RBC Access USA

I have been a long time user of RBC Access USA. This is a great cross border product for Canadians looking to access funds in the US.

When I applied, I was set up with an account in Canada, and an account at a US bank. The Canadian account is at RBC Royal Bank, and the US account is with RBC Bank.There is an easy web service to move funds between the two accounts with one log-in. RBC has two versions of the account RBC Access USA, and RBC Access USA Preferred. There was a no fee product when I first signed up, but now, the first has fees of $2.95/month and the second $19.95. Both accounts offer no fees on the PNC Bank ATM Network, and no RBC bank fees on Visa, NYCE or PLUS ATM.

My personal plus is the ability to write cheques on a US bank account. This comes in handy for direct investing where a US cheque is required (more than simply a cheque from a Canadian Bank in US funds).

Find out more from RBC here: RBC Access USA

DRIP Investing

I've been researching options for DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) Investing.

I'm currently using BNY Mellon (Choose investment plan enrollment) . This is where my holdings for General Electric, AmBev, and China Mobile are. I enjoy the website, easy to use. You get an investor number, where holdings are grouped. My only complaint is that my GE and CHL holdings are under on number, but my ABV was issued under another. Note, there is an option to group IDs together if you have multiples, but this involves a phone call and I haven't done that yet. There are plenty of holdings to choose from, I'm thinking of adding American States Water Company (AWR) , and Waste Management Inc (WMI).

The other option that I'm looking at is Computershare. This is the transfer agent for Walmart, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Exxon and so on. This looks like a good option and one I'm wanting to try soon. The only issue is that all foreign investors have to invest via a mail in form, no online access. I will report soon.

Note all of these require US funds drawn on a US bank. I've used RBC Access USA to establish a US bank account. See my previous post,RBC Access USA.

Review of ING Direct Account Setup - Week One Update

The end of week one and I have achieved a savings of $35, $5 each day for 7 days. My money is resting in my ING Investment Account while I wait for some of the other accounts like the RBC Centura account through RBC Access to be set up. I'm also going to be investigating a low cost brokerage. I haven't achieved any gain on my savings as yet, will update you on the amount of interest at the end of the month.

Setting up the ING account was relatively quick and painless. Fill out a form online, return a cheque payable to yourself. They've set up an electronic transfer with my main chequing account at Bank of Montreal. So far I've been pleased with the service, any transfers have gone through in a day or so, with a 5 day hold on the funds. I will report back on how long it takes for the funds to be returned back to me. The account is no frills, but it serves its purpose as a leave your money there for awhile account.

RBC Access USA

I paid a visit down to my local RBC branch, carrying my driver's license, SIN card and my passport. Thanks to Sam and Nancy I was able to quickly enroll in their RBC Access USA program. They set me up with an RBC Day to Day Savings Account, which has no monthly charges, the fees are transaction based, with one free transaction a month at their branch. Then we fired off an application for the RBC Access USA program. I opted for the basic level service, which let's you have a few free transactions, write cheques etc, there is a premier level service that has some more fees, but more included. Everything seemed to go fairly easily because I had all my ID and such. They faxed the application off to RBC Centura who are then supposed to go ahead and set me up an account and mail me the information. So step one completed, hopefully all goes ahead with no issues. If everything goes ahead, I should be able to log into both accounts through the RBC canadian account and move funds into the US account.

The RBC Access USA program appears to be set up primarily for Canadian snowbirds, for the unfamiliar, snowbirds is the nickname for Canadian retirees who spend 6 months or so over winter each year in Florida. The program looks like it will work for folks like me as well who require a bank account physically located in the US. In this day and age, this looks like one of the last viable options for US banking for canadians without traveling to the US.

Dividend Reinvestment Programs and Direct Stock Purchase - Not So Easy For Canadians

I want to avoid brokerage costs as much as possible right now, as I would have to wait a long time to save up enough money to invest and to cover the brokerage costs. I investigated dividend reinvestment programs (DRIPs) and direct stock purchase programs. For a DRIP if you own at least one share, you can participate in dividend reinvestment through companies and their transfer agents. I found www.directinvesting.com is able to transact the one share and enroll me. Even better, in some cases with stock like General Electric (GE) you can participate in a direct stock purchase plan and buy stock directly from their transfer agent.

HOWEVER, you need to write a cheque, drawn in US funds on a US bank with a US address (Basically, the branch needs a 9 digit ABA transit number and has to be located in the US). Hmm, can't open accounts online anymore thanks to the Patriot Act and what not. No trips to the US planned in the near future. Alright, I've had an account with Bank of Montreal since I was six, maybe they can facilitate something....

"In regards to your inquiry, I can advise that, regrettably, BMO Bank of Montreal does not provide the facility you have requested. Please note that we do provide the option to open US Dollar accounts, however we are unable to set up accounts that are held at banks in the United States. I apologize for this limitation."

Well there goes that idea. I'm going to try RBC next, they have a program called RBC Access USA. It looks like it's set up for snowbirds and it looks like the accounts are held with RBC Centura bank. Not much information online, and you have to go in to the branch to set it up. Well Thursday is the day they're open late so wish me luck.