hcr@hcr.UUCP (HCR Clerical) (04/05/84)
[] Maybe someone out there in netland can shed some light on this question. Recently I have noticed several banks promoting clients to deposit their American funds in special American accounts. Now I know that the Canadian dollar has been droppping with respect to the American more or less steadily for quite a long time. If I had American dollars and I put them in a savings account that paid the same interest as a regular Canadian account, I would effectively be making more interest than the regular account because the American dollar is increasing in value. Is this then a case of Canadian banks encouraging Canadians to exploit the fact that our dollar is losing ground? Paul Bonneau {utzoo|watmath|decvax}!hcr!hcrvax!paulb
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (04/06/84)
I don't think it's a case of "Canadian banks encouraging Canadians to exploit the fact that our dollar is losing ground". I think it's a case of the banks competing for services, as they always do (note that our banks generally compete on services rather than interest rates). There are lots of people who prefer to hold American money for various reasons. For one, they don't lose on the exchange from switching back and forth every time they need some. And yes, some people want to speculate against the Canadian dollar. Would you rather they took their money out of the country and put it in a savings account in Buffalo? Dave Sherman -- {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!dave
laura@utzoo.UUCP (Laura Creighton) (04/07/84)
There are other reasons besides speculation against the Canadian dollar to have an account in American funds. A good many American firms want a cheque or money order in US FUNDS ONLY and getting the bank to give you a money order costs money, and if you send the appropriate amount of Canadian funds you may get to play ``pass the cheque'' for months. (Especially if the Canadian dollar has dropped by the time they look at it and the cheque is for a significant amount of money.) Laura Creighton utzoo!laura -- Laura Creighton utzoo!laura "Not to perpetrate cowardice against one's own acts! Not to leave them in the lurch afterward! The bite of conscience is indecent" -- Nietzsche The Twilight of the Idols (maxim 10)
julian@deepthot.UUCP (Julian Davies) (04/09/84)
Yup, I find it worth while maintaining the bank account I have had for years in Scotland, for paying occasional bills in L sterling. Though I wouldn't bother if I hadn't had it from when I lived there. Probably I have more bills in $US, so can imagine finding such an account useful if I had any income in that currency.