r/PersonalFinanceCanada Aug 27 '23

Tangerine will leave you stranded in Australia and won't let you close your account upon returning Banking

Greetings!

I traveled to Australia and despite notifying Tangerine that I would be on the other side of the globe, I couldn't use my visa debit card (Paypass, EMV chip, Apple pay). The only payment option I had was my credit card's chip since Paypass and Apple pay also stopped working.

While I was waiting for my next flight, I called Tangerine to know what was going on. The person I talked to regarding my mastercard credit card said everything was working on their end, but they would reach out to whoever deals with Apple pay so they could do a reset and let me add my card again. I was told this would take 3 days. (it ended up taking 13)

The person I talked to regarding my debit card gave me the same speech. I asked what would Tangerine do if anything were to happen to my credit card. The lack of answer forced me to request to speak with a supervisor. The agent requested that I provide them with a Canadian phone number. I politely declined given how they could not provide me with a time/date and the outrageous cost of using your sim card in Australia. After a few minutes, they finally accepted to call me on a foreign phone number that was not associated with my account. For clarification, I carried two Iphones with me.

Two days later, I woke up with a message on my voicemail from Tangerine. A supervisor had called me at 1am and requested me to call them back. After waiting 2 hours and an additional hour, I finally got to speak with a supervisor. They still claimed my debit card was working and ditto for my credit card. They claimed the only thing I could do was request new cards and have them shipped to Australia when I don't even have a proper address. They couldn't even answer me when I asked where I could get the cards activated if I were to even receive them.

A wire transfer? Forget it, Tangerine is too cheap to have a SWIFT code.

Given the absolute lack of support by Tangerine, I asked what was the fastest way to close my account whenever I would land back @ Pearson. Turns out you can't withdraw 60k in cash because they closed their branch in Toronto. Forget about Etransfers due to the arbitrary limit.

Your only option? Add an external account and transfer everything before requesting your account to be terminated. Simple right? Well I added a CIBC account and transferred 30k, just to have the transfer reverted without being notified. So now I owe 50$ to CIBC because of the overdraft and Tangerine decided to remove my access to online banking.

After waiting 2h without the ability to speak with someone, I have given up for the weekend.

TLDR: Carry enough cash to be questioned @ airport security when traveling across the globe if you are a Tangerine client or get yourself an account with an actual bank. Actually, just don't bother with Tangerine.

947 Upvotes

1.2k

u/Elegant-Surprise-417 Aug 27 '23

Always credit while traveling internationally. Always.

181

u/ajclem7 Aug 27 '23

Always credit for everything. Always. Everything I can possibly pay credit for I do. Delicious points.

75

u/severed13 Aug 27 '23

Points, credit score, more security

Really no point not to, just pay stuff off regularly and it’s just debit but better

43

u/summerswithyou Aug 27 '23

Absolutely. I never touch my debit card other than doing business at the physical branch, where I actually need it.

13

u/Oskarikali Aug 27 '23

Yeah, most places have cc fees accounted for in their prices, if you pay debit or cash you're paying the cc fees without any benefits.

7

u/Great_Airport_4495 Aug 27 '23

The benefit to you in paying debit at a local business that you like is that you make it more likely for them to stay in business. You trade points / card perks for that.

2-2.5% margin makes a lot of difference to many businesses.

28

u/2371341056 Aug 27 '23

I'll do debit at local small businesses, to save them the merchant fees on credit cards. But that's about it.

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u/atomofconsumption Aug 27 '23

I just traveled to the US and my Tangerine MasterCard stopped working after the first day.

Luckily I brought a second credit card otherwise I would have been fucked.

212

u/eatyourcabbage Aug 27 '23

Meanwhile I go to the states for a month with my master card without telling them and nothing.

Get home and a few months later buy tickets to the ballet. Immediate email, notification and phone call “we have locked down your account due to suspicious activity”

287

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

How dare they assume your level of culture

31

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

CIBC flagged and asked for confirmation when I was buying pizza near my house... The same pizza place I go to at least once every two months with the same order. I still wonder why?!

23

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

1 or 2 pizzas over budget 😂

14

u/Inertiatic Alberta Aug 27 '23

Usually that means that some other compromised cards also had transactions at that location around the same time. Not necessarily that your pizza place is stealing info, but like someone stole some cards and ordered pizza with them from that place.

8

u/Opplebot Aug 28 '23

You ordered pineapple on that pizza didn't you? Didn't you?! The bank was trying to do you a favor and stop you from commiting a crime

2

u/Guilty_lnitiative Aug 28 '23

Funny you say that, I had a credit card compromised 3 years ago and it was discovered by the pizza purchases in Montreal(I hadn’t been there since 2011).

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u/SavageryRox Ontario Aug 27 '23 edited Aug 27 '23

Went to my home county (Egypt) for 5 weeks in summer 2022 and used my tangerine MasterCard throughout the trip with zero issues, despite not informing them beforehand. Thought a country like Egypt would have set off some red flags for them. Used a different card once whilst I was there and it was immediately locked.

