US Cards - Getting Started

It is a pretty commonly accepted fact that Canada doesn't have the same depth or breadth of options when it comes to travel rewards. For starters we don't even have access to some of the big card issuers from the States like Citi and Chase. Even Amex who operates in Canada has a fraction of the cards on offer ex. Amex US has 3 different personal Hilton and Marriott cards whereas we have 1 Marriott card in Canada. Even the cards that overlap have completely different multipliers, bonuses, and fees, ex. the US Amex gold earns 4x on food and 3x on flights, in Canada it earns 2x in these categories. Finally US Amex MR points transfer to dramatically more partner airlines, often at better rates, and with more frequent transfer bonuses. This is why many Canadians actively seek out entry into the US market, although there are some benefits we should be happy about.

The process of getting an American credit card can seem daunting at first, but if you already bank with a major Canadian bank and have a credit history of at least three months with Amex, it is easy to get started.

In this article we will walk through the steps to getting ready to apply for your first US card. If you already have an ITIN or SSN in the US keep an eye out for my next article where I'll go over selecting your first US card. If you already have a US credit history then the whole world of US cards could be open to you which is beyond the scope of this article.

Disclaimers and referral links are at the bottom, as always you can reach out if you have any questions.

Before you Start

There are a few things you'll need before you get started:

• A US address that can receive mail on your behalf, be it a second residence, family member, friend, or mail service.

• An Amex Canada credit card that is at least 3 months old and in good standing, if you don't yet have one open, jump down to the referral section and get signed up

You do not require an SSN, and while you'll likely want an ITIN if you ever want to branch out beyond Amex, it is not required to start.

US Mailing Services

I would recommend you use the address of a trusted friend or family member if you have one to avoid fees, but if you don't have one fortunately there are some services that will forward mail for you (some even scan and email you the contents!). My wife is American, so even though I went through this process for the sake of writing about it, I have her family forwarding my mail to save costs (sorry but this website already costs enough!). That said other writers on this topic have recommended 24/7 parcel.

If you live near the border you can select a parcel company their for convenience (when I lived in Thunder Bay I used Rydens). I enjoyed having the option for picking up packages shipped to the US side of the border (when something isn't available in Canada or is only available for a lot more).

Whichever you use, double check that they aren't listed as commercial USPS address look up as that would likely get immediately denied by Amex.

Also, keep in mind that most charge per item and/or an annual fee - so remember to switch to electronic statements!

US Banking

Opening a US bank account is one of the first steps necessary to obtain an american credit card. If you travel to the US regularly or have previously lived there you may already have a US dollar account, and even if you don't, the major banks here in Canada make it easy to open one. However it is important to draw a distinction between a US dollar account that is domeciled in Canada, versus an US bank account. Assuming ease is your priority, you'll likely want to go with either TD, RBC, or BMO who can provide both the Canadian and US sides of the banking equation. I'm with TD and I found they made this particularly easy, so I'll use them as an example here. UPDATE: Since I wrote this article there have been increasing reports of TD US requiring an in person application, so this may favour RBC for most reward focused individuals since their Avion cards are already worth targetting.

The benefit of working with a crossborder bank like TD is in the simplicity of it all. By opening both a TD Canada trust USD account and a TD Bank account in the US and having them linked through crossborder banking, you can easily and cheaply transfer funds between the two. For large transfers this may not be the best exchange rate compared to low cost exchanges like XE, Wise, and Knightsbridge (no affiliation), but convenience is valuable too. If you already plan to use Wise or similar, then having a linked account may not provide any benefit over just opening a US bank account. Ideally you want one that will let you open it over the phone and add a US mailing address without proof of address.

For the Canadian side I opened a TD Canada Trust borderless account, regularly 4.95 USD/mo, 1.95 USD/mo for those with a TD All inclusive account, and account fee waived for balance over $3000 USD or those with TD private banking. If you are with TD private banking, you can ask your banker to open this account for you and after a quick call and e-sign you'll be up and running. Either way this is a quick process, including small talk and signing, it should take under an hour to get your account visible on TD EasyWeb. Again this is not required if you plan to just transfer via Wise etc.

For the US side I opened a TD Bank (US) complete checking account

you'll have to pick a state a city so that they can assign you a branch but don't worry as you can continue the process online. I happened to pick Washington DC as I have friends there, but the decision is essentially irrelevant unless you have a contact.

Click through the options and you'll end up on this page which might throw you off a bit because it says you'll need an SSN - this is not the case, I've notified TD of the issue and hope they will update it. What you'll need is your SIN and two forms of government issued ID (I used my passport and drivers license.

What you'll need is your SIN and two forms of government issued ID (I used my passport and drivers license.

