Wire transfer limits | Manulife Bank | Discussion forum

There's also the wire transfers done over Payment Canada's Large Value Transfer System. They are mentioned in the Services and Fee Guide:

Wire transfers – Canadian, US or International
(charges from the other financial institution may also apply)

$10,000 or less.............................................................. $30.00
$10,001 - $50,000 ........................................................ $50.00
$50,001+...................................................................... $65.00
Incoming wire transfer.................................................... $15.00

Probably no limit on incoming ones. Outgoing is at least $50,000.

Never, ever, unless EFTs aren't offered, use a wire transfer domestically (within Canada). It is a cash grab from the domestic and foreign-owned banks in Canada. Processing timeframes can happen same day, but often don't.

Best bet is for smaller value transfers if you require the funds instantly (or within 1-2 hours) is to use an Interac e-Transfer. Many institutions offer these fee-free nowadays so it's now even better than EFT in many respects. For larger value transactions, though as noted above, there are usually incoming and outdoing transfer limits, is to use an EFT transfer between your linked bank accounts. As Stephen (@Nehpets) noted, some institutions like Manulife Bank (and Hubert Financial, I'd add) have the ability to override imposed limits by speaking with a telephone customer service representative. Processing timeframes can be same-day, if done early enough in the day (i.e., first thing in the early morning hours with some institutions like Hubert Financial) but typical processing timeframes are next-day or two days at most. The exception being Motus Bank/Meridian Credit Union, which @Loonie and others (including @Nehpets, @krwilson, and me) have noted elsewhere on these forums.

If the institutions are branch-based financial institutions, one super fast alternative to a wire transfer is simply to take cleared funds (i.e., cash) from one bank to the other, often a block down the street. Take with you the name(s) of the account holder(s) and their branch transit and account number information as, for privacy reasons, banks can't look up anything unless both pieces of information are provided. Keep in mind, though, large cash deposits of $10,000 or more (including cumulative deposits within a 24 hour period) will be automatically questioned and additional regulatory documentation will need to be filed. As well, some banks are reluctant to let you withdraw a large amount of cash because it depletes their branch holdings and it costs money to order cash. If this occurs and they don't offer you a fee-free bank draft in lieu of cash, you can ask to take a bank draft in lieu of cash at no charge by saying you'd be fully willing to do this. Crucially, though, get a business card from the CSR with a direct line so you can have the depositing bank call and verify the draft's issuance so they don't put a hold on the bank draft.

Cheers,
Doug

Loonie said
I agree with Doug's ideas but I have found that even the Big Banks don't want to give out more than about 2K in cash without a few days of advance notice.
Also, although it's possible occasionally to get a direct line number, they usually don't answer the phone and you have to await their pleasure for a return call, which usually takes a couple of days if they ever get back to you. Most of the business cards do not have a direct line number.
This has been my experience with TD and CIBC. For all its weaknesses, I always get through quickly to my Meridian branch and to the person I want to speak to.

Further, the banks will put a hold even on a bank draft, so you are not necessarily any further ahead.

I once managed, with difficulty, to get over 4K cash from TD in order to walk it over to CIBC. I needed it in order to pay a large bill that was on pre-authorized debit from CIBC account, for which I'd forgotten to make the relevant deposit in a timely fashion.
In this case, TD finally agreed I had no alternative - after quizzing me extensively. I also had a fair bit of cash at TD at the time, so they reluctantly agreed, although had to get permission from branch manager and it took up a lot of my time. They don't make it easy and I had not known it would pose a problem. It's as if its not really your money. 4K is not really a lot of money for a bank. They need to keep a bigger float if this is a problem for them.  

I had a similar problem with teller service several years ago at CIBC when trying to withdraw about $2,500 cash to purchase a computer that evening from a local supplier (they charged an extra 3% if you paid with a credit card instead of cash, so screw that). At first the teller said he couldn't provide me with that much cash without a few day's warning, so I had to play the "can I speak to the manager" card since this was the same downtown branch where I also had my chequing, mortgage and LOC accounts. I got my money.

Things have changed -- these days the default withdrawal limit on my CIBC ATM card is $3K per day (which I could increase if I wanted to), but that's plenty high enough and the ATM doesn't give me any attitude.

In TD's defense, however, after some recent high-profile fraud experiences, all the banks are probably a bit sensitive these days to older people coming in and asking for cash withdrawals outside the normal routine. For example, some low-life might be conning or scamming their account holder, and the banks have discovered they can be held at least partially responsible if they don't do a little diligence about your unusual activity. Obviously it's a little more obvious to the bank there might be a problem when 87-year-old Uncle Henry comes in and wants to start making $50,000 wire transfers to numbered accounts in the Philippines compared to you coming in looking for $4K in cash, but I think you get the point

All my ATM cards have had a $500 transaction limit and a $500 daily withdrawal limit as default values. And it never seems to be noted anywhere what the limit is , not on account opening or when card arrives in the mail. I had one limit increased to $1000 but that was the most they would allow . I can see why banks are reluctant for a few different reasons. I think they don't mind giving you larger amounts as a cash advance on your credit card though. Wonder why
As mentioned by someone in another thread , Duca has a nice system where they set up 2 savings accounts and only one is visible at ATM so unless you transfer online beforehand there is no money to withdraw and risk of card scams reduced and I think Simplii used to (and may still) only allow ATM withdrawals from chequing account so same type of safeguard