Paypal (Ebay) - $US Balances- in Canada

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I own a capable set of wheels so I was confident no matter where you were I could have pulled it off. Anything, if necessary, to prove a point

Troy

Update:

After 16 days of waiting for my RBC package (all I had received was an interac card...actually called an "InterLink" card in the USA) I was tired of waiting so I picked up the phone and called the number on the back of the card this morning.

Now the good news! Apparently my account was setup and active but I just haven't received anything yet to advise me of this. I then enrolled over the phone for web based banking and to my delight when I entered my new password and username over the web my active account was right there!

I then took the 9 digit routing# and 10 digit account # found on the RBC Centura website to Paypal's doorstep immediately, and guess what!? They answered and said come on in!! (select USA not Canada from the main drop down menu on paypal when adding the account).

1st financial testing is underway now sending money to and from the account. I will report back as soon as I confirm you can withdraw from paypal to the RBC account.

I may even close my account in USA (Maine) and use this solution exclusively because it has superior online access to track transactions and funds can be withdrawn at any local RBC branch!

This new RBC Centura product offering could be a "breakthrough" for all Canadian users of Paypal. (no brainer for sellers as it will save you a fortune in currency conversion surcharges imposed by Paypal and useful for buyers too who want a US$ e-check payment option when paying online sellers through paypal for purchases they made).

Troy E. MacDonald

Thanks for the update.Since I sell on ebay and am a Royal bank customer this might be the way to go  

You are most welcome, it is my pleasure to assist the forum in this matter.

Troy

Final Report:

I can now confirm that the best solution to Hudson's problem stated at the beginning of this thread is to open a RBC Centura US$ account at his local Royal Bank branch. The alternative is to open a US$ account with a bank on USA soil as I had originally done prior to the RBC Centura product being available.

The RBC Centura account IS accepted by Paypal and it is in every way a true USA US$ account that can be managed through your local Royal Bank.

This will allow you to withdraw your paypal funds into your new RBC account without being hit with the currency conversion surcharges paypal imposes.

The online access provided by RBC Centura is 2nd to none and in fact you can even import other bank accounts from other banks into your RBC Centura web based environment for ease of viewing all your banking relationships at a glance.

The RBC account I can confirm after personally setting up and testing it is working within the Paypal environment, mind you it took 3 weeks to setup (end-to-end).

Was it worth it? Without any question, definitely yes. I can now recommend this for all Canadian Paypal users after having put it through the test on our collective behalf.

CWT, your hypothesis was correct, it worked.

Conclusion: If you reside in Canada and use Paypal you can almost certainly benefit from opening a RBC Centura US$ bank account.

Troy.

...

My pleasure Hudson.

Let me know if you face any additional e-commerce related problems and I will see what I can do to help.

Troy

TD Canada Trust used to have a similar (at least it sounds like it is similar) sort of account through their subsidiary, TD Waterhouse Bank.  However, they seem to have recently disallowed Canadians from obtaining such accounts.  No word on why.

I have not looked at any other banks.

As an ex-employee with TD Canada Trust I don't recall the relationship you described as being in the same spirit as what RBC has accomplished with Centura. The TD offering I believe was more in the spirit of the structure/relationship between BMO and its USA subsiduary Harris Bank.

The RBC Centura offering is a remarkably seamless (after it has been set up) branch and web based product offering that provides industry leading benefits and ease of use.

Troy.

Troy, a member of the forum has requested that this subject be saved for future reference.  Would you be so kind as to make a concise summary of the subject so that it can be posted in a sticky thread in the eBay forum?

Also, it was suggested that this subject might be of interest to the greater collecting community as well.  Might you consider submitting a summary article to the CPMS for the next newsletter?

Brent as flattered as I am I should probably disclose that I have currently just begun a project which will include all of the information presented here and volumes more. Having said that I have no problem with the information being saved for reference or if you want to cut and paste certain portions of it I completely trust your editing given the work I have seen you perform on this forum.

It is my intention to write the most advanced published book ever written on both the Art and Science of selling on eBay and exploiting the ecosystem of sites that support it, one of which is Paypal.

This text will be aimed at those with intermediate to expert level knowledge of eBay already but wish to aspire to GrandMaster and Super GrandMaster Level. It is also being created as an educational tool for eBay upper and middle management themselves so they may deepen their understanding of the power of their own platform when used to its highest and best use and where it still lacks.

It will cover a lot of ground including the Art and Science of "Buying" for resale on eBay and well as extensive analysis on optimum sales performance and market dominance.

I suppose after living and breathing eBay's key operational and sales platform metrics for 5 years and having jumped back into the trenches 6 months ago and went "platinum+" in the same period of time it's high time I wrote it all down in a way that has never been done before.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity and had I not just started this other project I would be delighted to be at the service of the CPMS.

Troy

That's too bad you are occupied with the larger tome that you are writing.  I would have thought it would be a good way to introduce yourself to the CPMS community by submitting a small summary of this Royal Bank arrangement.  However, I'm sure you need no introductions.

I will try to summarize what I see in this thread, but I doubt I will have the command of topic that you obviously do.

BTW: I was only suggesting a SHORT summary of the work that you have done on this subject, not a long procedural essay or anything.

Hi Brent,

I think the How To guide on this topic is all here in this thread and with some copy and pasting to eliminate duplicate info it would come together nicely. I tried not to short change the thread too much.

If you believe the community would benefit from the additional commentary I provided about Paypal's history that could also be included.

I am also willing to have a look once its compiled to see if there are any missing links.

I recognize that I would benefit from the introduction to the CPMS via the article but I must maintain the intense focus I have right now on the tasks at hand even though I deeply regret the sacrificial consequences.

Thanks very much
Troy

Final paperwork, account info & checks/cheques arrive in the mail from RBC Centura on the 22nd calendar day after my 1st visit to the local RBC branch.

Everything is in order.

That's all folks.

Troy

I moved this here from the "eBay" section after I closed it. I felt that this discussion was of considerable value and should be retained.