elfbabe is moving across the border. Mrs. Mercotan and I will still be sending her various monies over time, and we’d like to have an economical way to get the bucks to her. Wire transfers from our bank to her (as yet unchosen) Canadian bank will run $30 for each transfer. Mrs. Mercotan would like something quicker than mailing a check for her to deposit.
Any other solutions out there that are secure, rapid, and economical? Or is $30 US a good deal to transfer money?
Thanks.
How much money will each transfer average? And, is the a permanent move?
She’ll be able to take money from her US account in Canada via her ATM card. It’ll probably cost about $3 US each time.
Okay DUH I meant to say it’s probably just easier for her to keep an account at the bank you deal with now, or keep her current account, and have you directly deposit into it.
This means no visits to Baltimore, eh?
In 4 figures monthly, for at least two years.
We’d prefer she not deal in such large amounts of cash. Besides, most ATMs won’t spit out the amounts we’d be transferring.
And sorry, it’ll be a while before I’m back in Bawlamer. 
Check out ING.com.
Call them up and find out if you can link international accounts.
I have a friend in Florida who can’t save money on her own, so we opened an ING saving account - actually, I opened one, she opened on, and we linked them. Now, I can take the money that she deposits into the linked account, and move it out into an account she can’t get to.
Now that I think of it, we may have used this set-up for me to transfer money to her when she was living in Prague.
Call 'em up. It’s free.
Well, if she withdraws $500 from the ATM in the entrance of the BMO or CIBC or whatever and then walks into to bank and deposits it into her account with that bank (or stuffs it right back into the ATM, even) then there’s not much risk in handling the cash. Once a week and we’re at $2k/month. Bit of a pain, but better than $30 bucks. A similar possibility would be for her to draw cash advances on a credit card that you can deposit to, though you’d have to coordinate things as most cc’s charge interest on cash advances immediately. There’s got to be a better way, though. Surely there’s some bank somewhere that operates in both countries. Or for that matter, something like Paypal.
For large sums, it can be worth shopping around for exchange rates, too. They’re all based on the same price, but some places do x + 1.5%, others do x + 2%, etc.
Citibank apparently does business in the U.S. and Canada. Why not open an account or accounts with them, and you just do on-line transfers from one account (strictly controlled by you) to another account that elfbabe can tap. I do that with my kids who are away at school.
QtM, can you as an American open an account with online banking at a Canadian bank? Then you could use Interac Email Transfer to send the money to her.
I know that Canadians can open US bank accounts through subsidiaries of Canadian banks. Back before the US dollar started to fall and the Canadian dollar was in the basement, I was thinking about doing that. One such is RBC Centura, the US subsidiary of the Royal Bank. Maybe elfbabe could open a Canadian account, and a US account at the US subsidiary of the Canadian bank:
You could transfer to the US account, and she could take it from there.
Wire transfer for $30 US per seems like a lot to me. She couldn’t cash cheques, open up a savings account in Canada and get a deposit less regularly or just get wired less often? Just askin’.
Find a bank that has branches in both places. I first thought this was a problem, but a couple of folks have mentioned banks that do business in both countries.
Open an account in Elfbabe’s name. Keep some deposit slips. When she needs money, you deposit it in the account in a branch where you are. She withdraws it where she is. Simple. I’ve used this method with both of my kids when they were in school. If she needs the money instantly, you deposit it in cash. No need for anything fancy like a wire transfer.
What about PayPal? You can link a U.S. bank to a PayPal account. If you can link a Canadian bank to a PayPal account. You could transfer using PayPal. Within the US it’s free to the Payer. And it’s free to the recipient if they have a personal rather than business account that does not accept cerdit card payments. I think it’s free to have PayPal deposit teh money to your bank account out of PayPal. I’m not sure what the limit on tranfers is of if there is one.
I’m 99% sure that the five major Canadian banks (Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank, TD, and ScotiaBank) all offer U.S. dollar accounts as well as Canadian dollar accounts . (My parents, for example bank with BoM and have had a U.S. dollar account for my father’s publishing royalties.) I’d recommend that your daughter go to one of these banks and set up a U.S. dollar account and a Canadian-dollar account, assuming that the fees for this aren’t too onerous. Then you can send her conventional U.S. dollar cheques, and she can deposit them in her U.S. dollar account and switch the money (going within the bank’s system should get her a pretty good exchange rate) as needed.
Dealing with U.S. currency is a lot more common in Canada than dealing with Canadian currency is in the U.S. — if only because your average Canadian interacts with the U.S. a lot more than your average American interacts with Canada.
I should add that if your daughter chooses to pursue the above route, she should of course call up the banks in question and ask them whether such a thing would be possible. There might be some wrinkles about depositing cheques, etc. that I’m unaware of.
They’re entirely likely to freeze the funds for 2 weeks while the cheques clear. Cheques are not the way to go if other means can be found.
I use Neteller.com to transfer money into my online poker account. Deposits and EFT withdrawals are free. I haven’t investigated transferring funds from one Neteller account to another but I would imagine it’s less than $30. Or I suppose you could just deposit into the Neteller account and she could access the same account to transfer it to her personal bank account. There is something of a timelag before funds become available but it’s usually 1-2 business days.
I’d second looking into (non-premium) Paypal account if your daughter can set up a Canadian Bank acct to receive the funds.
Thanks all for the suggestions. I’ll pass them on to Mrs. Mercotan to sift thru them.
They don’t trust me with money, you know! 
It is indeed possible to connect a Canadian bank accout to a PayPal account. Without a credit card, even. 
If elfbabe can find a Canadian bank with a US subsidiary which has branches that are accessible to you, you could just go there and deposit cash. No need for a cheque to clear.
Or, if you get an account at the same bank, you can keep it filled by slower interbank methods, and then transfer into her account at need.
Or, if you’re really lucky, the US subsidiary she picks will turn out to be your bank already.
The US needs something like Interac Email Transfer.