National Bank Exchange Rates & Currency Conversion

The National Bank of Canada (NBC) offers individuals the ability to trade one type of currency for another (foreign exchange). When planning to visit the National Bank for currency conversions, the key thing to consider is the exchange rate they’re offering. When banking with the National Bank, you could obtain these currencies either digitally (online) or physically (in cash from branches/ATM). If you’re already a loyal client at National Bank, it probably makes sense to choose them for currency conversion purposes.

Throughout most of modern history, individuals would conduct most of their monetary tasks primarily within the “big banking” structure – even if the prices were not optimal. With the rise of online-only finance-oriented firms, customers can take advantage of much better public rates. Truthfully, the conventional banking system has a very high amount of overhead costs to pay off, and those costs typically get reflected in their financial offerings. Put simply, big bank expenses are often too high for them to afford giving you competitive rates.

Compare National Bank’s Exchange Rates with Other Banks

National Bank’s exchange rate can have a substantial difference between selling and buying the same money. Occasionally the difference can be overbearing and it can easily reach 2% with room to go to 5% and beyond. To get the most accurate response on their rates, you’d need to contact them either online or by phone. Below is a chart of Canada’s largest financial institutions and their public exchange rate offerings.

Bank Exchange RatesMarkup %SourcePotential Savings on $10,000 USD with KFX

KnightsbridgeFX	0.8%	Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange	–
RBC – Royal Bank of Canada	2.60%	RBC Exchange Rates	$230
HSBC – HSBC Bank	2.10%	HSBC Foreign Exchange Rates	$180
TD – Toronto Dominion Bank	2.64%	TD Bank Exchange Rates	$234
BMO – Bank of Montreal	2.65%	BMO Exchange Rates	$235
Scotia – Scotia Bank	2.88%	Scotia Bank Foreign Exchange Rates	$258
CIBC – CIBC Bank	3.34%	CIBC Foreign Exchange Rates	$304
Desjardins	2.49%	Desjardins Foreign Exchange Rates	$219
PayPal	2.50%	PayPal Exchange Rates	$220

Rate markups are embedded in the exchange rate of practically every FX offering. As you can see, some markups are higher than others, but ultimately they all serve the same purpose. Markups are necessary to keep an FX business afloat – the difference between the exchange rate and the spot price of the currency pays for the businesses’ expenses. However, since most individuals choose to simply conduct FX business with their current banking without doing too much research, banks can profit off of their exchange rate. Professional currency exchanging companies like KnightsbridgeFX guarantees better exchange rates than conventional banking since they are willing to accept a lower margin, giving you a deal that’s closer to the spot rate.

Finding the Best Exchange Rate

There’s never been a better time than the modern day for Canadian banking. With all these new choices and decisions available on the market, it’s extra important to choose the best of the best. Fortunately, National Bank makes online banking convenient. Simply download the National Bank’s smartphone application for easy access – doing this is a great way to cut down on banking time. Be sure to check their FX rates – if they seem like a good deal, compare them to other offerings. Tip: Check often! Rates are often subject to change.

It doesn’t matter what kind of tradable currencies you plan to convert, it pretty much always pays off to use a currency converter to make sure you receive a good exchange rate on your exchange. Generally speaking, the US dollar is closely linked to the Canadian dollar, but other currencies can be more variable and volatile when paired up with the CAD. The majority of FX relationships are built upon economic indications. Once you’ve examined the current standing of a currency pairing and have a good idea about the rates, look around for low-fee conversion opportunities.

National Bank Exchange Rates Overview

The National Bank of Canada (National Bank) offers a wide variety of currency exchange services to clients. National Bank offers foreign currency accounts, specifically for US dollar and Chinese renminbi. National Bank also offers derivative products, including forward contracts. At the retail level, National Bank offers exchange rates for most of the major currencies.

You can easily find your closest National Bank branch using their online branch locator. You can contact National Bank about their exchange rates and other exchange services at 1-888-TELNAT-1. This is a convenient option if you are looking for a smaller amount of foreign currency for travelling. National Bank also offers a daily market commentary on the Canadian dollar, which can be accessed here. If you’re looking for some analysis on the Loonie, the commentary provided by National Bank is a very useful resource.

Alternatives to National Bank’s Foreign Exchange Services

If you’re looking for foreign exchange alternatives to National Bank there’s plenty of different sources on the market. For instance, each of the major banks (BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, TD) in Canada offer very similar currency conversion services. By utilizing the resources in this overview to their full effect you can more accurately compare between them. When exchanging your hard earned money, ensure that you thoroughly compare foreign exchange options to National Bank.

Thinking about converting thousands of dollars to a different currency? No matter what your reason is, do some research to get the best foreign exchange rate.

Choosing KnightsbridgeFX as an alternative to conventional big banking, you can stand to save hundreds of dollars on large transactions. KFX has a “best rate guarantee” when paired against a big Canadian bank, for all your snowbird, travelling, or foreign investment needs.

Wire Transfer Cost Comparison

Financial InstitutionTier-Based FeesFixed ChargeVar. ChargeMin. Fee / Max. FeeFree?

KnightsbridgeFX	No	–	–	–	YES
National Bank	No	$15 – $20	0.34%	$15 – $60	No
HSBC	Yes	$40 – $90	–	$40 – $90	No
CIBC	Yes	$30 – $80	–	$30 – $80	No
BMO	No	$10	0.20%	$15 – $125	No
RBC	No	$13.50 – $20	–	$13.50 – $35	No
Scotiabank	Yes	–	0.15%	$25 – $100	No

Placing wire transfers has been the old fashioned go-to money transferring method by Canadian individuals. Setting up a wire transfer (a time consuming but safe way to transport your money) requires visiting a physical branch location. With today’s newly emerging technologies, many of these transactions can be made online at a discounted rate (some examples are HSBC and RBC). On the topic of discounts, banks like the National Bank will even offer clients a discount for US-directed transfers. However, even if you accept as many discounts as you can on international money transfer, the total cost will never reach zero.

KnightsbridgeFX guarantees to give you a completely free no-strings-attached wire transfer to anywhere in Canada, the US, and parts of Europe.

Importance of FX Comparison

you can use a non-bank provider to exchange currency and compare rates.You could realize savings of up to 2.5% compared to banks; on sizeable transactions this translates to a ton of money saved.

Use our free tools and charts to determine a fair exchange rate yourself and learn about the opportunity.

If you look below, you can see the mid-market foreign exchange rate for frequently traded currencies. Utilize KnightsbridgeFX’s comparison chart to pin National Bank’s offerings to its competitors, and see how they all stack up to a currency pairing’s market value.

US Dollar and Canadian Dollar Exchange Rates