A ton of Canadians are making money online. That’s a good thing and I am happy to say I am one of them. However, once you get into it, you realize that we get into a bit of a pickle because of two things. One, Paypal is the easiest form of payment and the majority of clients prefer it over wire transfers. Two, you will most likely get paid in US dollars.
Everyone that’s been involved in the comments have been extremely helpful. I’ve distilled all the information here in hopes of answering some of the recurring questions:
- Paypal customer service doesn’t know anything. I’ve called them myself and they’re totally clueless about Canadian Banks and this overall process. Canadian banks themselves equally as confused.
- I have updated the guide based on the feedback and comments of the amazing readers below. Pay particular attention to Step 11. The consensus is that 003 is NOT required so be sure to try that first.
- If these steps fail, another solution that some readers have had luck with is with calling Paypal directly. In particular call the French help line (1-855-477-1170). Dominik (huge props) had luck with Jennifer there and she was able to resolve everything for him. The other normal help lines didn’t seem to be helpful for others so this is worth a shot.
- If you have an RBC USA Chequing acount (based in USA and connected to your RBC Canada account but you need to log into the RBC USA site to view) you will need to use the USA routing routing #063216608 and just your account number. There is no transit or institution number for the RBC USA Chequing account (Thanks MJ!)
The problem for Canadians with USD balance in Paypal
On the onset this doesn’t seem like that big of a problem. In fact, with the Canadian dollar tanking in recent months and USD worth a lot more, getting paid in USD is actually a pretty sweet deal. But then you run into a big problem that I will outline below.
- Your USD funds are stuck in Paypal
- You can transfer USD funds to your linked Canadian bank account but Paypal will automatically convert it to CAD
- Paypal’s 2.5% conversion rate sucks
- You can try to spend the USD by paying with Paypal but you can only do so much online shopping 😉
Wait so what’s the point?
Some may say what’s the point of moving the money over to Canada? So here’s my argument:
- You can only shop online so much (ha ha speak for myself right?) Once you start accumulating lots of USD the money is just kind of stuck there. On top of that, only a few big retailers allow payment via Paypal. I found out that United Airlines takes Paypal but that’s pretty rare in travel retail so far.
- I travel to the US a lot and have my own USD credit card. I would much rather pay them off with USD funds than having to exchange CAD at crappy rates
- Having USD cash on hand is nice when travelling and again I’d rather not have to convert CAD -> USD unfavorably
- Most Canadian bloggers I’ve talked to just eat up the 2.5% Paypal fee and convert the funds to Canadian. Personally I think you end up losing money this way.
- If you want CAD, you can get better preferred rates at banks or currency exchange shops.
- If you’re converting USD -> CAD just to ultimately convert CAD -> USD, you end up taking the conversion hit twice. Why not just bring in the USD natively onto Canadian soil and just withdraw it as is? No loss of money.
The obvious but wrong solution
Now that you get the issue, let’s move onto the solution. At first this seems like an easy solution right? Having a USD account with your Canadian bank is pretty common nowadays. For instance, I have a US chequing account with TD Bank. All I have to do is link Paypal to this US account right? Unfortunately that’s where you’re wrong and where I ended up spinning my wheels.
The issue is this. Paypal automatically recognizes accounts that come from Canada and as a result will by default convert the money to CAD instead of keeping it as USD.
The fundamental problem is this. Canadian banks use transit numbers while US banks use routing numbers.
Surely Paypal or the banks know what to do
Wrong again! I spent weeks making calls to Paypal and TD Bank but they were completely clueless. Some thought that it was possible and made me try a few things that failed.
Without going into the details, I ended up going back and forth between Paypal and TD before realizing nobody knew what they were talking about. All the things they thought would work were completely bogus.
The solution with Royal Bank of Canada that works
Big props have to go out to Sustainable Personal Finance for their awesome article that gave me the idea about trying this little “work around”.
In January 2015, I finally got around to testing a method that some online have had success with. I was determined to see if it still worked.
This workaround revolves around having secret knowledge of an RBC routing number for their US branches that works to replace the transit number. It’s the only bank this works for. You do not need to be a pre-existing customer of RBC.
On January 9, 2015 I confirmed that this works. Two USD deposits came through and I was able to verify my RBC account with Paypal.
- Head to your local RBC branch and make sure you bring 2 pieces of photo ID (i.e. driver’s license + passport).
- Ask to open up a US Dollar bank account.
- Once with one of the managers, tell him/her that you want the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account that has no fees but is limited to just 1 debit a month.
- (Optional) Ask if it’s possible to get online banking with this account. If your rep is smart enough, they’ll suggest the opening of a chequing to allow the creation of an online account and access card. The trick here is that they will close the chequing account the next day. My rep was willing to do this. Without this, you won’t be able to check your balances online and will need to go to teller every time you want to do anything with your account. The RBC access card will also allow you to withdraw USD from certain ATMs.
- Make sure you get a printout of the account and transit numbers for your newly minted RBC account.
- At home, log into Paypal and go to your Wallet and add a new bank account.
- Make sure you select “Other bank account”.
- When filling out your bank details, make sure you change the dropdown from Canada to United States. Bank name is “Royal Bank of Canada“.
- Account type should be Savings (not Checking as seen in the screenshot)
- MOST IMPORTANT STEP – Use the following routing number: 026004093. This is the routing number for the RBC US branch.
- For the account number, enter in the combination of the 5 digit transit number + bank number + your account number (for example, 06032 003 123456 with no spaces in between) [thanks Vi]. Alternatively if this doesn’t work just use the transit and account number 06032 123456. [thanks Meisam]
- The latest update on this (Feb 19, 2016) is that the 003 is NOT required. When you’re first trying this, I would recommend using only the transit + account number first.
- Once done, Paypal will send two small deposits to your RBC US account. This will take 2-3 business days.
- 2-3 days later, check your balance and in Paypal, go back into your Wallet to verify the two amounts that came through. Once you’ve done that your bank account is linked and you know that this works!
Select “Savings” instead of “Checking” as you see it in this screenshot
And that’s all there is to it. You now have the ability to move US funds from Paypal to a Canadian based USD account with no limits. Just keep in mind that the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account only comes with 1 withdrawal a month before fees kick in.
Thanks for this Will! I think I’ll test it out next time I’m back in Canada. 🙂
Yes it’s great because now I can actually spend the USD I’m making without incurring any charges 🙂
Great detailed instructions Will. Glad you figured this all out for the rest of us…. I’ve just kept all my US $ in there because I don’t want to lose out on the exchange. Love it! Thanks!
Ok I just tried to add the account myself. Cross your fingers waiting for the confirmation to go through! I’m an existing RBC client so I’m excited for this! Thanks so much for testing it all out!
That’s great Sharon! Let me know if it works for you. Should be a piece of cake 🙂
I just went into bank today. And have now added my account. Now to wait a couple days to verify. 🙂
It did not work. I got an email from PayPal saying they could not make a deposit. There was an error from the bank. 🙁
Man, I was super excited about this, but it’s not working for me! I keep getting an error message saying the account “cannot be added at this time”. I re-read the steps a few times, and I’m definitely doing it right, but nope.
Hey Jessica! Can you e-mail me a screenshot of what you’re getting from Paypal? Let me see if I can help you. info at travelblogbreakthrough dot com
I will -thanks!
Hi, Will Thank you for the info. But it did not work for me, which seems exactly the same with Jessica’s case. Did you figure out this problem?
i just recently with the advice of your site went and opened the account and tried this and yes im having the same problem as these others where it just says this bank cant be added at this time. Were you guys able to figure out the problem. If so please do tell I am waiting on payment from this. If not then what have you found out about other sources of being paid from americans to your canadian usd account?
Jessica, did you figure out the problem with this “You cannot add a bank at this time.” error from Paypal?
Peter
Hey Will!
Awesome that it worked for you! I’ve been hearing rumors about the RBC workaround for years! Then can rumors that PayPal or RBC had found this magical portal and shut it down. Glad to hear that it’s still up and running.
My issue is that I’m not in Canada, so I can’t open a new RBC account, although my paypal is linked to my Canadian bank account with a USD account. I’m a longtime customer at HSBC and I wonder if I can follow your steps, but use the HSBC USA routing number. But the problem is: where to find this magical number?
Do you think I’d have any luck calling my HSBC branch and asking them to give me a routing number of one of their US branches? Will any US branch do or is there a specific branch?
This is all so confusing and unnecessary. I wish PayPal would just allow Canadians the choice of converting or not converting rather than force-converting our funds for us!
Either way, thanks for dispelling the rumor that the RBC portal is alive and well.
Hey Davina, thanks for checking out Travel Blog Breakthrough. Unfortunately I think RBC is really the only bank that anyone’s had success for this issue. That being said, doesn’t hurt to try if you already have an HSBC account. Ask for a routing number of one of their US branches and give it a shot. Best of luck!