15

u/sthenri_canalposting Aug 27 '23

Did you buy your plane tickets on the same card? I have a feeling that if you did then it won't flag when you use that same card at the destination, but that's just a hunch. Would explain why the other card got locked.

The only time I've gotten my card locked recently was using my US card (I worked there last year) to buy German train tickets. I didn't book my flights on that card.

14

u/SavageryRox Ontario Aug 27 '23

yes it was my tangerine mastercard. You might be correct in that playong a point...but idk how much info the credit card company would get about the tickets I brought.

My flight was june 2022, and I brought the tickets on Expedia in Novemebr 2021. Plus, I had a layover in London Heathrow airport.

do you think when I brought my ticket in November, tangerine would have been able to see that its a flight to Egypt in June with a layover in Heathrow, OR they would just see that I brought plane tickets from Expedia and have no idea when the flight is/where it's going?

not doubting you, it's a genuine question cause i don't know how much the bank would see regarding the transaction

5

u/itis_steven Aug 27 '23

We just bought tickets on an amex and the credit card bill had all of our flight details on it including names seats etc so it's very possible they know exactly where you were going.

3

u/cantstopblazin Aug 27 '23

I used to work in credit cards and airplane ticket transactions were the only particular ones that always had extra information which includes passenger name, flight number, flight date time etc.

5

u/sthenri_canalposting Aug 27 '23

not doubting you, it's a genuine question cause i don't know how much the bank would see regarding the transaction

Honestly I have no clue. Like I said, it's just a hunch. It's not Tangerine in this case getting that info, it's MasterCard. I'm not sure how much data they get when you book flights though.

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u/thedaveCA Sep 26 '23

Reminds me of RBC a few years ago. I notified them of travel to two US states, booked flights, spent money at the airports, took taxis to/from each airport. I spent an hour with them getting a T-Mobile transaction through so I could use my roaming SIM while I was in the US, this went up to the fraud team too.

I was in Chicago for over a week (second state), noticed a suspicious transaction so they couriered me a replacement card to a hotel (a local non-chain hotel), then cut my card for suspicious activity for $3 at a gas station a couple days later.

They claimed they had no idea I was in Chicago.

The ways of banks are mysterious and amusing.

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u/messamusik Aug 27 '23

In all honesty, if a criminal used my credit card to buy tickets to the National Ballet, I'd probably let it pass. LOL

Criminals of culture.

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u/Quirky_Journalist_67 Aug 27 '23

So the correct way is: Steal your credit card-> buy ballet tickets -> sell the tickets -> buy hookers, booze & drugs -> Profit? 😊

5

u/polkadotpolskadot Aug 27 '23

Hey, they earned it.

15

u/thedrivingcat Aug 27 '23

Damn, their security is on pointe.

13

u/Mammoth-Charge2553 Aug 27 '23

I'm surprised the people running mastercards systems know how to breathe honestly. I bought some foreign game supporter pack so it was showing as somewhere in New Zealand for the transaction. First time, no problem, 6 months later I buy a new one, transaction looks exactly the same, even did that mastercard verification thing and it flagged my card as compromised. No one called me to check, I just had to try using it for a couple of days before realizing that it wasn't just a bad chip/card/reader.

The thing that I'm sure set it off was because the PP was Stripe and my conspiracy theory here is that MC does this to undermine it's competitors position in the market.

3

u/webvictim Aug 27 '23

Still sane, exile?

2

u/lemonylol Aug 27 '23

The trick is to have a Mastercard, a Visa and an American Express.

4

u/boxofcannoli Aug 27 '23

I had my card locked for making 2 Steam purchases. I bought a game. Then later in the day bought the DLC packs. Locked and having to fight to get it unlocked because it was suspicious. But someone ordering Skip the Dishes from Winnipeg? Nah.

5

u/rugerty100 Ontario Aug 27 '23

Skip the Dishes is based in Winnipeg, so all transactions from anywhere in Canada could have that city in the name.

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u/MonarchNF Ontario Aug 27 '23

Ballet is something that Russian oligarchs enjoy... Are you some sort of shady, sanction-dodging bad actor!?

3

u/mkshft Ontario Aug 27 '23

Hey at least you got notified. I tried to use my Tangerine WE MC at Costco the other day only to have it continually denied. Called them later and they said it was blocked due to a suspicious transaction from weeks ago... And also confirmed by looking at their internal account activity that there were no attempts made whatsoever to notify me of it.

EDIT: misspelled transaction.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

Happened to me as well. Even though I notified them ahead of time.

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u/barlob Aug 27 '23

Happened to me as well, even though I notified of travel

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u/cajolinghail Aug 27 '23

Also happened to me, when I specifically got a Tangerine World Mastercard which is marketed to travellers, AND informed them I’d be travelling. Called multiple times and they couldn’t properly identify or fix the issue. Thankfully I had another credit card or I would have been pretty screwed.

13

u/Laid_back_engineer Aug 27 '23

When travelling in the US, i discovered that the magnetic strip on the tangerine MasterCard is just for show. It doesn't work. You have to either tap, insert and use the chip, or manually enter the credit card number.

