How do i cash this canadian money order?

January 17, 2007 8:45 AM

How do i cash this canadian money order?

i have recieved in the mail what appears to be a canadian money order from the toronto dominion bank for 500 CAD. it says on it "OUTSIDE CANADA NEGOTIABLE BY CORRESPONDENTS AT THEIR BUYING RATE FOR DEMAND DRAFTS ON CANADA" so maybe this is more like a cashiers check, my problem is i do not have a bank account so how do i turn this into real money?

posted by BSummers to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Check cashing companies will do it for you, though they will charge a fee and probably give you a low exchange rate.

Large banks that do foreign exchange will probably cash it, though, again, they will charge a fee.

If you're anywhere near the Canadian border, the money exchange services in the duty-free shops have a good exchange rate and no fee.

Call the local Canadian Counsel and ask where to go for the best deal.

And, of course, this is a good reason to open a bank account, even for a nominal amount.
posted by KRS at 8:56 AM on January 17, 2007

Response by poster: also... can bank drafts be endorsed and signed over to other people like I might do with a personal check?
posted by BSummers at 8:58 AM on January 17, 2007

You will probably need to get a bank account. I can't think of anywhere that won't gouge you horribly for trying to cash a Canadian financial instrument if you don't have an account there (and even my credit union charges $20 for the privilege), and bank accounts are pretty damn useful anyway. The only time I've tried to get foreign currency from a bank whose customer I was not, I was turned down. I would imagine that they won't help you move money the other way, either.
posted by oaf at 8:59 AM on January 17, 2007

You were expecting this money, yes? It's not just some random thing that dropped in from the blue sky?

Count me with the others saying you'll probably need a bank account. And then you can expect the instrument to take several weeks to cash, and for the bank to charge you something like $40.

The really fucking annoying thing about this is that I can write a check in USD to my wife who can just deposit it in her Canadian checking account, no fees no problems all transparent. But the other way is a complete nightmare.

You might contact TD Banknorth, a US bank owned by TD, to see if they can be of any use to you by mail.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:11 AM on January 17, 2007

Like ROU_Xenophobe, my first thought was that it's just a scam of some sort. We get exotic checks, money orders, and other random monetary documents all the time, but the fine print is always entertaining (if they even bother -- most invite us to "call to verify" or something to get the actual pitch).

But, if you were expecting a payment and just happened to get it in Canadian funds... you'll probably need an account, a lot of patience, and a tolerance for random fees.
posted by pzarquon at 9:14 AM on January 17, 2007

Response by poster: yes i was of course expecting this money i did not mean for it to sound like i was trying to cash a publishers clearing house style fake check :)
posted by BSummers at 9:15 AM on January 17, 2007

Toronto Dominion Bank does not exist anymore. It is now called TD Canada Trust (and has been for a while). When was this order issued?
posted by bluefrog at 12:35 PM on January 17, 2007