Will. This is great. I have accumulated a large amount of USD doing freelance work the past couple years and was just now cashing it in. I am traveling full time this year so can’t try this trick and am with TD so looks like I am SOL for now.
Great write up and read. Will give it a go when Im home, whenever that is!
Shaun
http://www.thislifeintrips.com
Hey Shaun, Hmmm yeah you’re going to have to come back to Canada to get things set up with RBC. But yah once you’re back and set it up you should be good to go!
Hi Will, I read into this and I found out that if you apply for TD’s Cross-Border account, which is TD Bank America’s Most Convenient Bank (AMCB) – and not simply open their Borderless or basic US account – it will link to your PayPal account and transfer any US dollars you have in it.
I haven’t personally tried it, but those who have said it worked for them.
Hey Carol, that is good to know! For TD’s cross-border account though, do you know you can move money easily between that TD AMCB account in the US to your TD account in Canada? From what I heard, it’s a bit annoying because you can only do it via the phone.
Yeah, you can only do transfers via phone. That would be the downside of it.
Cool thanks for confirming that for me Carol 🙂
This isn’t working for me and I have an RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account. Please help!
Hey Amanda,
I’d like to help! What happens when you try to link the account with Paypal?
I get this error message “You cannot add a bank at this time.”
Same here, same error code 🙁
Hey Ryan, going to look into this!
Weird. I’m in my Paypal account and trying to add a new bank account and I get redirected to a weird page that then just leads me back to my dashboard. What is going on Paypal!!!
Hey Amanda, I’m wondering if Paypal closed the loop on this. I’ve tested a transfer a few weeks ago and it looks like it works once connected but perhaps they’re not allowing people to do this anymore? Does this error show up when you try to go to the next page after entering all your details?
Hey Will,
It does! Does that mean there is no way to add this account to my Paypal while keeping the USD denomination?
i got the same reply,after i opened a new bank account at RBC just for this cause…
Damn it looks like they stopped allowing people to do this. Argh that’s really frustrating!
Does this mean there is no way around this anymore?
Hey Mel, when did you create your Paypal account?
If this can help anyone. I was getting the same error on a PayPal account I just created. A then I tried it on a older PayPal account I had (created in 2009) and it worked. So, eather new account need some time to give you more features, like more time to make your funds available sooner. Or something changed with new accounts
Cheers,
Raymond
Hey Raymond,
Yes this might be the key to all of this. Old Paypal accounts (when you signed up) seem to have no problem but if you’re signing up for a brand new Paypal account this isn’t going to work. Very insightful!
I am in need of this…. I would gladly open an RBC account but it looks like this solution is no longer working. Any update?
It looks like a majority of people are having trouble with this but a handful of people including myself are having luck with this method. I really don’t know what gives!
Just got the deposits sent to my RBC account, waiting for them to show up
Hey Adam, so you didn’t have a problem at all from Paypal adding your RBC US account?
Great article – very comprehensive in the directions.
Any chance my article reference could appear closer to the top of the piece? Hope so – I did give you this solution to PayPal problems!
Cheers,
Simon
You’re most welcome! Just moved your shout out a bit earlier in the post.
Just curious, have any updates about this work around as there’ve been a lot of people with issues in regards to not being able to add RBC to their Paypal account.
Hi Will, I just done this with RBC US Checking account and I was able to transfer into it from paypal and clickbank but cannot deposit funds from it into paypal. Are you able to do this?
RBC also has a U.S. based US account so I just signed up for that one to see if that works. It’s 3.95 a month for the “direct checking” account.
Hey Darcy. Yes I have been able to do this. Where are you running into issues right now? Are you able to add that RBC US (Canadian-based) account to Paypal by following the instructions above?
Hey Will, did you get private replies from the previous people who encountered this issue ? Did it work for Darcy, because I also created a US RBC Checking account myself and want to know if this issue has been resolved.
Don’t want to take the chance of doing anything yet (as I’m in the process of setting my Paypal account) Please let me know if you have any updates or even solutions for this ?
Thank you.
Hey Alex,
I haven’t heard back from the other folks but I thought it was interesting that it seemed that one of the guys was able to add his RBC US Checking account into Paypal. What’s disheartening is hearing about all the others that haven’t had any luck at all which makes me believe that Paypal has prevented Canadians from adding US Bank accounts.
For you since you already have a US RBC Checking account there isn’t really any harm in trying to see if you can add it into your wallet once your Paypal account is ready. If it rejects you then that might just be the reality of Paypal closing things off which really does suck.
-Will
thanks for the instructions will im just waiting for the deposit
I’ll keep you guys posted
Got the same “cannot add a bank account at this time” message trying to add a US account to my Canadian paypal. Called paypal twice, the first lady insisted I could not add any US bank accounts to my paypal(so why do they have the option to selected UNITED STATES?). Second lady said she reset the security and to try again the next day. Same error message received.
Overall a NO GO. Looks like you need to start a US paypal account with a fake US address, add your US bank account and then transfer your funds. Most likely you’ll end up limiting both your accounts. Thanks again Paypal.
Hey Dana, thanks for dropping a line. So after reviewing everyone’s comments and their results…I think this is my conclusion:
1) Paypal customer service doesn’t know anything. I’ve called them myself and they’re totally clueless about Canadian Banks and this overall process. Canadian banks themselves equally as confused.
2) It looks like people with OLD Paypal accounts (opened before or around 2009) have had luck using this method of adding a Canadian based US chequing account while those that are opening new Paypal accounts are having no luck at all.
Going to add these updates to the top of the page!
hey will I did all of your instructions step by step and I just want to confirm and let everybody know it did work I received the two deposits and transferred money from my PayPal account to my RBC just make sure you follow Will’s instructions and you should be good to go. Good luck!!
thanks a lot will I appreciate it
Wow finally someone that’s had some luck! What did you do differently from everyone else I’m wondering??? Bamboozled right now.
Just tried it and got the “You cannot add a bank at this time.” error. I have had an account since ’06. I would love to know what the trick is…
Also wondering if anyone has tried setting up a US account with US address, and if it works then?
Hey Aggie, well there goes that theory! Really not sure why some have had luck but some haven’t.
Same situation as Aggie, have been a member since 2007 and am continuously prompted with the “You cannot add a bank at this time” message. Opened and RBC US savings account just for this. And yes Will, PayPal is clueless, as are the banks.
Is opening the US chequing account the answer?
There is a way!!!!!
After days and hours upon hours of wasted on the phone, with idiots telling me that this cannot be done, I have found a solution!
-Call the French help line at 1855-477-1170, just keep pressing 0 until they transfer you over to someone.
-Ask the person if they speak English, if they do, which they likely will, say: “Perfect! I in fact want to be speaking with someone from the French department because I have found that you guys are a lot more informed about the issue I’ve been needing to resolve — as opposed to the English department which sadly knowns nothing about what I am trying to do.”
-Tell them: “I have a Canadian PayPal and am trying to add a US-based account to my PayPal. Although RBC is Canadian, the routing number is for their New York City branch. I know this can be done (my girlfriend has this exact thing set up), and as I understand it what you may need to do is contact a second level support technician to change a setting on my account”
-In my case, the girl didn’t even need to contact anyone higher up, she knew exactly what the issue was, fixed it, and asked that I clear my cookies, history, login into my PayPal, and try adding the account again, which I did, and it worked, and took 2 minutes!!!
-All this said, I am waiting for the two deposits to actually confirm my account, though think that likely the hardest part of this—at times impossible to resolve seeming—process is over 🙂
OMG!
Dominik, epic answer. Thank you for sharing!!
is it really worked?
Thanks for posting this entry: you and the daniel celeste blog helped me figure this out. i was able to get my RBC High interest eSavings working; just saw my verification deposits today.
i do have a pre 2009 paypal, and i opened up RBC online as i have a small existing account there. i also tried to transfer money twice; when the account is initially setup you need to wait 24 hours so i was overeager. the second time went through.
good to note also that calling RBC got me the incorrect information; they wanted me to open an account by going to a branch manager. the correct account for me, for now, is the esavings.
Great article! Someone told me about Payoneer. Does anyone know if that is better than the RBC solution?
Just tried to set it up as described above. I have had a Paypal account since 2010 and an RBC account for over 20 years. The “deposits pending” message is up. I’ll repost and let you know.
I’ve known paypal for a while and I can tell you guys that the problem isn’t from the bank side but from Paypal, even if you send them e-mails or call the representatives, you will still get that error from adding a bank account at this moment, you have to be lucky because their security system is really picky on new customers and I experienced it a lot with my friends account too. Lucky, a few months ago, I could add a US account to my Paypal and worked all of the sudden. So be assured that Will’s method works, but it will be hard for new account, just try from time to time and it will finally let you add you bank account.
