What I do is transfer USD to my OANDA account and leave it there. OANDA gives you a multi-currency account that pays interest. Then when the rate is good I convert USD/CAD and I can hold the money in my CAD sub-account (also interest bearing) or transfer it to my CIBC account for $25.

Obviously you need to be local to the GTA to do this with InterChange but check your own local currency exchange dealers….this is their core business so they should have very competitive rates, shop around.

I’m a currency trader for the last 4 yrs and I’ve researched a lot on this topic as most of my profits are in USD as most of the brokers only have accounts in USD.

I’ve Bank of America regular checking account and as they have global ATM alliance you can withdraw money from any Scotiabank account and You won’t believe the exchange rate I get is almost interbank spread. For eg if USD/CAD is at 1.0750 .. they would give me 1.0748-9.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_ATM_Alliance

Second thing I’ve is HSBC USA Mastercard which charges no exchange rate fee when I use in Canada or anywhere internationally. I use this here in Canada and when I compare the rates it’s almost interbank within points just like BOA.

http://www.hsbcusa.com/personal/credit_cards/premier_world_mastercard.html

Another best thing in the world is just like IB in currecy trading there is broker by the name of Oanda. They recently started exchange currency for use rather than only trade. This service can be used to wire money to anyone around the world but comes with wire fee. Might be good for few of you ..if you want money in different currencies like EURO, GBP or AUD.

http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/

Now back to Canada. If you want to convert less than 25K than best I found is TD Borderless Plan as some of have mentioned above.

But there is one hidden Gem with CIBC ( works only if you want to convert more than 25K) You go to teller and ask them to call their Dealer ( I think they are CIBC bank trader at their head office) and book this much amount which usually gives 0.8-1.0% exchange rate.

Let me know if you have any questions except how to become a currency trader :).

Sandy

If you try and book a flight with those 25,000 Aeroplan points (assuming you can find a seat still available at that level for the times you want) then you still have to cough up the surcharges and taxes. I don’t know what that would be on the flight you mentioned, but it would be hundreds of dollars. You will find a lot of people complaining that the flights aren’t really free and that it is very difficult to find flights at the 25,000 point level. Sometimes they can go ridiculously high for North American economy travel on Air Canada – think over 100,000 points.

Many people consider the real value of Aeroplan points in the fact that you can use it to book first class travel sometimes far more effectively than something like TD.

Try that in your comparison and you may see a very large difference.

Apparently now, you can transfer SPG points to Aeroplan without any trouble. SPG offers a bonus of 5k points for every 20k transferred. With 30k spending, you’ll get 30k spg points, which works out to be 35k aeroplan points.

Air Canada
Below is from AC website tonight.
Trip from Victoria, BC to Orlando, Florida via AC Dec 15 return Dec 30/2009 $
$1174.43 CAD

1174.43-$170 (yearly CIBC charge) = 1004.43
Costs $170 for two cards
Spend $2500/Month = 30,000 points
30,000/25,000X $1004.43 = $1205.42 Value CIBC Aerogold Card

TD Infinity card
Costs $170/Year for one card
Spend $2500/Month = $685 worth of travel (as per TD Site) – $170 = $515 Value TD Infinity Card

Note
TD includes welcome bonus of 20,000 one time points.

then pay the bill thru the internet with your u.s dollar bank account.
no exchange fees , no extra percentages charged

(if one is travelling to the u. s. frequently; one should have monies in a u.s. dollar account)

I don’t know whether the rate would be as good if I use another company’s machine, but I would pay only $1.50 for a withdrawal in the US (and $3 internationally)

Exchange rates for Australian dollars also seemed to be pretty good, when I was on vacation in Australia last year.

Doesn’t make sense. CAD’s been trading ~0.9240 most of day (or 1USD=1.0823). If they are selling you 1CAD @ 0.96USD – then NOT a good deal.

1) IB has an “Universal Account”

2) You can open an account either in “CAD Base” or “USD Base” for Canadians.

3) If you have a CAD Base and trade CAD stocks, then the settlement will be in $CAD. However, if you trade USD stocks and made gains, then it will show up in your account as + $US (credit). If you lost money, then it will show up as – $US (debit).

Examples: (to simplify, I’ve excluded fees)
a) Your account is at $10,000 CAD Base. You bought and sold CAD stock and made $200. You will have $10200 CAD in your Base Account.
b) Your account is at $10,000 CAD Base. You bought and sold USD stock and made $200. You will have $10000 CAD and +$200 USD showing in your currency breakdown. The total in CAD Base would be showing $10216 CAD (if exchange was 1.08). This number will fluctuate with the currency movements on your +$200 USD.
c) With same CAD Base, you traded USD stock and lost $200 USD. Then the currency breakdown of your account will show $10000 CAD and -$200 USD. The total in your CAD Base Account will show $9784 CAD ($10000 – $212). This is considered borrowing $200 USD from IB. As long as you maintain “negative” USD, you will pay debit fees. Once again this number will fluctuate with the daily currency movements.

4) Here’s how you convert between CAD and USD Base
Say you have $10,000 in CAD Base Account and want to change to USD Base. You can easily change it through your Account Management. It takes 24 hours. Once changed, your currency breakdown should show -$10,000 CAD and $0 USD. But the total in your new USD Base Account should show $9259 USD (if $1 USD = $1.08 CAD). In this scenario, you will be charged debit (borrowing) fee for maintaining -$10,000 CAD. Your $9259 USD Base Account would fluctuate daily due to currency movements (on -$CAD) and debit fees. You have changed the “Base”, but you have not converted the currency yet.

5) Here’s how to eliminate that -$10,000 CAD debit.
IB provides “IDEAL” platform for currency conversion of smaller amount. The spread is pretty tight (1-2 pips = $0.0001-$0.0002) during open trading hours, but opens up fair amount during nights (30-100 pips). Once you open up CAD/USD Forex symbol then you might see bid and offer prices of something like 0.9325 by 0.9327. This means $1 CAD is currently trading between those 2 quoted USD prices (spread). If this is the case, the major banks might give you $0.9175 USD (1.5% spread) for every $1 CAD you convert. For our -$10,000 CAD example, you would submit a buy order of $10,000 (to offset minus) and you would be purchasing at $0.9327 USD price. Unless in a fast moving market or nights, the slippage is a non-issue in Forex. With this example, you would have received $9327 USD minus $2.50 USD fee. In banks, that would be $9175 USD + fee. Now you actually have a USD in your account.

6) If you have a USD Account hooked up to this IB account, then you could transfer this amount thru EFT. One transfer a month is free.