# Fast & Cheap way to transfer $ to US Credit Union account?



## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

My brother banks at the Boeing Employee Credit Union near Seattle. I bank at the TD here. I have the select service account (in case that opens any options).

I am trying to figure out an easy, inexpensive way to transfer money to his account (it won't be a regular thing, only one or two transfers total).

Anyone here have suggestions for me?


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Send him a cheque.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

US banks are slow to clear personal cheques. The Seattle Credit Union also may not cash a cheque in foreign currency, and if they did you would have no control over what exchange they charged.

I would imagine OP wants to send it in $US. So a US money order purchased at your bank would work, but would still have to be mailed.

Ask TD if they can do a deposit in US funds directly to your brother's account, if you have the complete 15-digit account code. You would have to do this transaction at your bank, to calculate the conversion and make the withdrawal from your account in $CDN.

Ask TD if you can do it by INTERAC e-mail transfer. This is easy to set up with domestic banks. But I don't know if it can be done with foreign banks or in foreign currency.

PS: Try checking out this page on TD's web site; http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/fx/send_money.jsp

_ 1. Wire transfers are available in 25 foreign currencies including Canadian and U.S. Dollars. They let you transfer money directly into a foreign bank account from any TD Canada Trust branch in Canada. You can pay by cash, cheque or directly from your TD Canada Trust personal or small business account._

_2. TD Canada Trust customers can obtain a Canadian or U.S. Dollar certified cheque in minutes at any TD Canada Trust branch for a low, competitive fee._

_3. You must have a TD Canada Trust account in order to pay for a bank draft by cash, personal cheque or direct debit from your account.....Bank drafts can be obtained at your TD Canada Trust branch in the following currencies -
* U.S. Dollars _

Given that INTERAC e-mail transfer is not listed as one of the options, I'm guessing you can't use it for foreign transfers.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

OhGreatGuru said:


> Ask TD if they can do a deposit in US funds directly to your brother's account, if you have the complete 15-digit account code.


Yes, that should work, but be careful with the amount involved.
I don't know exact numbers, but a higher than "normal" amount will set off red flags at several levels.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

HaroldCrump said:


> Yes, that should work, but be careful with the amount involved.
> I don't know exact numbers, but a higher than "normal" amount will set off red flags at several levels.


If this is a substantial sum, such as an inheritance, your brother may need to see his bank official with a copy of the will and related estate papers to have the funds released. It's best if he see them before the money arrives. (At least that would be the procedure in Canada.)


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## Maltese (Apr 22, 2009)

Another suggestion is for your brother to open a personal Paypal account using his credit union account as the one where money comes from and goes in to. Then you can send funds via paypal. 

I do this with my sister who lives in the US.


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## TechChairLime (May 18, 2011)

Canadian here living in the US. I've transferred decent (up to mid 5 figures) amounts of money between accounts in the two countries - in my case my name was on both accounts though.

You'll get either "fast" (read: convenient) or "cheap" but probably not both. The best way to send the money depends on how much you're sending and how much time you want to spend. There's also the decision on whether you want to split the CAD to USD conversion with the Canadian bank to US bank transfer. No matter what you do, I recommend *not* sending your brother Canadian dollars directly. Chances are his bank won't give him a good deal converting the CAD to USD because US banks rarely have to do it.

Here are some options you have:

1) Sending a cheque - like OhGreatGuru says, BECU probably won't cash a Canadian currency cheque. If you have TD Select Service, you should have or be able to get a free US dollar chequing account with cheques from TD and write your brother a USD cheque from your USD account and mail it to him. BECU will probably be able to cash that, but he should call them up first to confirm.

I bet BECU will also hold the funds for a while until the transaction clears (to guard against fraud). When I wrote myself a USD cheque and cashed it at TD Canada Trust they held the funds for a month. With Select Service you have free access to the Borderless plan which gets you a better currency exchange rate (when buying US dollars to write the USD cheque). It's probably not a bad deal if you don't want to shop around or haggle with bank tellers.

2) Interac/Certapay e-mail transfer won't work, they only support Canadian institutions.

3) PayPal will work but they levy a steep fee, I would avoid them. PayPal tells me I'll pay $0.30 USD + 3.9% (!!) for receiving payments from outside of the US. I don't think this covers the currency exchange either - which is probably significantly worse than what you get with the Borderless plan at TD.

4) International wire transfer - not difficult, high fixed costs so it makes more sense for very large infrequent transfers. From TD it costs somewhere between $30-$80 for the transfer depending on how much you send. Most US banks charge to receive wire transfers too - I think I paid another $30 at my US bank on top of what TD already charged just to receive the money. BECU is a credit union though - check their website, they might not charge for incoming wire transfers.

I did a large USD wire transfer out of TD to a US bank a few years ago. I had to go into a branch to prove my identity. They need a few pieces of information from the target bank that you can easily get from them by calling (SWIFT code and/or routing number, account number, branch address, name and address of the recipient) and it happens quickly.

5) XE.com - they're an online-only Canadian operation owned by Custom House who does currency exchange and international transfers. I use them a few times a year for small/medium-sized transfers. You'll need to fax or e-mail them a passport or drivers' license or some other proof of identity because of money laundering regulations (and the same bank account information as you'd need for a wire transfer, but you enter it online).

Once the account is set up it's really convenient. You start a transaction via their website and then send them money via online bill payment from TD to XE (they show up as "Custom House" in the list of payees); when they get the money they convert the CAD to USD and send the money to the US bank. They can do a wire transfer (might be free depending on BECU's fees), EFT/ACH (definitely free), or mail your brother a bank draft. Trades end up taking 3-5 days from start to finish. I haven't tried it, but apparently you can also use them only to *send* money - i.e. initiate a USD to USD "conversion" which has no fees. For currency exchanges, their rates aren't bad. Better than TD's standard rates and probably on par (or a little worse) than TD's Borderless plan. When I checked they were taking 1-1.5% on top of their own costs (i.e. what any big bank would pay for currency exchange).


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