Thanks
Thanks for that Coby. Super helpful for anyone that’s just jumped into this post.
Hi!
Got the PayPal confirmation deposits in 24 hours, but a $USD transfer out of PayPal (the only direction that works, and is relevant) seems to be taking an awfully long time (Thursday night, now Monday afternoon).
How long do withdrawals from PayPal normally take to hit the RBC?
Thanks.
Hey Guido, for me the USD portion didn’t take that long. I would say give it 3-5 business days? For you wait a few more days and then follow up with Paypal.
I follow the steps and i was able to add the RBC US account but i am keeping getting error messages from Paypal that my account is invalid.
I went through this process from paypal,ca since i am living in canada.
Did anyone has this issue?
or Should I try in from Paypal.com?
This is my 3rd try i am little frustrated 🙁
Hey, this wasn’t an issue for me but from the comments below you can tell that a lot of people have been having issues with it. The frustrating part is that some have been able to get it to work so there’s no consistency to this at all. Have you tried calling in?
I just called RBC and they said US esavings account does not have debit or paypal ability to be set up…any other suggestions? 🙁
There’s basically no point in talking to the bank because they really don’t know anything about Paypal and this special situation we’re in.
Hi Will, thanks for sharing the post. I tried your method by opening RBC US eSavings, when I link the RBC US eSaving account to my Paypal, did the Paypal phone call verifying the account, the bank account doesn’t appear to be showing on my Paypal. What should I do?
Thanks
Hey Vi, looks like you’ve been able to go farther than some other folks. Any updates since you commented?
Hi Wil, I don’t think the Bank was ever added to my Paypal, I did all the steps, Paypal even call me with the automatic system to verify the bank account, but the bank account never appear on my Paypal account. Anybody encounter the same situation ?
Is this still working?
I tried with my RBC US account and keep getting error messages…
Just to update my original post, this works, and calling the French help line (1855-477-1170)
will solve all your headaches — trust me, I’ve been there, it’s infuriating.
One point I will add. After calling the French department, ask to speak with Jennifer, you can tell her that you know her because she helped me, Dominik, and that you know that she knows what this issue is all about.
You will be relieved — I sure was, after wasting days and reading pointless dead-ended threads, and not to mention talking with moronic customer service people, both on RBC’s and PayPal’s side.
Botton line: Yes, this really does work! Since last writing here, I have been able to connect my RBC USD eSavings account and transfer all my USD from my PayPal to my bank account, in fact, I just received all my moneys yesterday. Incredible feeling!
(Will, maybe including some of the steps from this and the older posts would help a lot of people having this issue out…)
yay, i called paypal and they were able to fix and confirm my account.
So i am received 2 small deposits and will try to transfer some!
Thank guys!
Hi Everyone, I figured out what is the problem. This method totally work. Follow every step from Wil’s post and one more thing is missing.
You will have to enter the 026004093 for the routing number for the RBC US branch.
Next step you will need to enter your bank account which is the combination of 5 digit transit number + bank number or bank institute number (RBC bank number is 003) + bank account number.
so if your branch number is 06032 and your bank account number is 1234567, this will be the number you have to enter
06032 003 1234567 (no space)
Hope this helps.
I just tried this method because I pulled out my cheque book, there is a cheque number, follow by branch number, follow by bank institute number, then the bank account number.
I believe the full bank account number that Paypal asked for is the combination of branch #, Institute # and the bank account #
Tried original method and it worked. I was able to connect the account hours I open the us esaving account
Hi Will,
Thanks for the Article. After reading it, I reached out to my bank (RBC) to get their advice on the direction I should take and if there were any additional resources available. Keep in mind that I have a business account, not personal. His suggestion was as follows:
“The best option that actually works is RBC express which is really just a package of services that is added to online banking including ACH services which allows clearance of PayPal and other US items.”
Thought this might be helpful to some readers who haven’t had any success using your method.
I tried the original method and it failed to even add the account without even giving an error. Not remembering the process from adding accounts in the past, I have been waiting for the 2 deposits. When I returned to Paypal tonight, I found it odd that they didn’t acknowledge the added account at all so I tried again. Same thing. But after adding the 003 between the transit and account number, it is pending confirmation.
Thanks Will and everyone to post useful info and sharing your experiences. I have been PayPal customer since 2005 but was always told that there is no option for this issue. Last week a friendly rep of Paypal advised the same to use the US routing number. But it didn’t work with my CIBC bank. Hence am now thinking to open eSaving account at RBC. Is this the only account to open? RBC expert advised me to open a saving account at RBC us to transfer USD from Paypal and then link it with eSaving account at RBC Canada to transfer the funds in Canada. Little confused??
Secondly, does anyone collects online payments on his website through PayPal? If yes, anyone tried with other payment collection company? If yes, how is the experience? I understand the companies like Chase offer very good rates with commission @ 2% – 2.4% only against PayPal’s 2.9%. And no issues of USD conversion.
damn, tried both RBC USD savings and chequings account and both times rejected. This is frustrating.
Thank you very much! I was in struggle but the solution with the frensh paypal help center worked for me.
After many calls to the english one they all told me that it was impossible to link either my RBC Canadian USD esaving account and my RBC US account. nevertheless, I tried with the french H.Center, I spoke with ‘Agath’ and she told me that ‘there is a FINANCIAL LOCK on my paypal account preventing me from linking my USD bank accounts. And that lock is on their side of the system’. So she suggested to remove the lock for 4 hours, just the time for me to link both accounts and they put it back. Finally, I could successfully link my accounts and send money to both of them.
Hope this help 🙂
I can confirm that this does work as of July 24 2015.
I am using a Canadian business paypal account with a RBC US Business deposit account. Make sure you use “Royal Bank of Canada“ for the bank name not RBC. I cant remember if i put the 003 bank code or not , but try one with and without.
I did have error messages before with saying i cannot add a bank account . I did call paypal about asking if it was possible to add a Canadian US account and they said it is not and that it must have been old information. They must have cleared the error because after that i was able to continue testing. So listen to this post , paypal customer service doesnt know anything.
I got the test deposits the next business day and then i withdrew some funds and received them in 1 business day. Might only be because i have a business account that i got the deposits so fast.
Thank you so much for the info…Both Will and you.
I’ve spent hours to solve this issue, and now I think it’s working. Like you, I have a US business account in Canada with RBC.
The first time, I called Paypal (French line) because I wasn’t able to link my account to Paypal. The guy did it manually, I thought it was OK, but every time I transfer US funds it get converted in CAD even if my account is in US??!!
I followed the steps and it seems to work, I’m now waiting to receive my small deposits and then voilà!
Hey.. Since you bank with TD, have you thought about opening a cross border banking account with TD? as canadian resident you can open USD account with TD in United States (it’s over the phone) , and then using cross border TD banking you can transfer money into canadian TD usd account……..
I just tried this and it worked. Only thing I did different was step 11:
11. For the account number, enter in the combination of the 5 digit transit number + bank number + your account number (for example, 06032 003 123456 with no spaces in between) [thanks Vi]
Instead of adding the 003 to the account number (that didn’t work), I just used the transit and account number 06032 123456.
Can anyone who has this working please tell me if you have successfully been able to transfer US funds FROM your RBC account TO your Paypal account (adding USD to your Paypal balance)?
I was able to set this up successfully for withdraws going from Paypal to RBC, but I have not tried going the other way, and I’m afraid it won’t work and Paypal might block my account if I try to do this. Can anyone confirm successfully transferring US funds INTO the Paypal account?
Thank you for this comprehensive guide! I did everything as instructed here. Opened up the US savings account and did this process. It apparently had gone through and I was waiting for the 2 deposits to come through so I could confirm the account, but two days later I get this email:
“The two deposits that PayPal sent to your bank account as part of the bank confirmation process were returned to us for the following reason:
Your bank reported a problem. Please contact your bank’s customer
service. If you still need assistance, you may contact us…”
Could this be the routing number suggested here that needs to be different?
Did anyone else run into this issue?
Thank you for the help!
I had this exact same issue. I went to my branch to ask what the problem was. She was an older lady who had no idea what Paypal was. She called someone for “expert advise” and all they could tell me is that this could only be done with a Canadian Paypal account. I thought Paypal.com was a US based account. There is no Paypal.ca so I don’t know if my account is Canadian or US??? I’m really lost now!
I just tried it with and without the “003” and got the error message “Cannot add a bank at this time”. I’ve had my Paypal since 2003 but my RBC US esavings account is fairly new so I will try again tomorrow.
