Wiring Canadian dollars from the US

[phishfearme]

Some outfitters price their services in US dollars and some in Canadian dollars. Our most recent outfitter requests to be paid in Canadian dollars and in the past we've given him a check for the trip in US dollars and he provided a reasonable conversion rate - until the last trip when the rate he provided was not good at all - he said (and I believe him) that his bank now not only charges a fee for handling a check in US dollars but also is giving him a poorer conversion rate.

given it's the 21st century, I explored if I could wire Canadian dollars from my US account and what it would cost. I was pleased to find that I could buy Canadian dollars in my Fidelity account and then wire the funds to my outfitters Canadian bank. Fidelity only charged 1% for the purchase of Canadian dollars and the wire transfer was free.

it's not all that easy though and it took about a month to get it done the first time but once it's setup future transfer should be easy. a few notes:
- you need the Canadian bank's SWIFT number (can usually be provided on their website)
- you need both the transit number and the account number - which you should be able to get from the outfitter (they are on the bottom-left of his checks)
- you need the EXACT name on his account
- your US bank will make you do a "Dodd/Frank" review of the transaction.
- the receiving Canadian bank may charge a fee to receive the wire ($15C in my case - CIBC - cheap - and we covered that cost for the outfitter).

so, bottom line, I was able to pay my outfitter in Canadian dollars from my US account with only a 1% fee. I asked around and heard from others who actually buy Canadian dollars in the US paying at least 3% fee and risking carrying thousands of dollars in cash (simply out for us), to saying that they just bite the bullet and accept whatever exchange rate the outfitter charges him.

hope this helps,
phish

[martinbns]

How competitive was the exchange rate on your Broker account?

[phishfearme]

Originally Posted by martinbns

How competitive was the exchange rate on your Broker account?

that was where the 1% charge came from - when I did the exchange, the spot rate was 1.338 and I got the currency for 1.325. I don't think you can do much better than 1%. there were no other fees from Fidelity.

phish

[martinbns]

Originally Posted by phishfearme

that was where the 1% charge came from - when I did the exchange, the spot rate was 1.338 and I got the currency for 1.325. I don't think you can do much better than 1%. there were no other fees from Fidelity.

phish

Not knowing what the exchange rate was at the time, that sounds like a pretty good deal. Up here if you are buying currency there is about a 5% spread on small amounts.

[vteye3]

Great post an nice knowing payment can be made with only a 1% charge.
I have been happy getting dinged only 5-6%