What Banks Aren’t Telling Canadian Businesses

As a Canadian business looking to grow and expand, you may find yourself working with companies in the United States and getting the opportunity to get paid in U.S. dollars. Given that the USD is typically significantly more than the CAD, you can often make a lot of money on the exchange, if you go to the right place. You may just go to your regular bank, as you know whom you’re dealing with. But, what a lot of people and companies don’t know is that with the bank you’re paying a significantly higher cost on the exchange rate than you may think.

What many don’t know is that there are multiple exchange rates for any singular pair of currencies. The USD to CAD exchange rate you may see on Google, on the news or elsewhere, is the rate the banks buy with, but when you exchange with them they add a significant markup that costs you a lot of money. This goes for other financial institutions as well, as they each charge their own exchange rate. The markup the banks add is usually as much as 3%, which doesn’t sound like much, but as a business, it will cost you more and more money as you continue to grow.

Each individual financial institution, whether it’s a bank, or an exchange broker, charges their own particular rate to cover their own expenses related to buying foreign currencies, other business-related expenses and of course, to try and make some money. While that may be understandable, it doesn’t make it any less costly for you.

Luckily, there are options out there for businesses to get cheaper and reliable ways to exchange their currency. For a company that may only get the odd client or customer that pays in USD, it may not matter, but if you’re looking to have a regular revenue stream coming in USD, you’ll want to maximize every penny you get.

That’s where a company like Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange comes in, offering the best currency exchange rates in Canada, with a method that is fast, convenient and easy to use. Whether you want to exchange weekly, monthly, quarterly or even yearly, KBFX can provide you with the best rate no matter how it fluctuates.

Even with our own minimum markup, you’ll find that our rates are average around 1.5% – 2.,5% less than the banks, which could wind up saving you thousands of dollars or more! The more you exchange, the more you’ll save, making it the ideal way to exchange your currency!

At Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange, we know firsthand the experience of exchanging currency with the bank, as our president, Rahim Madhavj, co-founded the company after quitting a job at RBC in 2009. That direct inside knowledge and expertise mean we know how much they are profiting off these markups, feeling like they don’t have to compete on rates. That’s why Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange exists, to help Canadians save thousands yearly, and let the banks know they can’t always jack up their rates and expect everyone to keep using them.

The core of Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange is providing fast, simple and fair-priced exchanges. We have the best rate guarantee, which ensures no matter the rate your bank offers, we’ll beat it. The idea is for you to be able to exchange as much currency at one time as you need. The process is simple, you can go online or give us a call to get started, making a free online account along with a free, no-obligation quote. Before anything is confirmed, you’ll see clearly what that exchange rate is, and exactly how much you’ll get in exchange for the funds you’re using. With our infrastructure fully integrated with all major banks, transferring between accounts is free, fast and easy for you.

There is another service out there, The Canadian Snowbirds Association, that allows you to get rates that beat the bank and is online based as well. The biggest difference with Snowbirds is that they charge a fee to enroll, a transaction fee, and it’s a monthly service/commitment. While we do offer a similar service at Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange, it isn’t mandatory, and you can exchange your currency any day you want and any time you want. We also offer a notification system that will let you know when the USD has increased to a particular level, allowing you to optimize when exactly you covert and exchange your money.

Base exchange rates may be set by the global banking network, and the banks will almost always have their own pocket of consumers, but Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange is proudly giving many Canadian businesses the ability to seek another option, providing the best USD exchange rates in Canada and swinging the balance of power in the market.