I contacted Paypal and they did something to my account where I was finally able to add an account but could not confirm it because the two deposits where returned with the same message Pedro M. received:
The two deposits that PayPal sent to your bank account as part of the bank confirmation process were returned to us for the following reason:
Your bank reported a problem. Please contact your bank’s customer
service. If you still need assistance, you may contact us…”
Hi,
Thanks for the tips. i just tried, seems to work.
I’m waiting for the two transfers.
Did you get the deposits?
Yes I got them.
Good! I’m waiting for mine.
Worked for me but without the bank number 003 as Meisam suggested.
Thanks for the tip.
Worked for me after I took out the 003 from the number. Got the deposits.
But to my dismay, I tried to transfer some money from the US Savings to the Paypal account and after a few days got the message “Failed Transaction” !!! =(((
Has anyone been able to transfer from the US Sav to Paypal account?
Worked great for me. Thank you for posting this. My banker told me that it’s not possible to send money from this account to paypal, only paypal to the account. Great to find something that works and saves us $$!
PS I also got this error message, however the deposits were made and I’ve since transferred money from Paypal to the RBC account with no problem.
“The two deposits that PayPal sent to your bank account as part of the bank confirmation process were returned to us for the following reason:
I have been trying to set this up for a couple of weeks. First tried with a CIBC USD account and it failed. Then found these instructions, opened the new accounts with RBC, and have had no success. Paypal will not create the account link with the routing numbers indicated. I tried and then after the first attempt I started to get the response “you cannot add an account at this time”. When I spoke to their support they told me the account number had been previously linked to a paypal account. Contacted RBC, and had a new account created, and closed the first. Tried to add it exactly as you have described. First attempt failed with invalid account information, then I started to get “you cannot add an account at this time” when I tried the various methods described.
Hi,
I used this workaround on Friday, September 4th and noticed that there were 2 small deposits from PayPal on the following Tuesday to my RBC account. It seemed to work using the bank # (3 digits) & the account # (no spaces, yet my account number is 7 digits instead of 6). It took a few business days like they said it would. My PayPal account was created in 2010. Also, it took me a long time to get “verified”. I tried it Wednesday, September 2nd and PayPal kept saying they couldn’t verify my PayPal account. I left it and tried it again on Friday and it seemed to work. Maybe they have glitches in the system so that’s why some people are having difficulties. Not sure. I did do a transfer request to get my funds out of PayPal and into my account. I did it on the Tuesday that the deposits showed up and they appeared on the following Friday, September 11th. I have not tried the reverse (from the account and deposited into PayPal). I really thank-you all for your help!!
Thanks for this post, took me two tries to link the RBC account but entering the transit number and then bank account was what worked for me.
When trying to add the account online I kept getting the unable to add account at this time error but was able to overcome this by using PayPals automated phone system. Used the routing number as posted above.
Account two business days to receive PayPal’s deposits but they did arrive!
Thanks again!
Hi Will, Big thanks for laying out the info on the matter. Just my another 2 cents on USD/CAD conversion. My suggession might be only valid for a small number of people, but anyway, if you have a Interactive Brokers account, you can transfer your USD to IB USD account (free of charge) convert your USD to CAD using spot rate – The rate at the moment 24/7 for USD$2.5 and then transfer it back to your CAD account, it takes couple days back and forth but it’s worth it if you have a large sum of USD to convert, say > 10K. You saved about CAD$500 (5%)
Thanks for the info.
This worked for me.
It also took two tries for me. When u used the transit + bank + account, the PayPal deposits did not go through and PayPal send an email saying that the bank could not make the transaction.
When I used the transit + account, the two PayPal deposits were received, but PayPal still emailed me saying the bank could not complete the transaction and removed the account. I called PayPal and told them the two deposits were received. They reconnected the account and asked the amount of the two deposits to verify the account. It’s was then active. Being a little nervous, I tested it by transferring $5 USD. The translocation was completed in 2 days.
Thanks again
Great to see more and more people with success. Thanks for reporting in. Still can’t believe there’s no proper solution for this for EVERYONE.
Can someone tell me if this will work with business accounts?
As far as I know it should but do let us know if it does or doesn’t.
I’m currently trying with my business account (in USD, with RBC) I’ll let you know, OK?
Can confirm this works but had to modify step 9. Account type should be Savings, i changed to checking and it worked
Thanks for confirming Danny!
Okay let me advice everyone having the same issue first of all trying using the latest Google Chrome, If that doesn’t work then call the french Help Line 1-855-477-1170 just keep pressing 0 till you get someone to talk with. They will fix you asap
Thank you so much Will for being so resourceful. I tried everything and now am waiting for the desposits to be sent to my bank account – one quick Q, why are we using the specific US routing number? Is that the only one available for use?
Hi Will,
I just added my RBC e-saving us account to paypal last week. Paypal said that they have sent me 2 test deposits. The problem is that my RBC e-saving account never shows the two deposits until today.
Any one has the same problems？
Hey Lori,
I have the RBC e-saving US account too. What did you do specifically to even add the account to your Canadian Paypal? Did you end up having to call Paypal at all to get e-savings connected properly?
Hey Kim, I didn’t have to go through the route of calling Paypal. I was able to connect my RBC e-savings account to my Paypal account and got the two deposits accordingly.
Seems to vary wildly from people to people.
when you choose the bank, don’t click the banks paypal provided but use “others” option. It will allow you add RBC esaving us account.
Oh man, used the “others” option and still getting that error “cannot add bank at this time”…been researching for days other options to receive payments!
oh. sorry to hear that. I guess, paypal changed their policy again. I just did last week.
Hey, thought I’d chime in and see if anyone could offer any more help on this.
Just called Paypal with the script that Dominik offered (thanks so much Dominik!). Lady on the line said that I should open a US Paypal account and connect the RBC US esavings to that one. Got off the phone and realized that my account IS from Paypal.com.
What else should I say to get that “setting” changed on my account?
Hi Kim,
as I read another posts, you don’t need to open a US Paypal account. What you need to do is to open a US based account. As far as I researched, a TD cross-border account may work. I am going to try to open a TD cross-border account and see if it works.
Lory
You “technically” need a US address for a US paypal account. .com means nothing your account is classified by your home address used.
So there are no solutions to withdraw from an RBC US account into Paypal? I have a BMO harris account in the US but it is such a pain in the a*** to wire it over there and then withdraw. I have to pay a lot of people in USD and Paypal is super annoying.
Hello.
Anyone been able to speak to Jennifer recently?
I tried to talk to her, but the person in the french department didn’t know any Jennifer.
It’s been few weeks I try to add those accounts, without success.
I’m in Province of Quebec, if it have anything to do.
I tried both with 003, and without, no success, checking & saving account as well.
Hi Will,
Do you know if it is possible to withdraw cash from RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account?
Thanks,
Tom
Hey Tom,
Yeah you definitely can. My RBC guy helped me set up a debit card despite me not having any other account and while I still don’t really use the ATM, I go up to the teller and withdraw whatever amount I need in USD. The only thing you need to be aware of with the eSavings account is that you only get 1 free withdrawal a month. That means you need to be a little strategic in when you withdraw money and how much at a time.
Just confirmed. I am able to set up my RBC USD e-saving account with paypal and transfer USD to my RBC account successfully. I did the transaction on October 15 and received it on October 19, 2015.
Hi Will,
Thanks for the info. I went to the teller and withdrew cash in USD from US eSavings account since it is not accessible from ATM.
Tom
***Update***
I was able to connect one my USD $ account, the one that allows 6 operations per month.
I will give update when the eSavings account will be connected too.
I did use this paypal phone number 1-877-569-1116 instead of PayPal regular phone number.
This number was given to me as I tried to reach Jennifer, but wasn’t able to talk to her.
Thank you very much for this information!
I have an old paypal account and an existing RBC USD business account. I was able to link them together and transfer USD directly to it this week: in October 2015.
For the account number I just used the transit and account numbers (without the 3-digit bank number). No phone calls were required. 🙂
Hey, great news! Just confirmed. I called the French line again and Mourad got me set-up in 2 minutes. I just added my RBC USD e-saving account with paypal. Now just waiting for the deposits. Yay! What I did:
Called the French Department at 1-855-477-1170 (this was my third try)
Spoke to Mourad, he changed a setting in my account
Added my RBC e-savings account under Chequing (didn’t work under Savings)
No 3-digit bank number
Will let you know when the deposits arrive.
Thanks everyone for your help 😀
I have an older paypal account (pre-2007) and I just tried moving PayPal USD to RBC E-USD savings and the transfer was smooth. I didn’t use the bank # and had no issues nor any need to talk to customer service. Glad I found this post, thanks.
Can’t believe how difficult this is.
Tried to hook up Payoneer (first century bank) and got the “you can’t do this at this time crap”. Ended up calling and was told that all Routing numbers are not allowed for Canadians — of course they don’t seem to know what they’re talking about.
