I am Canadian and have moved to Brazil 4 yrs ago . I closed all my bank accounts in Canada when I moved . I now would like to open an account , as I am in Brazil but have my pension money being available later this year . Since travelling to Canada this year is not a good idea , I am trying to open an account online . Tahnk you for your input and help .
Transferwise might work for you since it’s easy to sign up and you get local bank details in several currencies.
Otherwise, you may still be able to open a Canadian bank account. To do so, you will need a Canadian address, SIN number, and most likely a Canadian phone number. If you don’t have an address, try asking a friend or family member. If you don’t have a phone number, try Fongo, a free VOIP app that gives you a Canadian number. (Note: the international version of Fongo that is available in non-Canadian app stores has a cost)
You should then be able to signup online or through the phone at one of the big banks (e.g. CIBC, TD, RBC, etc)
There are also free banks available such as:
Simplii
Tangerine
Motusbank
Koho
Stack
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A US account could work good. Most of them would require you to open in person in the US, but some like Schwab would let you open remotely if you can deposit 25K.
Thank you very much . I will check this out . I appreciate your help .
For the phone number I would recommend Google voice - you get the number for some dollars, free calls to U.S and Canada and then you charge it if you need to make international calls. I have been using it since 2014 and it’s flawless service that I highly recommend.
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Hello.
Thank you for your time and help but I have tried and was able to open an account in 2 online banks but later they sent an email stating that I must go to an indicated location in Canada to confirm my identidy… So of course that doesn’t work for me.
If I was in Canada I would open an account at my local bank which I had before.
I have given up.
I am in almost the same situation as you, I live outside of canada for more than 10 years now.
The only bank account i have is Tangerine.ca
I think you can try friend’s address+Fongo+passport.
and talk to the representative if they ask for proof.
Don’t tell they you are outside of Canada unless you have to. Because most bank won’t open account for someone live outside of Canada.
And use a VPN if you rigister from web.
If you do try, use Orange Key: 26156122S1 to get some new customer reward for both of us.
Which banks did you try? As @Cool66 mentioned, the key is to give no indication that you’re outside of Canada. All the details you use to sign up should be Canadian. Bank algorithms might detect that you’re not in Canada based on your Brazilian IP address. A VPN could solve that problem and make it appear that your device is in Canada.
Due to FATCA laws, I wouldn’t recommend non-Americans to use Google Voice or a US number to open banks outside the US. I only consider US numbers useful for US banks and services. As soon as a bank algorithm detects US indicia (e.g. phone number, address, etc), the bank will need to do extra due diligence and may deny the application. Here’s an example I came across today about how this can cause unnecessary complications. Furthermore, signing up for Google Voice isn’t that easy for people outside the US and requires several workarounds that may be complicated for less technical folk.
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