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Best Way to Buy $US?
August 17, 2016
8:05 am
rodeworthy
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It's that time again. Need to obtain a supply of $US for the upcoming snowbird season.

Been a while since I had to do this. Exchange rates were favourable the last time I did this. Now... not so much. Have to accept that but looking for the lowest fees.

I used to have an excellent arrangement with Custom House. But they were bought out by Western Union and they really don't want my business... they cater to businesses with many transactions.

I have RBC accounts in Canada ($CAD and $US) and USA ($US).

Anyone have any tips in this area? Is there a volume point that will lower the fees? If exchange rates were better I would consider a substantial purchase but this time around I will buy $12,000 to $20,000.

Your thoughts are welcome.

August 17, 2016
6:51 pm
Brimleychen
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I am using Interchangefinancial.com. They are offering the best rate always. Give them a call. They have a couple outlets in Toronto.

August 18, 2016
9:37 am
JenE
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I've found Kantor to be good (Kantor.ca). Continental Currency will beat Kantor's price by .025 if asked. Sometimes moneyexchangeworld.com is higher. I'm sure you could ask for better rates for a large exchange.

August 18, 2016
9:43 am
Peter
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I use CanadianForex.ca for my business, but I had to ask them specifically for a better rate than their default.

August 18, 2016
12:57 pm
cesaire
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Found this on Huffington Post today :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....21638.html

August 18, 2016
6:54 pm
Rick
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I've noticed on my bi-weekly trips to WA that some of the local stores are offering better-than-bank/credit card exchange rates to attract shoppers. K-Mart's posted rate was 25% while my credit cards both charged 30-31%. Might be worth it to keep some of it in CDN funds. Just a thought.

August 19, 2016
8:51 pm
Jon
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The Amazon.ca CC is always an option, and withdrawing cash from Bank of America ATM using Tangerine debit card is quite enticing (no service fee on both end, just the exchange rate). Those method will not work on large amount through.

P.S: You can also pay into the Amazaon CC beforehand and withdraw cash as "Cash Advance" without exchange rate markup.

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