Question:
Is the only obstacle here to remove the security block by calling? As in will all US bank accounts work if we can get someone to do this manually for us, or is there something particularly special about RBC?
I’d rather use payoneer if possible.
I wish I could help on this front with Payoneer but as far as I know, the only thing that works for Canadians is the RBC $USD accounts.
Glad you got use out of the solution and my post from a few years back.
Thank YOU! This has definitely helped a lot of folks here. At first, this was really meant to be for other travel bloggers that face the same issues but looks like there are way more people that need help with this. It’s frustrating that neither Paypal or the Canadian banks have made this process any easier after all these years. What gives??
Thank you so much Will for your very informative post. You saved my life!
Just so everyone can be updated, I opened a US Dollar Business Checking account at RBC, followed basically everything ended up calling french customer support they helped but it still failed but after a few tries of getting the deposits rejected I finally have my account linked to paypal successfully so it does work with brand new RBC USD accounts it just takes some time and patience to get working.
Thanks to everyone who posted on here to help me get this working.
Awesome man! Thanks a lot! For me the Transit Number and Account Number worked together. Of course also require the Routing Number you listed above.
I kept getting “Unable to add bank account at this time”. Call the paypal business support and they are able to do something and it will work. Some people don’t know how to get rid of this error, call back again and get someone different. There is a direct number also. I will post that number later.
Just call the Paypal and ask them to get transferred to “Business Account Support Team” right of the bat and then even some people from that team say “It’s not going to work”. But tell them YES it works, lots of people has set it up and it works for them. Or just call back in and try again.
Thanks once again. This is great!
Thanks so much for that information!
I have a RBC CAD/USD chequing account, and was wondering how to link my USD to my PayPal Account. The routing number worked.
Thank you for the info. I have a Scotia USD ACCOUNT with a routing number. Will it work with Scotia bank?
Hi Connie! Unfortunately no. The only thing that works in Canada is with RBC.
seriously?? Scotiabank will not work at all???? I’m beside myself trying to make this work right now.
Hey Darlene, sorry unfortunately I’ve only heard that this works for RBC. I hear ya because I’m with TD and would have rather not have opened an account with another bank JUST for this. That being said, it’s awesome that I have this linked up now 🙂
do you know if this still works? I’ve heard some people say this no longer works?
Yeah it definitely still works!
Have you tried with Scotia Bank? I need to pass balance from PayPal to my USD scotiaBank account.
I followed the instructions but Paypal gives me this message, You can’t add a bank account at this time.
Hey This worked. Dude you are a hero. Rarely do you find an in depth article like this that is kept up to date. And the comments are so helpful. So here is what worked on Nov 24th, 2015.
Add Account
Select US as country
Type “Royal Bank of Canada“ as bank (Without Quotation marks)
Select Savings Account
026004093 as Routing Number
My Account number I copied directly from my RBC Online Banking account. It looked like this. 08340-1234567
Yes I even left the dash in and it worked.
It took me to a page asking me to verify by receiving a text message.
Immediately received the text message (Voice phone call was also an option).
Once verified It went through saying they would make the deposits.
If you don’t hear from me, it Worked all the way through! Or I died in some horrible accident! I will try report back what happens.
Either way. This has been really helpful. Not sure of the inconsistencies but yea play with it and see how it goes.
Thanks again so much for your help!
Hey Matt! Awesome that this worked out and thank you for reiterating what steps you went through. Very helpful comment 😀
Hi Will,
Thank you very much for this information. I tried it with the Trasit + Bank + Account number, but the account was removed from PayPal after a few days. I have now tried with the Transit + Account. Hopefully, it works this time. I do have one question though? Now, what if you have a business account, either with your bank or PayPal, then how does it work for taxes if you have a business PayPal account and then you transfer the money into RBC eSavings which is basically a personal account.
Since you have a blog and my assumptions is you are earning a business income, so does it matter when it comes to taxes if you get all the USD money transfer into your personal RBC eSavings? Anyone else care to chime in as well?
Hey Tony,
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Taxes wise, I think regardless of which type of account it’s going into, you’re going to have to report it. That’s how I’ve been doing it. That being said, I don’t have a business PayPal account and I don’t have a business banking account either.
Check with your account about the deposits.
I am set up with a numbered corporation and I would assume that as long as only business income is being deposited in that account it will satisfy the account and Revenue Canada. If you are not incorporated I doubt it would matter much since it is all being lumped into your personal return.
Should be “accountant”. Funny Google auto correct.
I did this about 5 years ago and it has worked perfectly ever since IF I TRANSFER USD FROM PAYPAL TO MY RBC ACCOUNT. However I have tried to transfer USD from this same RBC account to my Paypal account (reverse) but I haven’t been able to do it. Anyone have any experience getting this to work in reverse?? Thanks
That’s a good question. I’ve never thought of doing the reverse. Anyone else here have any thoughts on this?
Hi Will,
I asked a question above regarding a RBC business account. I will appreciate if I can get a reply.
Thank you
No, buying things with PayPal with USD $ from an RBC account doesn’t work.
However, if you sell on ebay or with PayPal, you can keep your hard earned USD $, in your RBC account.
Hi Will, can you confirm that this method of linkin RBC esavings account to paypal still works as of December 2, 2015? Thank you
I did it a week ago. It worked. Follow the instructions.
Hi Bob, yes if you go through some of the comments you’ll see that a lot of people have tried this recently and it has worked.
Hey Will, Thanks for the super helpful article – definitely glad there is a resources such as this for a problem that seems way to common but somehow not well addressed by either PayPal or the Canadian banks and that they are so clueless.
I’ve tried using the above methods with the routing number and the account number with and without the 003 with no luck – I keep getting “You cannot add a bank at this time”. I assume this is because I need the setting people have referred to changed. Anyone have any idea what this setting is? I’ve talked to multiple call center people and nobody seems to know. I’ve also asked them to transfer to the French line and been on the hold line for over an hour. Also the direct number to the French line doesn’t seem to work anymore.
Extremely frustrating experience and hoping someone can help me out here 🙂
Hi Folks,
I have the RBC saving account confirmed in my PayPal account, but each time i am trying to transfer money to the RBC it fails after 3 or 4 days. I called paypal and they told me that it is due to the account is suspended, but i called RBC and they confirmed that the account is active.
Did anyone face same problem before ??
Hey guys! I’ve been following this thread with great interest. I wonder, how hard is it for Canadians to open a bank account in the US? Do we need proof of employment and residency there? A friend of mine in Vancouver was able to open a bank account across the border (I think in Point Roberts, Washington) just by saying that she goes shopping in Seattle all the time and visits her family in the area. Anyone tried this method?
Since this is such a huge issue for many, I thought I would share. I normally don’t comment.
I did try the method, and I got the account linked, I got the two deposits, and I have now transferred my money.
However the final step to ensure it all works is to receive the money. Will let you guys know later when the money comes in a few days.
you mention a 2.5% fee but after receiving USD from a company i work for…i transferred it to my canadian bank account which automatically converted it to canadian and there was no fee…i received all my funds at the proper USD – CAD exchange rate.
What gives? I mean, this is a good thing but is it only when dealing with high amounts of $$$? It was a low amount..
Hi Matt, it depends on how the money is sent to you. I’ve worked with numerous companies where they send money the standard way (as if sending to a friend) and a fee does get deducted.
When doing the conversion, the fee is built into the rate itself so if you compare the conversion rate you see from XE.com and the rate you actually got, you’ve lost money there as well.
Why does it have to be the RBC US high interest esavings account. What if i want to make an RBC us checking account so i can do online shopping with it in USD and just put the US routing number and follow the same steps.
can this be done with a different account than the one shown to be used? by putting in the US routing number?
Hello,
I just successfully added a Royal Bank USA Checking account to my paypal account using this info.
The routing number I used is different than indicated in this article, I called RBC Georgia and was told the routing number is 063216608. I used that plus my checking account following the instructions in this article and it worked within 2 days.
Hi Harold,
Did you put bank code between your transit number and account number like xxxxx003xxxxx? I just tried your routing number with my RBC USD checking account it doesn’t work tho.
Harlod, so you are saying the routing number listed in incorrect? Should I use that new routing number?
Regards.
John,
The routing number Harold is referring to is for RBC Bank USA/Georgia accounts not for the US High Interest eSavings account which the guide is based on. The former is an actual USA based account, the latter is a US currency account based in Canada.
Harold
At first I was using the routing # of the receiving bank
And then I found the routing # you mentioned belongs to Beneficiary Bank:
RBC Bank 8081 Arco Corporate Drive
Raleigh, NC 27617
ABA / Fedwire or Routing Number: 063216608
I am trying this and hopefully it will work
At first I was using the routing # of the receiving bank
The info listed below:
https://www.rbcbank.com/siteassets/Uploads/pdfs/file-777558.pdf
By the way guys, It seems like the routing number listed in guide is incorrect. It seems like 063216608 is the routing number for RBC US Bank. I will try in both routing number and will update if this works.
