Getting a US Credit Card/Transferring Credit

[lil]

Just tried apply for a US AMEX card as part of planning to move in December. I do have a CDN Amex. They wanted proof of a US lease agreement, my US bank info before they will issue me a US card.

[Houstonbound]

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) offers a special package for snowbirds or Canadians moving to the U.S. We just went through this exercise. We now have a Canadian RBC account, a U.S RBC account, both Cdn and US debit cards and, wonder of wonders, they actually transferred our credit rating. We can now transfer money between accounts on line and they threw in a U.S Visa card to boot. All of the other Cdn banks told us this was impossible, but obviously not, since RBC did it all in about an hour. It's a package called U.S. Banking for Canadians. Just search it on their website. Worked like a charm.

[Reba]

Just tried apply for a US AMEX card as part of planning to move in December. I do have a CDN Amex. They wanted proof of a US lease agreement, my US bank info before they will issue me a US card.

Did you try to switch the Canadian $ account to a US $ account, or did you try to apply for a brand new US $ account?

[skoper]

Great tips guys.
I got a secured BofA MC, which will be reviewed after 9 months, as previous poster mentioned.
I also transferred my AMEX, but in talking to them you have to have been with them for at least a year to do the "Global Transfer." You cant simply apply and transfer right away.

suthakamar, how does one qualify for the HSBC premier?

[agnelson]

Just so we don't start patting RBC on the back too hard, their "credit transfer" service merly means that RBC will look at your history when they give you a loan or CC.

It will affect nothing with the 3 credit bureaus, nor will it in any way help you get non-RBC credit (until your RBC accounts start registering with the 3 bureaus).

But its better than nothing.

Also, secured credit cards actually harm your credit rating.