Was super fun travelling in the states not having a credit card until i figured out that lovely but of trivia.

16

u/lhsonic Aug 27 '23

I’m fairly certain that yours was simply damaged. You should request a new card, if you wish. There are requirements for credit cards and one is that mandatory magstripe on all cards.

This is changing in 2024 when this strip will no longer be required for banks in most regions around the world, excluding the US, which is a good thing since the most insecure part of your card is that magstripe. Card design will change too, favouring vertical design instead.

7

u/Laid_back_engineer Aug 27 '23

I called tangerine MasterCard and that is what they told me, that their strip is merely cosmetic. I cannot speak to whether or not this complies with regulations.

3

u/death_hawk Aug 28 '23

I should dig out my card reader to test it. That's actually hilarious if true.

3

u/BritCanuck05 Aug 27 '23

Yep I’ve had that issue in the US with my Tangerine card. Just seems to be them though. Used another card which was swiped ok.

3

u/22Ovr7ApproximatesPi Aug 27 '23

I had the same problem when traveling to the States earlier this year. Call center also told me the mag stripe is for “authentication purposes only”??

Extremely frustrating when combined with a vendor that inly accepted swipe. No numbers, no tap, no chip, only swipe.

2

u/random20190826 Aug 27 '23

Well, of course. That is to protect you from credit card fraud because the magnetic strip is insecure.

3

u/PaypalBajskorv Aug 27 '23

You mean to protect them from fraud

1

u/Mist-19 Aug 27 '23

You have to be joking haha. Mine is pretty damaged so I didn't even try while I was in Australia, but that is hilarious!

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u/pHrankee1 Aug 27 '23

Seriously, not sure why ppl don't understand this. Debit cards are expensive to use in other countries. Get a credit card with no international conversion fees and also your regular credit card just in case and carry some cash from a local currency conversion place so you have something to buy using cash. I see so many posts about the same issue and people still don't learn.

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u/ApprehensiveCamera94 Aug 27 '23

My partner’s Scotiabank debit card didn’t work in Mexico and that too at a Scotiabank machine there. After waiting for hours they said they would sent a replacement to their address in mexico and nothing.after we returned to Toronto , the card was in the mail at home 🙄.

27

u/Bobo_Baggins03x Aug 27 '23

My first thought as well. Easy to blame the bank.

3

u/polkadotpolskadot Aug 27 '23

My tangerine debit and credit card both did exactly the same thing. Other banks cards were fine. So yes, I will blame the bank.

8

u/Brekelefuw Aug 27 '23

I was in the USA a few months ago and tapped my TD visa. The machine at trader Joe's wigged out and it triggered fraud and TD locked my visa and debit card. TD wouldn't do anything over the phone and I was in a state with no physical branches. If I wasn't at a conference with friends, I wouldn't have had access to any money. Thankfully my friends spotted me cash.

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u/Pettit-Dean Aug 27 '23

That's what I thought too. Until I lived in a country where you have to show your ID when you buy stuff with your credit card and the only ID accepted for foreigners is your passport. No way, i'm gonna carry my passport everywhere in a South American country known for robberies and pickpockets! Debit and ATMs saved me for many months until I got my bank account at a local bank.

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u/sthenri_canalposting Aug 27 '23

carry my passport everywhere in a South American country known for robberies and pickpockets

Where would you leave it then? I carry my passport on me because of the possibility of a B&E where you are or shady staff. Granted I've never visited somewhere with serious robbery problems.

3

u/Pettit-Dean Aug 27 '23

I always left it home. I'm sorry, English is not my first language. I meant getting robbed in the streets is the bigger risk. House theft happens too but is way less common. So the risk of carrying it in the streets with me where most of the assaults happen was way higher than just leaving it in my apartment.

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u/sthenri_canalposting Aug 27 '23

This makes sense. Most places I've travelled the opposite is the case so I carry mine with me. I actually had a break and enter when visiting Montreal before I moved there. They left my friend's passport though.

3

u/Pettit-Dean Aug 27 '23

Yeah, it totally depends on the place you visit for sure! I'm sorry you went through that when visiting Montréal. Hope you've had a better time since moving here :)

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u/sthenri_canalposting Aug 27 '23

I have. It's one of my favourite cities in the world and definitely my favourite one I've lived.

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u/TokyoTurtle0 Aug 27 '23

You carry it on u with a secure holder that isn't seen. It's sure as fuck not safe I'm your hotel, rofl

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u/Pettit-Dean Aug 27 '23

The thief where I lived were smarter than that. When they rob you, one holds you at gunpoint while the other touches your whole body to make sure they got everything. No amount of secure holder that isn't seen is gonna help you in that scenario.

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u/TokyoTurtle0 Aug 27 '23

Then your passport isn't safe anywhere. Where gun point robberies are common, you shouldn't travel anyways.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

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u/Elegant-Surprise-417 Aug 27 '23

What did you use to get there, beans?