Regards.
This may be a new change. As far as I know, the routing number I used still works but please do update us when you try this out.
I thought this will easily be solved, but no matter how much I tried and called Paypal, RBC about this issue, it doesnt seems to be fixed at all for some reason. I will give it more try, if that still doesn’t work I might have to give up on this.
I just tried the first method (which includes the bank number) and it did not work. I am trying again without the bank number.
I am curious about the other routing number posted in recent comments.
Worked on second attempt using only transit number and account number along with the listed routing number 026004093 (omitted the 3 digit bank number)
But now the name on the account in paypal is my business name, and my business name is not on my RBC account… so I’ll see what happens when I do an actual deposit.
Hi everyone,
I discovered a really nice solution for this problem.
I have a few regular accounts with RBC, one CAD and one USD.
I called 1-800-769-2553, which is the RBC is U.S.A.
They set up a chequings account for me on the U.S.A side within 15 minutes.
I received a separate login for their online banking, and then they helped me to link my Canadian RBC accounts with American RBC account within online banking. Now I can make transfers between them in seconds.
And, Paypal accepted the RBC U.S.A account without issues, of course.
I did not need an american address, this is a special service for Canadians by RBC.
Try it!
You can also get a credit card from american RBC as well.
None of the solutions are working for me. Opened up the exact account listed in the guide, tried with and without the three digit banking number, and also tried both routing numbers (the one in the guide and the one in recent comments).
So… I guess PayPal is no longer allowing this?
This is all very straightforward, so I’m not sure why it isn’t working.
OMG, I finally did it. The guy named “Mike” in an account specialist was able to do this for me while other couldn’t. He knows a lot of this stuff. I’ve been trying to figure this problem for week and im so happy this actually worked 🙂
I got approved yesterday (confirmed the two deposit amounts) then tried a withdrawal from my RBC account to put into my paypal balance. It looks like it was all set up! Said it was successfully linked! BUT then I then got an email from paypal today saying that there was a problem (below). I’ve tried to re-add, but now it cannot complete my request. :FACK. thought i had it! any suggestions?
On Dec 28, 2015, we attempted to transfer from your bank account ending in x-xx94. We received an automated response from your bank informing us that they could not complete the transfer.
As a result, we have removed this bank account from your PayPal account.
To re-add this bank account to your PayPal account, please confirm with your bank that all information is correct. Alternatively, you can add another bank account.
Any further luck with this issue? I have run into the same problem.
People in the thread have reported that the transfer is one way. Re add the account and just use it for deposits to the RBC account.
anyone else still getting that error message that “You cannot add a bank at this time”
i’ve tried to open a regular cdn account. sitll same message. i’ve changed the routing number as previous post suggested. same error.
my account was open in 2008. any other suggestions?
Hey all,
I just succeeded linking PayPal with RBC eSavings US$. I did not use the ‘003’. I did have lots of trouble because:
– I first requested the RBC account online, and it required me to go to a branch to have it finalized,
– The branch representative forgot to remove a seemly unimportant message from my account saying that I needed to go to a branch. She also insisted I needed a regular CAD$ account to be able to do anything (this ended up being false),
– Because of the message, the account would not accept electronic fund transfers,
– PayPal phone representatives would only tell me that they can only send Canadian dollars to Canadian banks,
– RBC phone representatives would insist I can only transfer money using Interac eTransfer, but two of them did suggest the message could be the issue, and it was.
Hello Felipe,
How long did it take you to receive the test funds? I’ve been waiting a day and haven’t seen anything appear. Thanks!
It took about 2 business days for the transfer to appear in RBC.
It took about 5 business days for the transfer to fail (be returned by RBC) when the account was blocking them.
One way to be sure that the problem isn’t the RBC account is to first try to link it with Tangerine, that way you eliminate the doubt that something’s wrong in the PayPal side (like wrong routing number or account number).
Has anyone successfully transferred funds from the RBC USD account to PayPal?
I haven’t been able to. If you find a way please let me know!! Thx
Hi Guys,
I would like to share my experience as an existing Royal Bank client. I called the 1800 number and the customer service agent was able to set up my High Interest US esavings account in minutes. It did not require for me to go to my home branch in person to complete the registration. I bet that I could have done it myself online but I needed to get the routing number so I decided to do it over the phone.
The agent asked me why I need the routing number for and I told her that it is for Paypal and wire transfer. The routing number she provided to me is 026004093.
Just as a precaution, since the account is just opened, I thought I add my new US account to my Canadian Pay Pal (2014 or last year I think) tomorrow. I will keep you posted if I succeeded.
I successfully completed the link between PayPal and the RBC account this week using the methods outlined above. I also successfully transferred money from PayPal to my eSavings US account
Can confirm that this method still works (tried first with the ‘003’ and did not succeed, then tried without the ‘003’ and succeeded). Able to successfully transfer funds from Paypal to RBC after that.
It just worked! I entered 026004093 as routing number and I did not use the ‘003’.
Hi , I opened RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings online and the account was active in 1 business day. Tried both routing numbers in paypal but still getting the message ” You cannot add a bank at this time.”.
Can anybody help please
Okay, so this appears to have worked for me. I still haven’t made my first transfer (still waiting on the deposits into the account) but I definitely was able to link the account.
Here’s what I did:
1. Called French PayPal at 1 (855) 477-1170 They solved the problem for me in two seconds. I speak French, so it wasn’t an issue to communicate. I guess if other people do this they might have to ask if they speak English. Surely there is somebody who does, although you may have to wait a bit longer if they have to transfer you to another agent.
When I was adding the account, I used the new RBC U.S. routing number. This is 063216608.
I entered my transit number and then my account number. I did NOT add the 003.
Hope this helps somebody! I’ll update when I make my first transfer to confirm that everything is running as it should be.
I am also trying (and failing to add this).
My paypal rep I was speaking to told me even if the I can connect the bank, it is unlikely I can actually deposit using this method.
Anyone been able to deposit successfully from their paypal account to bank?
Hey Jake, I would try calling back to talk to a more experienced rep or do what some others here have done which is call the French reps. I had success with this when I wrote this and I would say half of the others have been successful. I have not been able to figure out why some have luck and why others don’t.
Thanks Will. The last rep I spoke to told me it was impossible and I said my only option was to close my paypal and stop dealing with paypal, and the rep agreed!
Called back, got another rep, connected my account again. Hopefully the deposits go through.
I used 063216608 and did not add 003, hopefully it works. I will update in any case.
Jake, the representatives in general know nothing of this trick. PayPal thinks that only Canadian dollars can be transferred to Canadian Banks, and RBC representatives usually think they only accept Interac as electronic transfers.
The only thing they can help you with is the “You cannot add a bank right now” kind of message, because that’s a safeguard in PayPal they can work around.
If you’re having problems transferring from PayPal to RBC:
– Don’t use the ‘003’ (you already did).
– Double-check the numbers. Routing has to be the US one, 026004093, and account must be branch+account (you gotta correct that).
– Check with RBC if third party deposits is enabled for your eSavings US account. The branch representative changed that for me.
– Check with RBC if your eSavings US account has any warning messages like ‘you have to go to a branch to complete your registration’. That was my last blocking issue. When this message is there the account seems to work fine but it won’t receive EFTs.
Good luck,
Felipe
Okay, glad to see your comment Felipe, thanks. It failed for me again when I tried 063216608 with 003.
Tomorrow, I’ll call to have my third party deposits unlocked and retry setting up paypal using 026004093 for the routing number.
Hopefully this works, third time is a charm.
(side note: One rep told me it was impossible, I spoke to her manager who also told me it was impossible. We ended call, I called back, got a rep who helped out immediately. Keep trying if you aren’t having luck as Will mentioned)
I am going to try your method.
I am about to receive USD to my Paypal account. Paypal reps tell me that USD funds will be changed to CAD because I have a Canadian Paypal account.
Will the USD payment from my client be automatically changed to CAD in my Paypal account? Do I have to anything special to prevent this?
I want to keep the USD funds USD and try your method.
i gave up on the esavings and just opened a USD money market account.. it does the same thing and its super easy to hook it up to paypal as well
I looked at this and then read the review seeing that it may not be working. Currently I live in Canada *from the us* Being so I have a US paypal account and continue to use it because US is worth more than CAD so gg. I found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p5xrgpR7CE
and the routing number there worked with a normal checking account through RBC and it worked through to the pending 2-3 days step. So now I am just waiting on Paypal to send the 2 payments to the bank account and if they do I hope that I simply do as the steps say and enter the amounts in and bam I got a RBC Canadian bank linked with a US paypal.
