I'm American. And I wanted to know if I went to Canada and used my Chase Debit Card...?

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SteveN

You have a couple of questions rolled into one (or its a multi-part question) so let's try to get them sorted out.

1) Can I use my Chase Bank debit card in Canada?

I am pretty sure you can. Look on the back of the card and see if they are part of the INTERAC or PLUS network. If they are, you will find bank ATMs here will accept the card no problem. Restaurants and shops that have an INTERAC instant debit machine should also accept it, but I would not use it there (more on this below about the fees).

2) Will there be bank fees to use my Chase card in Canada?

Odds are there will be fees. Sadly yes. The banks here are just like in USA, and they love to saddle consumer's with all sorts of strange fees you are not expecting. Probably the most common fee you would be looking at would be an inter-bank usage fee. Let's say you try to use the Chase card up here at a CIBC bank machine. You plan to take out $40 to pay for supper later in the day. The bank machine will usually ask you do you accept the additional charge involved.

That additional charge is a flat fee of between $1 and $5, no matter how much money you decide to take out. Which is why I always recommend to people wanting to use their bank card, go once an take out your daily limit or what you expect to spend over the next day or two. If you are gonna get ding'ed for a $3 fee each time you take out $60, you may as well take out $300 so you only get charged that fee once!

3) Does my money get converted to $CAD?

Yes. Let's say you buy something for $100 Canadian. The debit card (or your credit card company) will offer a certain daily exchange rate that you will get on that transaction. Usually, when using the credit card or bank card, it will be 1-2% worse than the normal exchange rate. So you use the debit card for CAD$100 and your bank takes US$84 out of your account (even though the official exchange rate may have been CAD$100 = US$82)

Exotic Was Here.

Yes there will be fees oh yes indeedy. I just went to Italy and they socked it to me.

Chael

I don't know how it works in Canada, but when I went to Spain I was able to use my credit card. There weren't any fees except for I went to the atm. And yes, it does convert the money to whatever the money is in the country that you are in. It proved to be a bit confusing because then I was unsure of just how much money I had.

Jegged

Yes, there would be fees. But any other method, besides travellers 'cheques, would probably incur even more fees.

Gypsy Girl

The card will work just fine. As for fees for converting currency, you will have to ask the bank. Money would be paid to shop owners in Canadian currency. Just make sure you tell your bank that you will be traveling so they don't freeze your card after your first purchase thinking it was stolen.

freeside49

sure you can. In fact my son works for Chase Jp Morgan here in Canada so they are definately up here.
Fees depend on your card agreement but yes there is usually fees for conversion. You could just use an atm up here to get Canadian and then use cash so as not to get dinged everytime you buy something and only get dinged once for the cash withdrawal coversion.
With the Canadian buck lower now at $0. 82 US you'll do okay on the exchange which is $0.15 better than 3 weeks ago!! Its like everything will be on 15% sale for you.

Have a great time

Justin

fees, fees and more fees

bennyhinnwannabe

You would have to use it at an ATM and not at a store. It would convert it to Canadian unless you used a US dispensing bank machine which are hard to find and you would get a network fee of around $3.50 which means that you should use your VISA instead.

norcal gal

yes there will be fees if you withdraw money or even purchase something. it will be converted to the exchange rate and the fees will be different everywhere you go. You can go to 1 place and you will be charged 1 fee then go a mile away and be charged something completely different.

mj_puce

It will work if it has the interac symbol on it. It will spit out whatever you ask for in Canadian dollars, and the equivalent after conversion will be debted from your bank account. The fees depend on your financial institution, so you should ask at your bank. The bank machine itself also has a fee, which is usually more if your card isn't from that bank. It could be up to two or three dollars just for using the machine, so you're better off withdrawing large amounts at a time.

Edit: I meant you should check if your debit card from Chase Bank has the interac symbol. As far as I know, all bank machines in Canada are on that international network.

Ahmad M

Yes it would work.

starlene

yes it would work just like when american people go to mexico u can used ur card from here and turn it in to pesos!!!

SusieQ

Yes, it would work and would give you Canadian dollars. As far as fees go, if you used an ATM in the chase network (I don't use Chase so don't know if Chase has branches in Canada), there would be no fees. Another ATM would charge fees unless Chase has a special arrangement. Also, there would be fees (usually 2-3%) to convert USD to Canadian.

!chick15!

sure

Cold Hard BEUFP

I'm pretty sure it will work. I'm not sure if they will charge you a bunch of fees because every bank has different rules. I know when I went to the UK and Spain, I used both credit cards and debit cards and I never had a problem with the conversion rates. I think they just go through automatically.

If you want to get around using your debit card, you could always get money in the form of traveler's cheques from your bank. You can use the cheques to make direct purchases if the establishment you're in accepts that as payment, or you can purchase money from a bank in Canada--you give them the cheque, they calculate how much to give you based on the exchange rate. That way, you have cash to pay for everything. All you need to do is keep track of your cheques and protect your money in case of theft. Traveler's cheques can be refunded if they are stolen as long as you have all of the information from them handy (serial numbers, amount, etc.).

One more tip, in case you didn't already know this, when you use your debit card, make sure that if someone asks you or if you have a choice on a machine at a POS, choose credit. You will avoid debit card fees (which can be upwards and above $2 extra for each transaction). Do that in America or Canada.

old lady

It should work just fine. Yes, there will be fees - first for converting currency from one country to another, and second the regular fees for using your debit card.

jake.jakobson

NO, you better just stay home

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