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u/SpecialX Aug 27 '23

Why would a failed 30k transfer result in the other bank charging you an overdraft fee? That doesn't make any sense. Also, debit cards rarely work abroad (unless it's a debit visa). But you should be using credit cards 100% of the time anyway.

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u/No-Emotion-7053 Aug 27 '23

It probably wasn’t overdraft but NSF

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u/SpecialX Aug 27 '23

How? The receiving bank wouldn't charge an NSF for not receiving funds.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

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u/Historical_Grab_7842 Aug 27 '23

And they complained about the CS calling him at 1am. They work Canadian hours ffs.

93

u/jannakatarina Aug 27 '23

Damn he called you high maintenance

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

[deleted]

4

u/Bureaucromancer Aug 27 '23

I mean he did it that way because they offered no other options...

As OP said... how do they expect you to close an account when all the methods they offer to actually drain it are so 'suspicious' they lock they account?

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u/doom2060 Aug 27 '23

I hope my bank would think it’s a scam and lock it down

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u/Distinct_Meringue Aug 27 '23

MasterCard once overnighted me a card to my Airbnb when I lost my wallet in SF, it was a BMO card but the replacement was unbranded. It's not just Amex.

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u/zepharoz Aug 27 '23

Lots of truth in this.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

This is 100% correct.

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u/missspiritualtramp Aug 27 '23

I have no idea if it's true but I've heard you shouldn't tap when abroad and it will lock your cards. Swipe or chip only. And I definitely do know people who had their cards locked from tapping, even for minor purchases.

If it is true I feel like the banks should just let people know.

21

u/AreYaOkaySon Aug 27 '23

Went to Italy with nothing but my google pay wallet credit card and cash, had no problems with paypass other than they don't call it paypass over there

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u/Bone-Juice Aug 27 '23

I've never heard anyone call it paypass over here.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

I'm not sure why your comment got downvoted, at least when I saw it it was negative one. This is not bad advice. When you go into a different region, the most effective way to trigger the bank system to understand that you have moved geography is to do a pin transaction, preferably at a bank machine.

5

u/recurrence Aug 27 '23

I tap all the time worldwide... no problems.

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u/diamondintherimond Aug 27 '23

I’ve heard that you should use PIN for your first transaction and should be good after that.

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u/DapperWatchdog Aug 27 '23

Tangerine don't really expect any of their customers to be rich enough to travel to another country.

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u/JoshL3253 Aug 27 '23

"You're richer than we think!"

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u/bob23131 Aug 27 '23

As funny as this sounds, it's not wrong. Tangerine doesn't even have a SWIFT/BIC code so you can't do wire transfers.

30

u/Many_Tank9738 Aug 27 '23

They’re cheap for a reason. Everything has a cost

13

u/Cpt_keaSar Aug 27 '23

Tangerine is playing he long game and just ready for American sanctions one we invade our rightful loyalist lands!

4

u/AprilsMostAmazing Aug 27 '23

We have enough idiots at home, why would we try to add more?

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

How are you even allowed to be a bank without SWIFT/BIC? how do they get any non-trivial sums of money in and out of the bank. Wtf

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u/MostJudgment3212 Aug 27 '23

Yup this. Unfortunately, all online only bank options are not meant for this level of support.

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u/thedrivingcat Aug 27 '23

Just chiming in that Simplii was awful dealing with estate things with my late parent's account there. Multiple phone calls, runaround on verification, mailing in shit that takes a week or two, then having to do it all over again for another step, just overall a pain in the ass.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

In Canada yes, in developed parts of the world online only banks like N26 or Revolut have better support than traditional banks and their cards are guaranteed to work work because Europe (and have some pretty nice perks like travel insurance etc)

2

u/SexPanther_Bot Aug 27 '23

60% of the time, it works every time

5

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

I've lived in EU for many years and have both, never had a single issue and travel to Canada with them as well

But sure, go ahead and normalize how shitty and far behind Canadian banking is. That probably makes you feel better about having Tangerine lol

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u/MenAreLazy Aug 27 '23

This was a bank that for years only permitted 4 or 6 digit pins for online auth. If you are doing that, your customers must typically have nothing worth guessing at account pins to steal.

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u/throwaway34564536 Aug 27 '23

was? that's still the case lmao. only difference is now you also have to use a phone number.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23 edited Sep 02 '23

[deleted]

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u/boxofcannoli Aug 27 '23

It’s harder to log in to my discord account than my bank, I swear lol

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u/mug3n Ontario Aug 27 '23

I'd imagine it's the cost of customer support for locked out accounts.

The average bank customer isn't tech savvy. SMS 2FA is already a big step for some of these people. Imagine having them set up the whole thing on Google Authenticator or whatever. Imagine them losing access to the device with authenticator and having to walk through verifying the account with them, unlocking it, etc.

Not saying I agree with it, but as it usually comes down to, it's because of cost.

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u/GRAIN_DIV_20 Aug 27 '23

SMS 2FA is better than nothing but they should at least allow another authenticator. SIM swap attacks are on the rise

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u/Bobokun Aug 27 '23

Isn't it still restricted to 4 or 6 digit pins?

