Pay Canadian bills while in USA (CCs, etc)

March 13, 2009 12:14 PM

I'm visiting the US (work reasons) on a visit visa but going to be here for about 2-3 months. I'm looking to pay my CC off (Canadian Tire options mastercard except my BofA account here doesn't list them as a payee. CTFS has said "send us a check", but it might take them about 30 days to clear it. I want the payment to be done fast. Is there any other way to make a payment to them? (Any other ways to pay TELUS, DSL, etc.. would be appreciated as well) Thanks!
posted by Vandal to Work & Money (13 answers total)

Do you have a Canadian bank account that you can access over the internet? I'm a little confused that you have a Canadian credit card but not a Canadian bank account?
posted by GuyZero at 12:22 PM on March 13, 2009

Do you have a bank account in Canada? If so, all you need to do is get your money from your BofA account to your Canadian bank account and then pay the bill from there. If that isn't an option, then you could send a money order to CTFS, which shouldn't take 30 days to clear. Finally, if you do send CTFS a cheque, are you sure they won't apply the payment to your account for 30 days? I can see that they might not allow you to use your credit while the cheque is clearing, but surely they would not make you pay interest on the balance once they have received the cheque.
posted by ssg at 12:23 PM on March 13, 2009

Response by poster: I do have a Canadian bank a/c, but the only way to send money to my bank account (which does bill payments) is wiring, I think. I just didn't wanna go the wire route because it'd mean going to the bank personally (which is sorta far.)
posted by Vandal at 12:25 PM on March 13, 2009

Which bank in Canada?
posted by rokusan at 12:29 PM on March 13, 2009

You could mail a cheque to your Canadian bank which may be faster than mailing it directly to the CC company. Maybe. Or mail a money order, which should clear right away without holding. Or a certified cheque. Those will probably require a trip to you local B of A branch though.

In general, it's a pain in the arse to do this and I signed up with RBC specifically because they have online cross-border cross-currency transfers if you use their US subsidiary.
posted by GuyZero at 12:35 PM on March 13, 2009

Response by poster: PC Financial bank
posted by Vandal at 12:42 PM on March 13, 2009

Maybe through paypal?
posted by Salamandrous at 1:20 PM on March 13, 2009

Response by poster: Way too slow via paypal, lol
posted by Vandal at 1:20 PM on March 13, 2009

Do you have family or trustworthy/trusting friends in Canada with Canadian bank accounts? You could have them pay your bill for you via their own online banking, and repay them by whatever means is most convenient. To add your CTFS card as a payee should be fairly simple for them using your account number, as (I don't think) they particularly care who it is that pays them so much as that they are ultimately paid.
posted by onshi at 1:23 PM on March 13, 2009

Is your canadian bank account hooked up to a Paypal account? Can you fund the paypal account with another credit card, then send the money back to your bank account? I know I wouldn't risk this (evil Paypal being what they are), or even if it's possible (you'd think this would be frowned upon somehow), but if you're in a real pinch it might be worth looking into.
posted by cgg at 1:30 PM on March 13, 2009

Oh... i should preview before I send.
posted by cgg at 1:31 PM on March 13, 2009

Best answer: Does PC Bank do that Interac money transfer thing online? That works instantly. You e-mail a cryptic code that the recipient (you in both cases) receives and uses to "claim" money.

You definitely want to get money into your Canadian account and pay your bills from there.
posted by rokusan at 2:03 PM on March 14, 2009

Response by poster: Too bad no Interac. :(
I just had to send a wire.
Thanks guys!
posted by Vandal at 7:21 AM on March 19, 2009