Hello Guys,
The Royal Bank of Canada and RBC Georgia located in the USA are 2 different banks. The above solution goes for The Royal Bank of Canada but for RBC Georgia you have to use this RN : 063216608 then the Account Number (without transit or bank code because it’s located in the US) and for the bank name : RBC BANK (GA)
Let me know if it works.
This procedure worked for me without any problems. I was not previously an RBC customer. I walked into the local branch on Friday morning, told the rep exactly what I needed and why. I was all setup in less than 30 minutes. On saturday morning I added the 5 digit transit number + Bank account number (no branch #) into Paypal as described above. The two small deposits were in my RBC account by Monday afternoon. I entered the amounts into Paypal to verify my account and success! Thanks for the information!
WOOHOO ! My Canadian Paypal account now acknowledges that it has an american account linked to it . I am trying now to transfer USD from my USD RBC account to my USD Paypal balance . USD Shopping , here I come! Goodbye sucky exchange rate!
If anyone is keeping score, I just settled a USD PayPal invoice by directly drawing from my USD RBC Bank Account. This is a step forward.
Nope didn’t work. PayPal used my backup source to settle the bill after all . Grrrr.
The sad fast continues.
I tried Will’s method and it worked.
Just two things to keep an eye on:
1) Make sure you open the correct account, which is the RBC U.S. High Interest eSaving account.
2) In step 11 for the account number, I put in the transit number plus my RBC U.S. High Interest eSaving account number.
I connected my account on December 26th, 2015 and by December 28, I was able to transfer my entire PayPal USD balance to my RBC account.
Also, if you bank with Tangerine, consider opening their US Dollar Savings Account and transfer your USD from RBC to them. RBC’s U.S. High Interest eSaving account currently has a 0.15% interest rate while Tangerine US Dollar Savings Account is at 0.25%.
Best of luck!
I have linked my account with the method mentioned above with 003. Called Paypal and was told the 2 small deposits was sent yesterday (Jan 28th). I am just wondering that how long does it take to have these 2 small deposits to show up on my bank so that I can go back to Paypal to confirm the account?
I am so grateful for coming across this! I opened the RBC US high savings account this morning and was able to add it into my Paypal Wallet with no issue – just followed all instructions above 🙂
I am waiting for the small deposits to come through so hopefully that goes smoothly as well!
would this not be then considered and off shore account, that all tranactions in and out of your pay pal and us account be monitored.
Will’s method worked.
1) Jan 26th. Added RBC account to Paypal last week with routing # 026004093
Transit # + Bank # (003) + account #
I was able to link the US account to Paypal and I called Paypal and confirmed that the 2 small deposit has been sent. 2 days later, I got 2 emails from Paypal about the 2 small deposits has been rejected from my bank account, and my US account has been removed from Paypal.
2) Feb 1st, I added the RBC US account again to Paypal WITHOUT 003, and I just got 2 small deposits from Paypal on my RBC (Feb 2nd, yes only took one day) and confirmed my account in Paypal.
I am transferring rest of my money to RBC now, YES, NO more exchange rate. YAHOOOO
OMG MAN! I failed in the first try but in the second try it worked. I really appreciate for making this and saving my life from those converting fees. I followed exactly what you mentioned and open the RBC account. I used the transit and account number and it worked. 🙂
I did this a little differently. I setup a direct checking account with RBCbank.com which is the US subsidiary of royal bank canada. Despite having a different website and login, this account connects to the canadian online banking for RBC and you can transfer funds between the US and Canadian accounts online with a few clicks of a button.
I managed to hook it up to my paypal account with minimal issue. Online it said, “cannot add account at this time.” So I called paypal to get them to add it, but they did it no problem once I did get in contact with them. Waited a day for the two deposits that paypal puts in the bank account for the verification and it came through. I just withdrew $20 USD to my US account, will let you know what happens.
It worked! the $20 USD appeared in my RBCbank.com bank account!
Great article and lots of helpful tips from comments! Here’s a question for you guys:
Let’s assume I can successfully link my RBC USD account to paypal (failed last time but I’m going to try again). As a Canadian, can I use my USD account to pay someone in the States – through Paypal- in US dollar without getting hit by foreign exchange conversions?
I just want to make sure the USD funds I am sending doesn’t get converted to CAD along the way and then possibly converted back to USD at the destination!
Your help in answering the question is much appreciated.
Hey Lili, yes you can definitely pay someone in the native USD that’s being held in Paypal. I’ve done this a number of times.
Absolutely!!! Do it all the time…
Hey Guys,
If it doesn’t work, call the paypal french direct line. They fixed it for me no problem. There’s definitely a block on your paypal account if you aren’t able to add the RBC USD account.
cheers!
I just tried your method and so far so good. Got the ‘Unconfirmed Deposits Pending” status so lets hope the test deposits show up.
I thought Id have to open a US bank account and RBC US branch (which can be done through a Canadian RBC) to be able to get the funds out in USD to a USD account. But then Id have a second client card etc, and I dont NEED a US based account, just the funds in USD.
Managed to get everything setup. Used routing number #026004093 and my branch/transit+account number. Did not use the 003 (institution number).
Thanks to this article, I’m happy to say that I got my PayPal business account connected to my USD business chequing account this week. I basically followed the instructions here but to clarify my experience, it would appear that the key part is having a USD account as opposed to specifically having the high interest USD e-savings account. As well, the account number should be the transit number + account number. In my case, having ‘003’ between the two didn’t work. And lastly, yes, using the correct routing number, ‘026004093’.
Setting this up wasn’t without some challenges. When I first tried to add the account, it wanted to send me a text message to confirm and none of my phone numbers were current. When I updated my contact numbers, those numbers were no longer available in the dropdown to confirm the account. The remaining number was a supposed ‘customer support’ number for my business which I guess at one point in time you could update (but no longer seem to be able to). So, I got on the phone with PayPal and they updated the number. I tried to add the account again and I got the error that a number of people have talked about here: “Unable to add a bank at this time.” My account, turns out, was created back in 2003 which would corroborate other people’s experience here that older accounts seem to work ‘out of the box’ and newer accounts need attention. When PayPal updated my ‘customer support’ number, no doubt flags were set to defaults that more recent accounts have which for whatever reason result in this error.
So, I got back on the phone with PayPal. I didn’t call France, just via the support number on the site. I simply said that I’m trying to add a bank account and it’s not letting me. The guy asked me to hold and a few minutes later asked me to try again and sure enough I was able to add the account. I actually went through this three times and each time the PayPal rep knew how to fix the problem. I connected two accounts, one at RBC Bank and the other my business chequing account at the Royal Bank of Canada. The third instance (which was actually the first attempt) I had tried to link my esavings account and it failed, I can only assume because I had the ‘003’ between the transit number and account number.
Anyway, very pleased to have gotten this setup. Thanks to everyone posting their experience. If anyone has any questions or would like clarification I’d be happy to try and answer/clarify.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Just one thing.. You said ” it would appear that the key part is having a USD account as opposed to specifically having the high interest USD e-savings account.”
Are you saying we should open RBC USD account, NOT high interest USD e-savings like the article says, in order for this work?
Please clarify this part.
Thank you in advance.
Hey John, I would recommend the high interest USD e-savings account. I believe this gives you 1 free withdrawal a month which for me is enough as an intermediate USD account in Canada.
Hey John, what I meant to say was that Will’s instructions should work with any RBC USD account. In my case the personal USD e-savings account wasn’t ideal only because I wanted this for my business. So, yeah, if you’re doing this for yourself personally, as Will said, it’s a great option.
I tried setting this up again after months and months of not working and it worked! I did what the people above me mentioned and did not use ‘003’
Now I do have another question, how long does it take the USD from Paypal to your Bank to transfer?
usually about 3days…been doing it for about 5 years…
I just tried a bunch of times trying all the above mentioned approaches with no success.
I called Paypal and the technician said he had to make an ‘update’ on his end. After this update he walked me through the same process online, and it worked (using transit and account… not the 003).
I asked him what he did, and he said it was a security update because they have an automatic stop on their system for this kind of thing… because I’m guessing they have had a lot of fraudulent attempts. So try calling them! I used the English help line in Canada.
Just to clarify, this account now doesn’t require you to go to the bank and ask about Online banking? In the description of the product it states that Online Banking is FREE.
Online banking should be free but in order to get online banking, you need an access card with RBC. My bank rep was able to make it work for me.
OH MY GOD!! I am right about to kiss you.
I have spent the last WEEK on the phone with Paypal representatives to face brick walls everytime, NOBODY knew how to do this!
