Important (Credit Card) Information for Canadians intending on working in the USA
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Location: Ottawa (Now in Bangalore)
Posted on: 21-12-04 22:01:47
....
If you are planning on going to the USA on a work permit (H1-B or TN) then you will need a /or some UNSECURED Credit cards for daily use..Life is very tuff without that. I realized that (even being a Canadian Citizen). Many folks from India are refused credit cards here (for a variety of reasons)....
So as a Canadian Citizen here is what you have to do..Please understand, I am in no way associated with these companies
1.) Get a Credit card, in Canada, from each of the following companies
a.) MBNA Canada
b.) American Express
c.) Citibank
2.) Use the above cards and build up a credit history
3.) Once in the USA call up American Express and TRANSFER your international (read Canadian) acct to an American acct. Make sure you have your Social Security # and a confirmed telephone number and a home mailing address...Do NOT use your work address
4.) Apply to Citibank and MBNA in the US online. You will be rejected ! Dont despair. Send those folks a letter by snail-mail . Make sure you ask them to request your Canadian credit history. Give them your Canadian SIN and Canadian phone # (if available)...I recently got approved for a US MBNA credit card based on this process... Do not waste your time speaking with "cust service reps" of these companies, over the fone. YOu need to direct your attention towards a bigger fish.
Once you have a credit history in the US..you will be flooded with offers for other cards !
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In the US you can also apply for a secured credit card at several banks - I know Capital One is one such bank which gives secured cards. You make a deposit of x $ and you get a credit card with a limit upto the same amount. Your deposit earns interest at their usual rate (around 0.2%). Your credit history starts building up based upon your payment history - it does not go in your credit record as a secured card.
Alternately if your employer offers membership of a credit union, you can get a card from them without any hassles - the most popular one in this category that I know of is Digital Credit Union (DCU) affectionately called Desi Credit Union on account of the number of desi account holders.
Both MBNA and CapitalOne are known rogues in the credit card business.
Another notorious bank is Providian.
Banks like Providian and CapitalOne are euphemistically called "sub-prime lenders".
They cater to these kind of people - new immigrants with no credit history, people with credit problems, students with bad credit, etc.
There is no harm is applying for credit cards through them, but be aware of the following -
Read your statements extra carefully - watch out phony charges.
Never ever pay any kind of membership fee to these guys - it is a rip-off
Watch out for sudden hikes in interest rates, both on purchases, as well as cash advances.
Never pay them any fee for increasing your credit limit.
Watch out for the "grace period" - sometimes if you are even one day late, they will charge huge late payment fees.
As mentioned, credit unions offer the best options for new immigrants.
The other option is to go with a secured credit card with one of the top banks like Bank of America.
However, if someone is careful financially and watches out for these kind of things, then it's ok to go for CapitalOne or Providian - but just watch out.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
What are the -ves of using Canadian Credit Card in US. How about ICICI Bank credit card?
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Quote:Following are some negatives I can think of -
Orginally posted by jago_desi
What are the -ves of using Canadian Credit Card in US. How about ICICI Bank credit card?
1. The Canadian bank might be charging you a foreign currency conversion fee for using the outside Canada.
It may be a fixed fee, or a percentage of the amount converted - either way, you will be paying extra.
2. You will have to pay the credit card off your Canadian bank account - which means transferring money to it, writing a check, mailing the check from US to Canada, and all the other hassles.
If you are working and getting paid in the US (like on H-1B), it can be quite a hassle to keep transfering money to Canada just for the purpose of paying a credit card.
3. You will never build US Credit History.
If you plan to work in the US for a while (or settle there long-term), it will be better to start building US credit history right away.
4. US credit cards usually have more attractive terms and reward points than Canadian credit cards.
If you earn those points, you can redeem those in the US itself.
On the other hand, if you earn points on your Canadian card, you won't be able to take advantage of them if you are not in Canada.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
Both MBNA and CapitalOne are known rogues in the credit card business.
Sorry to digress, I saw MBNA being referred as rogues and thought I’d put in some comments. I’ve actually had a pretty good experience with them here in Canada:
1. They approved my application for an unsecured credit card when I had just a one month credit history (and on a no-fee card).
2. They offered me membership to a scheme called Galleria – which has actually saved me a lot of money on purchases from Sears, HBC and a few other stores this Christmas. (Galleria offers a 20% up front discount on purchases, which can be combined with the seasonal discounts at those stores).
3. They offer various products from time to time. Most of these are not gimmicks but genuinely good value for the product being offered.
4. (After I bargained), they gave me a 60% discount on the annual membership fees to Galleria.
5. A payment that I made electronically to them was once ‘stuck in transit’ and reached them a day late, but they waived the interest charge. When a similar thing had happened with a card issued by Scotiabank, they docked me about 75 bucks Canadian as interest from the date the purchases were made.
6. They’ve given me 2 credit limit increases during the past 16 months that I’ve had an account with them (I never applied for the limit increases, and no charges have been levied).
They’ve been one of the better cards that I’ve had since coming to Canada, I would have thought they are more immigrant friendly than the other Canadian bank issuers.
PS: I don't work for MBNA, neither do I sell any of their products
Quote:
Orginally posted by crenshaw
They’ve been one of the better cards that I’ve had since coming to Canada, I would have thought they are more immigrant friendly than the other Canadian bank issuers.
PS: I don't work for MBNA, neither do I sell any of their products
I find Canadian Tire Option master card immigrant friendly too. My experience with CIBC was worst. Despite of putting in couple of thousand bucks with them, they won't give a unsecure card but Canadian Tire approved my Card with no credit history. Also they give Canadian Tire money for the gas purchased at their gas station.
Disclamer:
I don't work for Canadian Tire Card, neither do I sell any of their products
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