Possible for an American in US to open a secured credit card in Canada to build credit before moving to Canada?

[Cashmunny]

Is this possible to do with maybe a Canadian mail forwarding service as my Canadian mailing address?

[Cashmunny]

Oops, I forgot about this one. Nevermind.

[Burgerwars]

You need to visit a major Canadian bank branch and ask them. I'm guessing you already have a bank account in Canada. If not, for ID purposes I think they all require you apply in person.

 

Some Canadian banks do have U.S. bank subsidiaries (RBC, TD, BMO) and offer various levels of cross border banking. They're able to query U.S. credit bureaus.

[Cashmunny]

Thanks!

[ThinkingCapital]

You'll have to speak to a Canadian bank directly. As mentioned, one that also operates in the US might be the most convenient for you.

[Burgerwars]

You need to visit a major Canadian bank branch and ask them. I'm guessing you already have a bank account in Canada. If not, for ID purposes I think they all require you apply in person.

 

Some Canadian banks do have U.S. bank subsidiaries (RBC, TD, BMO) and offer various levels of cross border banking. They're able to query U.S. credit bureaus.

 

I just want to add that in addition to RBC, TD, and BMO, now CIBC has a U.S. based banking, with branches mainly in the Chicago area. To open an account with CIBC US, you need to currently do that in person, although if you're already a CIBC Canada customer, you don't need to travel to Chicago.

 

As far as three other large Canadian banks (ScotiaBank, National Bank of Canada and Laurentian Bank), I'm not aware that they currently have U.S. bank branches.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Burgerwars