You'll then have to fill in your personal info, this is an opportunity to add your US mailing address, or you can alternatively add it afterwards. The benefit of adding it now is that it will be on the first statement, available to confirm your information for Amex. For better or worse your debit card will likely be mailed to this address and will need to be forwarded along to you.

After entering your ID information they'll ask you for the transit and account number for your Canadian account to start the process of linking them, I recommend calling 1-877-700-2913 to link your accounts if they have not linked automatically in 3 to 5 business days - you'll likely want to call in regardless to set up US online banking and can confirm this at the same time. They will require your US account number and your Canadian branch and account number for an active account. If you don't have your US account number yet, a branch advisor can typically look it up for you with your personal information. If you have a private banker this can be accomplished via email, otherwise in person at a branch.

Next it will ask you how you plan to fund the account and let you know that there is an ~1.5mo timeline to do so before they close it. You can select any of these options and then just wait until your accounts are open to transfer either via TD, or using a low cost exchange. Note that this account's $15 USD monthly fee will be waived with a daily balance of over $500 USD.

If you have any issues you can call the cross border banking phone number 1-877-700-2913 and ask for for help setting up the complete checking account. Typically they will just stay on the phoneline with you as you go through the online application.

Funding the US account

You've opened your US account, now it's time to fund it to keep it open, this involves both exchanging currency to USD, assuming you don't already hold some, and transfering it overseas. There are many ways to do this, and depending on the transaction size an frequency it may or may not be worth comparing the options to get the best exchange vs least hassle. Most exchanges do not explicity charge a fee but rather use a rate that deviates from the "spot rate", this difference in exchange between buying and selling gives them the margin that funds their operations. For example, today on the 29th of Aug 2024, the spot rate on google is such that $1000 Canadian is worth $742.89.

Continuing with the example of someone who banks with TD, we could use TD's global transfer option on our Easyweb account to send $1000 CAD to a USD account

Doing so would result in about $19USD or about 2.6% lost in implicit fees compared to the spot rate. Fortunately it is trivially easy to do better, this is why we opened our Canadian USD account. Instead transfer from your Canadian CAD account to your Canadian USD account first:

You can then use global transfer USD to USD at no additional fee, getting you within $9USD of spot, an effective fee of ~1.3%.

For even larger transactions you may want to explore third party options such as wise, knightsbridge, or XE, ot may even want to consider more involved maneuvers such as Norberts Gambit to exchange approximately at spot minus brokerage transaction fees. Wise for example gave me the following rate at the time of writing:

This amounts to ~$6USD or slightly under 1% in effective fees.

The extra $10-13 USD may or may not seem like much, but of course this scales with the more you intend to spend on your US card. If you plan on targetting a card with a $5000 USD spend requirement for its sign up bonus this is $50-65 USD difference just to get the bonus. With that in mind I suggest you make an account at Wise, using my referral link will get you 0% fees on your first $800 transfered. Also, while many US cards have no foreign exchange fee, this rate becomes your behind the scenes forex fee when using the card outside of the US (eg. using it in Canada) and becomes a drag on your rate of rewards.

Congratulations, you now have a US bank account with a US mailing address and are ready to apply for your first US credit card. You'll want to save a copy of your statement to use as address verification with Amex, and note that Amex sometimes requires a statement that is at least 25 days old, so the sooner you complete this step the sooner you'll be ready to pounce on the next great US sign up bonus. If you're in a rush you can tell Amex this and they may offer to do a three way call with your bank to verify on the spot. In fact, there are amazing sign up bonuses on the Amex Bonvoy Bevy and Amex Bonvoy Brilliant that are currently active so if you act immediately you might be able to apply in time, reach out to me to discuss more.

Conclusion

The big banks in Canada make it easy to open up cross border accounts - when combined with Amex' global card relationship, the process of getting a US credit card as a Canadian is straight forward. In my next article I will go over the best choices for US credit cards and the process to apply for them using your new US bank account/address and your Amex relationship, but consider checking out the Marriott cards which currently have record setting sign up bonuses.

Referral links

With its best in market 5x multiplier Amex Cobalt is a powerful point earner that can get you on flying for free 5 times faster than much of the competition - sign up here. Even if you're solely interested in hotel rewards, these points can be converted to Marriott points and out earn the Marriott cards on food purchases.

To see the access the best offers for different Amex card such as the Business Gold, or Platinum click here.

If you're on the fence, or wondering about other cards reach out to me for a free consult, and if you sign up for a card through my link, let me know and I will walk you through advanced tricks and personalized advice to help you get the maximum benefit both from earning and redeeming points - getting your travel journey going faster than you ever thought possible.

Check out my Keeper Cards series to see other cards worth exploring

Disclaimer

These posts are all made in good intentions and are to the best of my ability accurate at the time of writing. That said, the official terms and conditions and current sign up bonuses should be verified and interpreted in the context of your personal financial situation.