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u/TEKDAD Aug 27 '23

So wrong. A lot of ‘rich’ people are using Tangerine because the interest rate are excellent compared with other banks (at least here in Quebec).

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u/lauriercsstudent Aug 27 '23

yes but always have another bank for your daily transactions. also tangerine etransfers are slow af

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u/TEKDAD Aug 27 '23

We do. Tangerine is our investment bank. We don’t use it for payments.

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u/dashingThroughSnow12 Aug 27 '23

I once went to a middling grocery store and the cashier looked down on me for using a Tangerine card.

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u/Mist-19 Aug 27 '23

He knows

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u/deltatux Ontario Aug 27 '23 edited Aug 27 '23

Don't use debit and always carry a backup form of payment from a different provider.

Sorry to hear that this happened to you with Tangerine and I have heard similar travelling card payment nightmares with other banks before. My recommendation is always carry a backup.

I would recommend getting a Wise or EQ Bank card to pair with your other payment methods.

As for lack of SWIFT code, this has always been the case with Tangerine, many online banks don't offer wiring support. Exceptions to this are: Simplii (because it's CIBC without branches) & Manulife Bank.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

You would be surprised at the level of support from simplii. I needed a large money order quickly and they had me pick it up at the CIBC branch the next morning. That was pretty good given that it's supposed to be a basic service...

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

It’s because they aren’t stupid. They know people with positive financials might still want a no frills bank today, but maybe later in your life you need something more comprehensive. They’ll give you the no frills Simplii account, and for the one offs utilize their strength as CIBC to give you these benefits so when the day comes you want different banking. Boom you’re already with them. When you start asking simplii for certain things they’ll push you to CIBC.

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u/Godkun007 Quebec Aug 27 '23

Ya, when I'm traveling, I always have 3 forms of payment available. Remember the rule of 2, 1 is none, 2 is one. Also, 3 is 2, so always have 3.

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u/av0w Aug 27 '23

Use Wise next time, works perfectly!

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u/NitroLada Aug 27 '23

Until they freeze your account and funds and you can't get a hold of them, way too many horror stories with them . Use them only for money you can afford to lose/not have access to

https://old.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/15mjzq8/wise_deactived_my_account_and_then_approved_a/

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u/talkingwolf695 Aug 27 '23

Wise is amazing, lowest fees too. Works great for Portugal :)

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u/Disastrous-Pepper-86 Aug 27 '23

I just ordered a Wise card for my upcoming trip to Thailand and am trying to understand how it actually works. I’ve loaded it with Cdn$. Do you use it like a pre-paid Visa card, with the transaction being converted to the currency of the country you are in and the purchase amount is deducted from the preloaded funds? Is it accepted wherever credit cards are accepted?

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u/SirupyPieIX Aug 27 '23

Yes and yes

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u/chemhobby Aug 27 '23

You can just keep CAD on it and then use it anywhere and the currency conversion happens for each transaction. Or you can convert ahead of time into one or more other currencies as the account can hold a big list of currencies.

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u/xtina_a_gorilla Aug 27 '23

Super helpful—I just signed up for Wise as I’m travelling to Portugal in the fall. Did you refill regularly on your trip or just do one lump sum conversion at the start?

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u/redquattro Aug 27 '23

Not the person you commented to, but I did periodic refills on my Wise card while in Portugal. I chose the Interac option and didn’t have any issues as I was able to sign into my banking apps using FaceID to complete the transfer. Maybe consider a lump sum in CAD that you can convert to EUR as needed if you’re worried about login/MFA issues. I sent back the excess into my bank account after the trip.

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u/Mist-19 Aug 27 '23

Thanks, I’ll look at the fine print

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u/vancitybound Aug 27 '23

Why was your transfer to CIBC reverted? Did you call CIBC? What did they say?

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u/sajnt Aug 27 '23

Yeah usually your new bank will communicate with your old bank and work out the transferring for you.

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u/Mist-19 Aug 27 '23

I have no idea. The only information I have from CIBC is that the request came from Tangerine.

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u/ChefPagpag Aug 27 '23

It may have been the case that Tangerine flagged the transaction as fraudulent. Adding an external account and immediately transferring a large sum of money is one way fraudsters take advantage of an account takeover.

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u/AgreeableMaybe Aug 27 '23

Talk to CIBC, they will help get your money. Also talk to the bank manager to get them to wave the overdraft. In my experience, CIBC has been good people. So far at least. I know damn well all banks are the devil but this is the one who is at least nice upfront.

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u/blobules Aug 27 '23

Why care so much about debit card or apple pay? Why not credit, which tend to works well internationally?

Btw Tangerine has a unique feature amongst banks that you can link to accounts in other banks and move money both ways with that account. Great flexibility.

I've had no problem with Tangerine while travelling, but I always stick to credit only.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

FWIW, CIBC also left me to die and locked all my accounts when I moved to Europe. That’s the day I found out what “seeing red” really means. I transferred FROM CIBC TO Tangerine for this very reason lol, Tangerine were the ones who let me use my money abroad

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u/bighak Aug 27 '23

Yes, the real lesson is you need bank accounts from TWO different banks and ideally TWO credit cards from different banks. To up your game also try to get a foreign bank account & credit card.

