List of eWallets for Canadians - Page 55

savvy76 · #**541** 04-25-2007, 04:22 PM

[ QUOTE ]
So what is the best way for Canadians to get our money in US dollars?

I wish to keep all my money in US dollars, and would prefer not having to convert it twice, but have heard bad stories of depositing US dollar cheques into US dollar accounts.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't speak for everyone, but I just go to my bank with a USD cheque and let them convert it for me. A couple of bucks isn't a big deal. It's the same when I use Party EFT, their conversion is good, even with the $1 fee.
Not sure what kind of numbers we're talking about here but a little research into the best exchange bank might be worth your while (as long as the money you'll save makes up for the foregone poker profits to do the search in the first place).

Will221 · #**542** 04-25-2007, 04:30 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone withdrawn through Click2Pay, if so, how long did it take??? Faster/slower than a withdrawal through FTP??

[/ QUOTE ]

Requested a cheque on Apr 12, received it yesterday (Apr 24) in Euro. Sent it back to them yesterday as well since what the hell am I going to do with a foreign cheque in Euro???

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this sums up my dilemma, so Im going to use my debit card, will try it friday. Ill post a trip report after

QBert80 · #**543** 04-25-2007, 04:33 PM

Well it was a large cheque (>9k Euro) and I wasn't willing to settle for the exchange rate my bank offered. Plus it would be subject to a 3-week hold anyway, which is longer than it will take probably to get it back to click2pay, deposit on a site, withdraw to Moneybookers, deposit to Party, and withdraw via Party EFT directly to my account.

QBert80 · #**544** 04-25-2007, 04:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I can't speak for everyone, but I just go to my bank with a USD cheque and let them convert it for me. A couple of bucks isn't a big deal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Problem is for high stakes players this amounts to more than a couple of bucks. More like $500-$2k/month in exchange fees. Local banks have a gigantic spread for currency exchange, particularly for currencies other than USD. (For Euro the buy/sell spread is over 10%). A currency exchange is a much better option for the high stakes player, which is why it might be worth opening a USD account and just wiring large chunks to the currency exchange when you need to.

savvy76 · #**545** 04-25-2007, 04:42 PM

Here are today's rates at Party;
Based on the current Cashier exchange rate
100 USD = 112.246 CAD (less 1.00USD fee = 111.12CAD)
US Dollar Canadian Dollar
1 USD = 1.1225 CAD 1 CAD = 0.8909 USD

Here are today's rates at BMO(I think it was the most generous one last time I checked, I could be wrong);
Action: Sell
Amount $: 100
Currency: US
Rate: 1.109
Total Cost: $110.90 CDN

savvy76 · #**546** 04-25-2007, 04:59 PM

I thought I would redo this, the $1 fee is misleading on a hundred dollar transaction. Obviously it becomes far less meaningful as the transfer amount increases.

Here are today's rates at Party;
Based on the current Cashier exchange rate
100 USD = 112.246 CAD
US Dollar Canadian Dollar
1 USD = 1.1225 CAD 1 CAD = 0.8909 USD

Here are today's rates at BMO(I think it was the most generous one last time I checked, I could be wrong);
Action: Sell
Amount $: 100
Currency: US
Rate: 1.109
Total Cost: $110.90 CDN

Bobo Fett · #**547** 04-25-2007, 05:17 PM

There's no question that there are completely different sets of circumstances/problems for low stake and high stake players.

We low stakes players have it relatively easy...the most I ever withdraw at one given time is probably about $3,000, and around $1-2,000 would be more the norm. Easy for a guy like me to use Party EFTs, and Moneybooker's limits don't affect me. The only downside for a low stakes player would be wire fees...$10, $20, $30 or more has a much bigger impact on $1,000 than it does on $10,000. However, we can avoid wiring.

There really doesn't seem to be a great eWallet option for high stakes players. The C2P ATM card seemed viable, but now that it sounds like there is a 2% fee on all transactions, that certainly takes a bite out of it, unless you can find a way to take out $1,000 or more at a time so the fee is capped at $15. I would have thought that a high stakes player might be able to do a little better getting money directly from the sites...IE a US cheque, wire transfer, that sort of thing. But that's a different world from mine, so I really have no experience attempting that. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

savvy76 · #**548** 04-25-2007, 06:34 PM

An update including CIBC incoming.

All transfers are assumed to originate from Ontario and going to Germany (where Moneybookers' bank is located) and vice versa.

BMO (outgoing): Flat fee of $10 + 0.2% of amount transferred (min. $15 - max $125)
BMO (incoming): Flat fee of $14
CIBC(outgoing): Flat fee of $35
CIBC (incoming): There is a charge of $10 for each incoming wire transfer. Wire transfers from Schedule 2 banks cost between $5 and $10 per transfer.
National Bank: $15 + 0.38% of amt. transferred
National Bank(incoming): still can't get in touch
RBC (outgoing): Flat fee of $35 + communication fee to Germany ($7) = $42
RBC(incoming): Free for wires under $50, $15 for wires over $50
Scotia(outgoing): I was quoted $12-13 + 0.15% of transfer amt.[but when I actually did mine at Scotia it was $15 + $7.50 (to Germany) = $22.50]
Scotia (incoming): Flat fee $10
TD Canada Trust(outgoing): Transfers under $10K - flat fee of $30; Transfers $10K - $250K - flat fee of $50
TD Canada Trust(incoming): Flat fee $10

sawseech · #**549** 04-25-2007, 07:07 PM

whenever dealing with larger amounts, i like to use ing or icici. they apply 25 basis or close.

cardman · #**550** 04-25-2007, 08:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I can't speak for everyone, but I just go to my bank with a USD cheque and let them convert it for me. A couple of bucks isn't a big deal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Problem is for high stakes players this amounts to more than a couple of bucks. More like $500-$2k/month in exchange fees. Local banks have a gigantic spread for currency exchange, particularly for currencies other than USD. (For Euro the buy/sell spread is over 10%). A currency exchange is a much better option for the high stakes player, which is why it might be worth opening a USD account and just wiring large chunks to the currency exchange when you need to.

[/ QUOTE ]

The spread my bank uses for USD conversion is 2.5%. I've been trying to find better rates. I've never used a currency exchange before. How would you wire money to a currency exchange using Moneybookers? Do they have a SWIFT code?