How To Withdraw USD From Paypal Into A Canadian Bank
If you are a Canadian who’s earning US Dollars, usually from an online income source, then you’ll find this method very useful.
As an internet marketer, most of my income that I earn online is in US Dollars. As you would probably agree with me, it would make absolutely no sense to convert your US Dollars into CAD. With the strong US Dollars and extremely high conversion rate, it would be best to just accumulate your USD until you absolutely need to convert.
The problem is, Paypal does not allow you to add your Canadian USD accounts as a valid account in their system.
Although, they let you accumulate your US Dollars in your account, they would not let you withdraw your USD into a Canadian USD account.
Luckily, there is a work around for this. Here are the steps to transferring USD from Paypal into a Canadian bank:
Step 1: Create a US Based Account with RBC
The first step is to go to your local RBC bank and ask to create a US Based Account in Georgia.
This account is different than your Canadian USD Account as this is an account in an actual US bank. There are no other banks that allow Canadians to have a bank account in the US other than RBC.
Step 2: Create a Canadian USD Account with RBC
After you have a US Georgia checking account, you will also need a Canadian USD account.
Having this account allows you to transfer your US dollars from your Georgia account to your Canadian USD account.
Step 3: Link your RBC Georgia (US based) account to your Canadian USD account online
Next, you would need to link the two accounts online. This gives you the convenience to manage both accounts when you sign on to do online banking with RBC. If you are unsure how to do this, talk to someone from RBC. They’ll gladly walk you through this step.
You will be able to transfer USD between these two accounts with ease and all from your RBC online banking.
Step 4: Add your RBC Georgia (US based) account into Paypal
The final step is to add your RBC Georgia account into Paypal. Be sure to select US for location. You will also be able to find your routing and account number from your online banking account.
Paypal will deposit two small amounts into your RBC Georgia account within a couple of days. Once you see those small deposits, use them to verify your account.
That’s it!
You are now able to transfer USD to your RBC Georgia account from Paypal. From there, if you decide to, you can just log in to your RBC online banking account and transfer your USD in your Georgia account to your Canadian USD account.
Now, the USD that you earn from Paypal will be in your Canadian bank. Should you decide, you can go to your local bank and withdraw your hard earned US Dollars!
I have been owed some payments from Amazon for over 5 years but they only direct deposit to U.S. accounts and for Canadians the amount has to reach $100 before they will issue a cheque. This seems unfair. The account should be cleared at least once a year. Worse yet, the royalties in Euros will likely never reach $100. I’ve read about setting up a Payoneer account but everyone gets a slice of your pie. Your method may work.
This works on Paypal for Canadians! I’ve tested it myself. Give it a try and let me know. =)
Hi Jeff!
Is it absolutely necessary to create the US Georgia Account alongside the Canadian US Account? I’m having trouble linking my US account on CIBC to PayPal. I’m willing to create the RBC account as long as I know the method will for sure work!
Hi Mia, what you need is a “US based account” and a Canadian USD account. I believe TD also offers a US based account (a bank account in the US).
Personally, I have a Georgia US account. I set that up to paypal. When i get paid in USD, i transfer the USD to my Georgia account. I usually leave the money there but if i want to liquidate it, i’ll transfer it to my Canadian USD account and take it from there.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for getting back to me! I have a USD account at CIBC in Canada, in hopes of linking it to my PayPal in order to withdraw USD currency. However, that didn’t work.
I’m going to follow your advice and head over to RBC and open up a the US Georgia based account. Does the account have to be based in Georgia, or can it be in another state? Also, do you happen to know if I have to open up any Canadian based accounts in order to create the Georgia based account?
Thank you!
Hi Mia, Georgia is the only state that offers a US based account for Canadians. You don’t have to open a Canadian based USD account but if you want to withdraw the money you earn, all you have to do is transfer it from the Georgia account to your Canadian account and you can withdraw from there.
Thanks for all your help Jeff! Good luck on achieving the million dollar goal! Great blog!
Hey guys when you go to the rbc bank and ask them to create a US Based Account in Georgia.are they asking some question? Like why you want to create there when you don’t even live they or something else?
They don’t ask you any questions. Any Canadian can have a cross border account. That’s exactly what you need to say. You want to create a US based account in Georgia.
PayPal would let you withdraw USD funds directly into your Royal Bank USD Savings account. The reason was very simple: RBC offered a much better USD – CAD conversion rate over PayPal.
Hello, I tried all of this and my stumbling block is Paypal. I chose other account, United States, RBC Bank, enter my routing and account and it just won’t work. I have tried numerous variations of like switching between chequing and savings, using all kinds of names, like “RBC”, “RBC Bank”, etc. I called Paypal and they were of no use because, as they said “this has never been allowed and nobody can do this”
Is there some trick I am missing. I see several websites have step by step instructions and I have been following those.
Just a note that CIBC now has this option recently as well. With the acquisition of PrivateBank in Chicago, CIBC clients in Canada now have the ability to open a CIBC Bank USA Smart Account, which is based in Chicago. This would allow transfer of US funds to a CIBC US Dollar account in Canada if one wanted to.