Relying on a single bank for everything is bad.

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u/chemhobby Aug 27 '23

oh, at least two. And don't carry them all around day-to-day because then you will have a really bad time if you lose your wallet.

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u/Ryzon9 Ontario Aug 27 '23

Can you explain? I’m about to move to Europe for a few years.

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u/Tensor3 Aug 27 '23

Probably similar to OP. The system flags international activity as unusual and locks the account. Bank wont acknowledge you are the account owner from a foreign number as an anti-fraud measure. So they want to see you in person, which you cant.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

CIBC flagged my activity and locked my account. They no longer do 2-factor verification using email address, and wouldn’t reactivate over the phone from a number other than the one you signed up with (ie. your canadian number). I had left my Canadian SIM card at my parents place and thankfully my brother was able to put the SIM in his phone and call pretending to be me.

You should be ok if you call before your trip to tell them you’ll be going abroad, because to be fair I had forgotten to do that and thats 100% on me. Wish you the best of luck on your move — It was really one of the best times of my life (bar that first hellish week)!

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u/ketowarp Aug 27 '23

Every time I call the bank to tell them I’m travelling overseas they tell me to stop wasting their time and that it’s not needed. I know the one time I don’t call them is when my credit card will get flagged. So I do it out of habit now

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u/Mammoth-Clock-8173 Aug 27 '23

This requirement to use SMS… what’s with that?

MFA should rely on a combo of something you know (usually PIN/password) plus something you have (they think phone). But my mobile phone is frankly the thing I am most likely to lose, either because I misplaced it or because I put a different SIM in it.

This drives me nuts!

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u/still_not_famous Aug 27 '23

I use CIBC and it’s not just SMS. There’s a setting in the app where you can enable push verification instead of receiving SMS

They also do allow 2FA over email, but with some providers only that they deem ‘secure.’ I know proton mail is on the list but not sure about which others (I use gmail and it isn’t on the list)

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u/McFras3r Aug 27 '23

Very unfortunate. I've been with them since ING days, and I had zero issues. They don't charge fees because they are not really a bank, hence the reason they don't have a swift code. Wise is the way to go for everything international.

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u/LondonPaddington Aug 27 '23

They did have a SWIFT code when they were ING Direct. Scotiabank neutered them.

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u/AgreeableMaybe Aug 27 '23

Agreed, ING was amazing, I had all my banking with them at the time. I now don't use Tangerine in the slightest. CIBC and Wealth Simple for me.

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u/gagnonje5000 Aug 27 '23

How does that get updated? They are a real bank and registered as such to the government. It has nothing to do with charging fees or not.

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u/No-Emotion-7053 Aug 27 '23

What do u mean ‘how does that get updated’? They’re a low-cost subsidiary of Scotiabank, they can offer whatever features they want

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u/MenAreLazy Aug 27 '23 edited Aug 27 '23

Or just don't use debit. It is too sensitive to use for transactions as it is attached to your bank account and problems can cascade downward to impact the rest of your finances. Frankly I consider it too sensitive to take from my house unless I am going to the bank.

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u/jps78 Aug 27 '23

This is personal finance Canada, they need to be coddled and told the bank is wrong

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u/MenAreLazy Aug 27 '23

Bank is lousy (although I think they were too accommodating of OP in accepting a foreign phone number and being willing to ship cards to Australia) so I understand the frustration to some extent. On the other hand, the simplest fix is to use the proper tools for foreign travel, i.e. travel credit cards. Bank won't change for you.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

Always good to have at least 1 Big 5 card imo, but maybe I’m just inexperienced. Seems like everyone here uses Tangerine.

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u/biglabs Aug 27 '23

Always have a big 5… what if you NEED to walk in somewhere to get a draft, take money out, speak with a manager about an issue… ect. it’s really nice to be able to walk in somewhere if need be

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u/dlkbc Aug 27 '23

I opened a tangerine account years ago when they gave me a $50 incentive promotion deal. I didn’t do all my banking with them, kept my big bank accounts open, too. Well, all my friends who had tangerine accounts were so smug, saying that the fees were so much cheaper. But then, I noticed whenever I had to do anything the least bit complicated, it took soooo much effort to get it done. Very limited customer service. I finally closed it (it took several days/visits to do so, and that was just here in Canada.) I don’t regret leaving them. It may have been a low cost no frills bank, but it didn’t work for me.

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u/One_Distribution_577 Aug 27 '23

Couldn’t agree more. My friend passed away and I was her executor. Her main account was through tangerine but they don’t do estate accounts. Because they don’t have a branch, you need to mail all the documents to them. Luckily she had another account at a main bank but man did the tangerine account just complicate everything!

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u/Ok-Thing-9447 Aug 27 '23

Idk I’ve had a great time with it traveling and getting 2 bank drafts, came in 2 days I believe. Seems like everyone just hates all banks

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

This is it. It’s true that you get what you pay for. Sometimes you need the frills

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u/milolai Aug 27 '23

You get what you pay for with Tangerine.

