School me on US Bank Accounts
 

School me: I have a ton of US cash sitting around and I'm looking to open up a US bank account. Interest isn't a huge deal to me; I'm looking to make life easier during any of my trips down south.

Looking for any input and first hand experience from any RS members who frequently bank in 'murica.

RBC, TD and BMo all have US/CA borderless accounts with their US affiliate (RBC USA, sold to PNC) and subsidiaries (TD US/BMo Harris) that let you quickly move money across the border.

Alternatively, if you want a true USA account, bring 2 pieces of ID and head down to any US banks of your choice in WA. They deal with a lot of Canadians... so it's not strange to them. They are just required by law to "know" their customers.

RBC Bank Georgia does it for me. I'm happy that they allow you to your billing address to the USA when you come across websites that only accept & deal with american credit cards.

banner bank in point roberts. it's inside the grocery store. just bring 2 sets of photo id. you can sign up for their credit card as well which has $0 fees per year and you can get 1% cashback on purchases. their regular banking plan has no fees either. lots of canadians use them plus you can put your paypal to it.

I'd strongly recommend against opening an account at a US bank (in the US) unless it's not a lot of money.

A friend of mine had some tax implications as a result that caused more headaches than it was worth. There was interest income from the account that he didn't file and the IRS ended up making his life a pain the ass for virtually a few thousand dollars.

Best bet is to open a US account with a Canadian Bank and get a US credit card from a Canadian Bank or from a Canadian Division of a US entity.

Example: AMEX Issued in Canada but is in USD or US Mastercard issued from BMO.

With my AMEX, I get billed in USD and pay it from my US account at Harris.

You can also overpay your US CC with USD and take cash-advances in the US (some places charge some don't).

exactly what Marco said...

USD account in canada and get a USD credit card

we've got them from BMO

what are if any, high interest USD accounts. max i have seen is .5-.7

i do have a BOA account that i use for purchases down south. (no interest or fees)