Is KnightsbridgeFX actually cheaper than Wise, OFX, and the big Canadian banks for CAD to USD?

I run a currency exchange company, so I’m interested in how you convert your money. The rates and fees below are dated and sourced so you can check them yourself.

Wise and KnightsbridgeFX checked: November 2, 2026, 9:40 ET. XE and OFX checked: November 2, 2026, 11:40 to 11:42 ET; TD, RBC, Scotiabank, BMO and CIBC checked: November 2, 2026, 9:40 ET, from each provider’s public website, no login. Next check: December 1, 2026.

Wise vs KnightsbridgeFX, CAD to USD, read November 2, 2026, 9:40 ET. Mid-market rate 1.3983 CAD per USD as shown on wise.com/ca/send-money. Wise’s total worked out to between 0.36 and 0.64 percent above the mid-market rate across these amounts. Our rate is the same mid-market rate plus a markup that falls as the amount grows; ask us for it before you book. Our figures are our quotes for each amount at that time, not a separate desk quote.

Every week clients ask me some version of the same question. They have seen an ad from Wise, a rate on a bank website, and a quote from us, and the three numbers do not line up. The ad talks about fees. The bank talks about convenience. We talk about the rate. None of that answers the only question that matters: how much US dollars land in your account for the Canadian dollars you send. So we sat down one morning and checked.

What did each provider pay out on November 2, 2026?

The table below shows the Canadian dollars a client would pay to receive US$50,000, as each provider’s own public tool displayed it, in the order we read them. Every row links to the page we used. Times are Eastern.

Sources: Wise (wise.com/ca/send-money), XE (xe.com/send-money), OFX (ofx.com/en-ca/transfer-rates), TD (td.com currency converter), RBC (rbcroyalbank.com foreign exchange), Scotiabank (scotiabank.com foreign exchange rates), BMO (bmo.com foreign exchange), CIBC (cibc.com exchange currency online). Mid-market reference: Bank of Canada daily average, USD 1.3960 CAD on 30 October 2026.

Read the table from the right. The status column tells you more than the rate column. None of the five banks would show a rate for US$50,000. That means the client has to phone a branch to find out what they will be charged.

On November 2, 2026, the difference between the highest and lowest online quote for US$50,000 was CAD 506.38. None of Canada’s five largest banks quoted that amount online.

Rahim Madhavji, President, Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc.

Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (registration M09819788) and is licensed by Revenu Québec as a money services business (licence 12115).

Why does the amount change & Who is cheapest?

Because providers price differently, and each method favors a different transfer size.

Wise charges the mid-market rate plus a fee that falls as a percentage when you send more. On November 2, 2026, its total came to 0.64 percent above the mid-market rate at US$1,000 and 0.36 percent at US$250,000.

XE shows no fee and builds its margin into the rate. On November 2, 2026, its total to pay worked out to 1.4065 CAD per US dollar at US$1,000 and 1.4031 at US$250,000. From US$50,000 up, the total to pay was 9.85 to 49.21 CAD higher than the amount XE displayed as sent, with the fee line still showing 0.00, and every XE figure sat under a first-three-transfers promotional banner.

KnightsbridgeFX works like XE, with no transfer fee and a margin in the rate that narrows as the amount grows. Any client can ask for the markup for their amount before booking. If another provider quotes you better for the same amount on the same day, send us the quote before you book and, once verified, we will beat it for you. You can find this on our Best Rate Guarantee page.

One thing worth knowing about Wise. The rate it displays is the mid-market rate, and the fee sits on a separate line. Divide the Canadian dollars sent by the US dollars received to get the rate you actually paid: 1.4039 CAD per US dollar at US$50,000, not the 1.3983 on the screen. That is not hidden, but it is easy to miss. Our rate already includes the markup, so the number you see is the number you pay. The longer comparison is between Wise and KnightsbridgeFX.

Here is the full picture at every amount we checked.

CAD paid to receive each US dollar amount, November 2, 2026. KnightsbridgeFX and Wise read at 9:40 ET; XE and OFX at 11:40 to 11:42 ET; XE at US$5,000, TD and RBC read at 9:40 ET. XE figures are the total to pay. Scotiabank, BMO, and CIBC omitted because none quote an amount online.

Two things stand out. First, at US$1,000 the difference between Wise, XE, and KnightsbridgeFX is under a dollar, and up to US$25,000 it stays under 32 dollars, so at these amounts the fee you pay your own bank to send the money may matter as much as the provider you choose. Second, from US$50,000 up the field thins out and the order was KnightsbridgeFX, XE, Wise, then OFX. Where TD and RBC quoted, they cost 20 to 33 CAD more per US$1,000 than we did. TD stops quoting at CAD 50,000. RBC stops at 10,000. The comparison at the amounts a snowbird or a property buyer actually moves is between Wise, XE, OFX, and us.