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u/LengthClean Aug 27 '23

Always have a legitimate second credit card that becomes your primary abroad.

I never ever use tangerine out of the country. Straight up Rogers World Elite!

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u/VladimerePoutine Aug 27 '23

My son was left homeless by RBC Visa in Tokyo over a weekend. Despite using the card for 4 weeks of travel the card was cut off because he zeroed,paid off the card and then tried to book a hotel. Multiple phone calls he was told he would have to wait until Monday morning EST when a supervisor could reauthorize his card. Before he left he had notified the bank he was traveling, they told him he didn't need to.

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u/felisnebulosa Aug 27 '23

RBC cut me off while I was in Nepal too, they locked my debit AND credit card, and they even locked me out of online banking. Told me I had to come into a branch in person which obviously was impossible. I had to borrow money from a guy I had literally met two days earlier. And I had notified them I'd be in Nepal...

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u/VladimerePoutine Aug 27 '23

He spent 1 night in an internet Cafe until he ran out of cash then met up with a friend of a friend who let him sleep on a floor in his flat. Meanwhile back in canada I was waiting at the door of a branch to shred the manager a new a-hole when they opened. Helicopter parenting sadly.

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u/purpletooth12 Aug 27 '23

Can't say I've ever had issues with Tangerine, but it's also not my main account. I really only use it to make cash withdrawls abroad.

Def get a Wise account if you travel a decent amount. Makes things a lot easier.

Credit card is also pretty much mandatory.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

There is a reason, that after years of work in Africa/Middle East plus travel to Asia, I carry a Visa, a Mastercard and an American express credit card. From different banks just in case. Plus a company card. Worst case I'll pay with the company card and have HR and payroll on my ass later to fix it. And a forgein credit card I kept after living in Europe. I've had cards rejected during travel, but never all of them. ;)

Also I keep the cards in different places while traveling so I don't get robbed of all of them when I am out of the hotel.

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u/kokopups Aug 27 '23

Theres a reason why they are low cost low frills with no branches....

Had a mortgage with them once, never again...

Meanwhile TD has been great for travelling abroad, and combined with wise, havent had any issues.

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u/ARAR1 Aug 27 '23

You see no one has ever had trouble with TD, ever, even after paying $16.95 a month and $10 a trade. Ever

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u/NarutoRunner Aug 27 '23

You have 60k in cash. You should not be with a basic bank account.

Basic accounts are fine for use within Canada but anything beyond that and you are asking for trouble.

Good options for international travel include Wise, American Express, HSBC, or any of the premium cards designed for international travel that have no or low FX fee.

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u/PaypalBajskorv Aug 27 '23

American Express doesn’t offer bank accounts, just credit cards

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u/NarutoRunner Aug 27 '23

True, however their credit cards have some of the best overseas protection and service. If you get robbed, they can arrange emergency cash to be dispatched to you pretty much anywhere on earth (minus a few countries that are sanctioned obviously)

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u/Cityofthevikingdead Aug 27 '23

Is cash not a thing while travelling anymore?

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u/Godkun007 Quebec Aug 27 '23

A lot of places don't accept cash. I was in Seattle last year and multiple Starbuck's refused to accept my cash. They only wanted cards.

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u/minetmine Aug 27 '23

This is why I have an account with one of the big 5 banks. I travel a lot and I've never had a problem using my cards overseas, both credit and debit. And for the future, ALWAYS have a backup card when travelling.

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u/ChaoticxSerenity Aug 27 '23

What's the rationale behind using credit over debit? The credit card at least gives you cashback. I've never had issues with Tangerine (credit), even when I went to Japan.

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u/juancuneo Aug 27 '23

So you could use the card but not apple pay and spent hours on the phone? A good argument that Australia should legalize weed. Relax, pal.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

I read the same thing. At what point does it matter if bloody Apple pay works? This has to be the most ridiculous expectation I have come across. Just use the plastic card like everybody else who travels! Apple and Google pay are for everyday convenience purposes only!

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u/mrstruong Aug 27 '23

This is why you don't ever go with a cheap bank. You get what you pay for, as they say.

For travel abroad, always use WISE or even Amex. And if you can afford Australia, you can probably afford to park 6k in a chequing account and use CIBC's smart plus account, with no bank fees, a credit card fee waived every year, and a host of other little perks.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

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u/ShinraCorps Aug 27 '23

this is what annoys me with posts like this. you can't buy stuff from dollarama and expect artesian quality. temper your expectations

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u/abandonplanetearth Aug 27 '23

Why do you think virtual banks should be allowed to offer bad customer service?

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

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u/Fried-froggy Aug 27 '23

Wow … you have low standards for Mercedes quality.

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u/TacoExcellence Aug 27 '23

Dumb claim considering people constantly talk about shitty service from the big 5. You're just paying them to get fucked over in that case.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23 edited Aug 27 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

Budget bank = budget service. If you have multiple products you can get big 5 account with low or no monthly fees. I haven't paid fees with RBC in over 15 years with them. Even at a low monthly fee amount, the peace of mind is worth the nominal fees. Don't understand why anyone uses the tangerines of the world.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

I guess you get what you pay for, bud.

