (savings).
One of this account’s most unique features is the ability to completely waive monthly fees if you already pay fees on a separate BMO account (this account can be in CAD). However, if this USD account is your only account registered with BMO, the monthly fee is $4.
You’ll be able to place 12 monthly transactions for free, but then you’ll pay $1.25 for each one that surpasses the periodic limit.
This account is very similar to the chequing account except it comes with a low interest rate that accumulates on active balances (0.05%). The one other difference is that seniors – individuals aged over 60 years – can have their monthly fees dismissed.
The other conditions are the same; you’ll be paying $4 each month and $1.25 for every transaction exceeding the 12 complimentary ones.
Scotiabank also only offers one type of bank account in US dollars that is essentially a chequing/savings hybrid account.
This US dollar bank account comes with one of the lowest monthly fees on this list, coming in at only $1 per payment. To make it even more affordable, Scotiabank will also let seniors that are over 60 years old dismiss this fee. What’s more is that all individuals can waive the monthly charge – regardless of age – as long as they maintain an active balance over $200. It also generates 0.15% interest.
On the other hand, the account only grants owners two complimentary transactions every month – every transaction afterwards costs $1.25. This account is not ideal for business and individuals that need to make frequent transactions with the balance.
The National Bank of Canada has an all-in-one US banking account that is best for individuals/business that can afford to maintain a considerably large account balance.
This account is designed to accumulate higher levels of interest for wealthier account holders. While this specific account type features no monthly charges, balances that are over $10000 earn 0.15% interest while balances that are between $5000 to $10000 only earn 0.1%.
All transaction fees associated with this account can be waived with a minimum balance of at least $2500, otherwise you’ll be required to pay a fixed charge of $1.50 per transaction. With this account you’re able to set up outbound cheques, overdraft protection, and bill payments although they come with separate costs.
Tangerine is the most newly established member in the US bank account market since it is the single online-only banking institution on this list.
Since all of their services are purely digital Tangerine can afford to provide their account holders with highly favourable deals. The only real drawback with this account is that they don’t have any real physical branches (aside from a few scattered pop up stores).
Tangerine’s USD account features no balance requirements, zero monthly charges, limitless fee-exempt transactions, and even a 0.20% rate of interest on account balances.
If you’ve decided on the US dollar that best suits your needs, check out our guide to Canada’s best credit cards.
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