Why do the banks not show up in the table?

Because their public tools are built for travel money, not transfers.

RBC’s converter displays a message at CAD 25,000: “Please enter a lower currency amount or visit an RBC branch for conversions over CAD $10,000.” TD’s converter returned “This amount exceeds the calculator’s non-cash limit. Please enter a lower amount.” at CAD 50,000. Below those limits, on November 2, 2026, TD quoted CAD 1,435.80 to receive US$1,000 (1.4358 CAD per US dollar) and CAD 35,895.00 for US$25,000. RBC quoted CAD 1,427.50 for US$1,000 (1.4275) and CAD 7,123.50 for US$5,000 (1.4247). Scotiabank publishes one table and states that it applies to non-cash transactions up to $9,999. BMO publishes a cash table that applies only to over-the-counter cash. CIBC publishes no CAD-to-USD rate without signing in.

A bank client may still negotiate a better rate at a branch or through a private banking desk. Some do. What a potential client cannot do is see the number before they commit, or compare it the way the four online tools above can. It also means any article that says a bank “charges 2.6 percent” at CAD 50,000 is estimating. We have published figures like that in the past, including on our Canadian bank exchange rate comparisons. This page reports only what a provider showed on the screen, at the time we read it.

How did we collect these numbers?

We used each provider’s own public website on a desktop browser from Toronto, without logging in or creating accounts. For each amount, we recorded the displayed rate, the displayed fee, the displayed received amount, the exact time in Eastern Time, and the page address. The KnightsbridgeFX figures are different in one way, and I want to say it plainly. They are our quotes for each amount on November 2, 2026, at 9:40 ET, set against the same 1.3983 mid-market rate Wise displayed at that time, so you can compare the two columns under identical market conditions. TD and RBC were read in the same 9:40 window; XE and OFX were read at 11:40 to 11:42 ET and carry their own times. Any client can ask for the markup before booking.

Nothing in this table is a mid-market rate, except for one exception we labeled: OFX’s converter page shows an interbank rate that OFX itself says is “not indicative of OFX Customer Rates,” so we used OFX’s separate transfer-rates page instead, which shows a standard customer rate without registration.

What the table does not include: the fee your own bank may charge to send a domestic transfer or wire to any of these providers, and any fee a receiving US bank may charge on arrival. KnightsbridgeFX does not charge an outgoing wire fee. Wise shows its domestic transfer fee inside its total. For the others, check with your bank.

Rates move all day, so a quote read at 9:40 and one read at 11:40 are not the same market. The spread between providers moves less than the rates themselves.

Does a lower price mean a lesser service?

No, and I want to address this directly, because “cheap” usually means corners were cut. Our price is lower for structural reasons, not quality ones. We do one thing, bank-to-bank currency exchange in six currencies, and we buy currency at volume, so our markup can sit where a bank’s cannot. Nothing about the service is thinner.

Here is what sits behind the rate. A person answers the phone at 1-877-355-5239 six days a week, Monday to Saturday. Every trade comes with a written confirmation before any money moves, and every transfer gets a confirmation number your bank can trace. Clients can speak to the same dealer each time, rather than waiting in a queue. We are registered with FINTRAC and licensed by Revenu Québec as a money services business (licence 12115). Our reviews sit at 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 193 reviews and 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 638 reviews, both read on November 2, 2026. Read the critical ones too; most are about setup time, not the rate or the service.

The test is simple. Call the desk with a real amount before you open an account. How that call goes tells you more than any table on this page, including ours. How KnightsbridgeFX works explains each step.

What should you do now?

1. Decide the amount first. Under CAD 5,000, the fee you pay to fund the transfer can outweigh the difference between providers. Over CAD 25,000, the rate is almost everything.
2. Get three quotes within fifteen minutes of each other. Wise and XE show theirs on the page. Ours takes a phone call or a login. Write down the USD figure, not the rate.
3. Ignore any quote that does not show the receiving amount. If a tool shows a rate but not the dollars you will get, it is not a quote.
4. Check what your own bank charges to send the funds. A $30 wire fee on a CAD 1,000 transfer is 3 percent before anyone has converted a dollar.
5. If the amount is CAD 10,000 or more, ask us for a quote when you check the others, and compare the USD received. Request a quote or call 1-877-355-5239.
6. My suggestion: Get live quotes from all our competitors within a 15-minute window. Choose based on the final USD amount received, including any transfer or receiving-bank fees.

Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (registration M09819788) and is licensed by Revenu Québec as a money services business (licence 12115).

Disclosure: This article is written by the President of Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. and compares the company’s own pricing with other providers. Read it with that interest in mind. It is not financial advice. This article describes rates and fees as displayed by each provider on November 2, 2026. Confirm current figures on each provider’s website before you transfer.