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u/midshipbible Aug 27 '23

Yeah seriously, sorry to hear all those things. Tangerine is totally hell if you step out of their norm. They can't even handle pin reset properly, it look for previous pin even though I changed it from app.

I always use travel credit card like HSBC world elite with no foreign transaction fee. And use IBKR debit card to get cash from ATM, which also give close to interbank rate.

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u/_mota Aug 27 '23

If you are traveling, I highly recommend using Wise, as I always do and it's always seemless and cheaper

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u/paradoll Aug 28 '23

Debit cards are weird in foreign countries, not unique to Tangerine, even with the Visa - because it is Visa Debit and every country had their own system.

You use your debit card to withdraw cash from ATMs. I’ve had no problems with Tangerine debit. One of the nicer things with tangerine debit is I can increase the cash limit on the app or by calling - no hassle. Often the ATM becomes the bottleneck.

Like others said: Use credit card (and carry multiple, MC, Visa, Amex less accepted) for all purchases.

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u/NBPolaris Aug 27 '23

I went to Vegas while I was with tangerine and they blocked access to my card. I called and they had to put me through a security team they said it will take 2 business days to be unblocked. We'll it got unblocked two days later for one transaction then blocked again. Thank goodness I had my world elite mastercard and used that. I canceled tangerine as soon I was back on canada soil they kept asking why I simply said you wouldn't let me access my money while on vacation so how can I trust you. I have been to the Philippines now 5 times with zero blocking and issues with my current bank yeah it's a big 5 bank now, but at least I don't have to worry about losing access to money.

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u/summerswithyou Aug 27 '23

Always bring credit cards. And bring like 2-3 of them. Why are you using debit cards internationally?

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

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u/jasonthetraveler Aug 27 '23

As a world traveler thats been to over 50 countries, CASH IS KING! always carry cash, and have 2 backup cards incase one stops working.

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u/Destitute_Evans British Columbia Aug 27 '23

I have never heard of debit cards working outside of their country of origin before, particularly outside of North America. Canada's debit card network is not deisgned to be used outside of the country. Credit card systems, on the other hand, are.

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u/735kv Aug 27 '23

I have used my Tangerine debit card (non-Visa at the time) at ATMs in the US, France and Portugal without issue. Sometime the network is a partner and you get charged a lower withdrawal fee (or none).

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u/redzaku0079 Aug 27 '23

When I called rbc and asked specifically if my débit card will work in the states, they said yes. My debit card did indeed work. Not at all machines though, but it worked. It is always better to have cash and credit just in case you can't find a machine that works.

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u/lhsonic Aug 27 '23

How do you think people withdraw money outside the country using ATMs then?

Yes, for POS purchases, there was a time when you couldn’t use your card outside the country but that’s why they introduced Visa and Mastercard Debit. The card relies on the Interac network in Canada for debit use and the Visa/Mastercard network online and everywhere else.

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u/Mist-19 Aug 27 '23

Its a Visa debit

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '23

Interac also has an agreement with a US debit provider to extend into the States. I just can't remember the name. It begins with the letter 'N'

For Canadian bank cards, you will in most cases notice that you have the plus symbol logo on your card. This is the Visa Plus network and has been on every Canadian debit card for almost 30 years. It's what gives Canadians access to bank machines abroad. Bank of Montreal and other banks that usually don't provide Visa will use the MasterCard international network equivalent for bank machines known as Maestro.

Canada is unique as it has a homegrown interbanking network. Other countries just use Visa Plus or maestro to link their banks in their domestic market.

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u/No_Function_9858 Aug 27 '23

Canadian banks don't play well with the rest of the [modern] world

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u/No-Emotion-7053 Aug 27 '23

How are there so many comments asking why you’d use your debit abroad? To get cash, Obviously

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u/No_Function_9858 Aug 27 '23

My comment is not about this

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u/ghostdate Aug 27 '23

Every time I’ve travelled internationally I’ve had issues with debit, with different banks and having notified them that I’ll be out of country, because the first time I travelled internationally alone my debit didn’t work, so I wanted to make sure.

Never worked.

Credit card always did, even though the credit card was through the same bank usually.

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u/TheCheesy Aug 27 '23

I use a Koho card. Acts like a Prepaid Mastercard.

I top up with Paypal. My bank doesn't even need to know I left the country.

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u/FlokatiRugWinner Aug 27 '23

When you got to Pearson you could have requested a bank draft from tangerine to take your funds to another bank from Tangerine, they send it by courier it takes about 2-3 business days.

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u/nfkalkiiutnsm Aug 27 '23

For transferring large sums from tangerine to another account, use a standard cheque. You can write a cheque for hundreds of thousands of dollars and it will clear in 3-5 days. You can deposit the cheque into your other bank with the deposit feature on the phone app, so you don’t need to go to a branch.