Yesterday I exchanged US dollars for Canadian at my bank …
US$800 = CAD$756.08
The rate was .9451 at TD Canada Trust.
When I check on the web …
XE.com gives me 773.023 CAD
oanda.com gives me 774.768
Yahoo Finance gives me 773.2
What’s with that TD? Why the difference?
I guess I will shop around for exchange rates next time.
==== reply from my query to TD:
Hello Rick McCharles,
…
Please be advised there is a spread on all exchange rates. As such, the exchange rate to purchase or withdraw US Dollars (or purchase an item in US Dollars) would always be different from the exchange rate used at the exact same time to sell US Dollars (or make a payment). You can see this spread in the listing of exchange rates at the link below. There is a difference between the rates used for the same currency depending on whether the individual is buying or selling the currency.
http://www.tdcommercialbanking.com/tradefinance/rates.jsp
As well, exchange rates are extremely volatile. The rate of the American dollar will vary several times throughout a day. As such, it is undoubted that the exchange rate that you received at the time of the exchange would be widely different from the exchange rates at another time of the day. …
Rebecca Wilson
Internet Correspondence Representative
Rick McCharles 
Ms Wilson is, I’m sure, a wonderful flack. That said, she’s doing a lot of shoveling!! We exchange every two weeks or so, as Jane works in the States and lives here and we have lamented as the US dollar fell. Jane made an exchange today and received $.96xx. One reason for this is that we do a lot of business with them (over a whole year, Jane’s whole salary) and they give a preferred rate. The second though is that the bank is built on exchange rates. It’s not all they do, but it is a major portion of it. Which bank? Citizen’s Bank, out of Vancouver, with an office on 5 Ave, just east of 4th Street.
Yep I just checked TD and they are charging me 10% more to get RMB (from CAD) today. They say there is a spread, I assume she means between bid/ask price but thats nowhere near 0.1% let alone 10%.
TD Bank sucks for this.
One hour ago I bought about $2300 US for $2400 CAN. Upon realizing I didn’t need the US funds after all, I returned to the bank (not 30 minutes later) to sell it back. They were only going to give me $2300 CAN back! I cannot believe the HUGE discrepancy that exists between the buying rate and the selling rate given on currency exchanges. Its no wonder why everyone hates the banks.
Banks can charge up to 2.5% hidden within the exchange rate. If you are buying a large amount, say over $10,000 USD, look at http://www.knightsbridgefx.com/. You also get free wire transfers with them. Simply get a rate from your bank, take it to them, and they will beat it.