So here’s my experience, hoping it can help other members :
First of all, as you know, adding it from Canada will not work. Also, I have trying logging online through Paypal to my online banking access (I’m a long-time customer with RBC), and managed to link the bank account, but the funds were still trying to going through as CAD (and going through the Paypal conversion rate).
Trying too many times in a row puts a limitation on your account. It happened to my account, and I had to give Paypal a call (the 5th this week, it was my 14th representative) for them to unlock my account.
For some reason, adding a US bank account triggers the security. Everytime I tried to follow the steps, I had to verify the account somehow, with an automated call or SMS, because they “did not recognize my browser”. I have been using the same browser (no cookie cleaning, no VPN, nothing) to login the same way for weeks, and never had any such verification to do. I also didn’t have this verification when trying to add a canadian bank account.
Finally, for the account number, I can confirm that just the transit and account number together works (adding the – 003 – bank number actually got my account limited; or maybe it was the quantity of attempts) perfectly, after a verification of identity.
I’m now waiting for the two small deposits, and will update as soon as I get them. When trying to add the account with the bank account, I had an immediate error blocking me to continue, so I’m pretty sure this is going to work.
Also, when getting the limitation off my account (took a couple of seconds, really, Paypal was very understanding), I took the liberty of guiding the employee to this link, which he ended up showing (I think) to his supervisor.
I’ve noticed a big upgrade in the quality of customer service in the past couple of years in Paypal, with employees being far more polite, cooperative and understanding as they were 4-5 years ago. I know it isn’t our job, but showing them this blog can help them help people like us (if that makes sense) when we didn’t know how to do it. Anyways, just an idea thrown out there.
Thanks infinitely, both for the article and for the comments, I had been working on this for many days and eventually gave up before I found this blog.
Have a great day, I hope it can help many other people.
Oh wow! What an ordeal. Thanks so much for sharing that information about everything that you went through.
Yes it looks like the removal of 003 is what’s needed now so I will have to make that update.
The frustrating part about all of this is that everyone seems to have a different experience. It was relatively easy for me while for someone like you it sounds like quite the nightmare!
I’m glad that this article helped.
Oh no trust me Mr. Tang, I’M the one who’s glad this article helped!
And I know, I’ve had dealings in the past with a similar problem with RBC’s US branch (last summer when I did a trip to the US), and it wasn’t nearly as difficult to coordinate RBC and PayPal, the bank actually offered to help me through it, and had someone very well versed in that specific problem.
Since I had spammed PayPal with messages about this (quite literally, I’m afraid), I still had a couple of incoming messages, e-mails and phone calls about the subject some days after writing this. I made sure to link all of them back to this blog, and suggested that they try and give a fast training about the subject, if they have the necessary ressources, especially if their customer service is specifically to help canadians.
I’m still baffled that something that probably most of us use, especially when our dollar is so low, is still so misunderstood from the very people selling the method to us.
Anyways, to not make another rant about this story, I’ll just make this short : You helped me save weeks of business and frustration, and you deserve much more recognition for it than you currently get. Thanks infinitely.
Oh, sorry for double-post, I forgot to add that my account is now verified after getting the two small deposits, and I’m currently in the process of making a test-drive withdrawal!
Had a email from paypal asking me is IRS tax number, when I login to my account a message pop up saying is your account a USA business please provide your social insurance number and tax number, it had anther option if this is not USA account check the option, what’s up with this are they coming for me, worried !!!
I’d love to know about this too. I already have TD and CIBC and it’s annoying having to create another bank account for this only but it will be the only way so far so I hope this is not another issue with this transferring method.
Asked this before but Will has anyone responded regarding transferring USD from the RBC account BACK INTO paypal? Would still love to know if this is a possibility…
Please do not remove the 003 part, make it as option 2 I had it all set up and paypal removed the bank account -.- now I try re setting it up and it would not let me… tried 003 had to confirm it was me thru phone. then tried 003 again and ti worked! waiting for payments
As of February 23rd, this method still works.
I had absolutely no problems setting up the account -even though I was kind of expecting a few!
My paypal deposits cleared a few days ago and I’ve just sent money to my RBC account now. From start to finish I had absolutely no problems.
Like others said, I removed the ‘003’ and had zero issues.
(For what it’s worth my paypal account is fairly new)
Will – thank you so much for sharing this with us. You’re an absolute star 🙂
Y’all are life savers. Got my deposits into my RBC account (though I had to also create a Canadian account along with the US account according to my RBC person) without using 003! Thank you so much.
Thank you very much for this article. I was waiting for the CAD to drop lower before transferring my USD balance to CAD, then a friend of mine suggested I try this. Blindly, I went to CIBC (whom I normally bank with), to open a USD account, but I was having trouble linking that account (for whatever reason the small deposits to confirm the account wasn’t showing up). Also tried to “withdraw” in Paypal only to realize it was converting USD to CAD, before it’s transferred to my USD CIBC account (you can preview the transfer before it goes thru), so I cancelled it and also removed that account from my wallet. Then I did a quick search online which led me to this article.
So far, it seems to be going smoothly:
1) I set-up a US High Interest E-savings account with RBC (I’ve had an account there for 10+ years, just hasn’t been touched for a while). Just did this thru online banking, took less than a minute to do.
2) Linked the account to my Paypal (member since 2007) using the RBC Solution highlighted here.
3) Waiting for the small deposits to come thru to confirm my account.
This is probably a very late reply that has to do with “cannot add bank account”, but the problem is that you cannot have a Canadian and American bank account on the same PayPal account. You must create separate PayPal accounts to avoid this.
I have tried both, with 003 and without it. None of the work.
Without 003, I got an en error email
With 003, it says deposits where sent, but I dont see them in my bank account.
I used my transit number 03051 and my account number (7 digits), entered without spaces. Any other comment?
Odd thing is that, Stripe linking works out of the box.
Always get “You cannot add a bank at this time.” error. Called Paypal a few times and also talked to the business support team but they don’t have any clues.
I just opened a US Bank account at TD America’s Most Convenient Bank as part of TD Canada Trust’s cross-border banking program and seen it suggested that this will work … but now when I try to add the bank to paypal, I select United States bank account, chequing, enter the transit # they gave me (2112-74450) and my account number, but it comes back and says “You cannot add a bank at this time”?
Can anyone confirm that this IS possible or is NOT possible?
Hey Lance, was your Paypal account as a Canadian? If so this might not be possible as you’re only allowed to add Canadian banks from what I understand.
This isn’t working i get the famous “You can not add a bank accounts t this time”. I read through the comments and people said to call paypal.
When i call them they seem confused about me wanting to add a US bank account from RBC canada…How did you guys and who did you guys talk to at paypal to unlock or get past the “can not add bank account” warning? Or what did you say to them? I gave them the 5 digit transit # and the 7 digit account # but it didnt’ work.
I’ve been trying this method for weeks now with no luck. I called paypal today and they said that they do not allowed ANY US dollar based accounts to be added to a Canadian paypal account (whether Canada or US based) and they’re cracking down on people who have already done so. Is this true?
I don’t believe this is true. If you look at the most recent comments, people have had success. Have you tried calling again or calling the Quebec line as some folks have suggested?
No issues for me! Work perfectly. Went into royal and open the esavings us account this past week. Followed the steps. Got the micro deposits the next day. Then transferred my first deposit 5 dollars as a trial run and received it today. Thanks so much. Not sure why half the people had issues. PayPal account was open 2007.
Reading the thread – make sure you choose “other” do not select rbc.
That is a good tip to choose “Other”. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
It worked perfectly for me. Just followed the instructions above (only one try). Linked the RBC High Interest US eSavings Account. Verified the 2 amounts that came through. Moved $5 to RBC eSavings Account from PayPal (to try it out) and it went through successfully (in US$). Thanks for sharing Will!
You’re very welcome 🙂
I’ve been doing those Paypal USD to RBC USD account transfers daily for years but yesterday one of my PP accounts stopped letting me to withdraw USD to RBC USD account. I have three bank accounts linked to PP:
1. RBC USD account with that magic routing number
2. Wells Fargo USD account (it’s US bank and my company has an account there)
3. RBC CAD account
Paypal still lets me to transfer USD to RBC CAD account and kinda blocks USD to USD RBC and USD Wells Fargo accounts.
Last USD to USD RBC transfer I did March 10, all worked fine and I had not changed anything with my bank or PP accounts. Paypal does’t give me any messages, it just does’t go on the next final page when I click SUBMIT (after entering USD amount and selecting bank account) and it goes on the next page when I select RBC CAD account.
I tried it on Safari and Firefox, besides it doesn’t work in mobile iphone Paypal app. In the app it even doesn’t give me an option to select RBC USD or Wells Fargo account, like they don’t exist, however when I go in settings there Paypal shows me all three accounts.
However, transferring USD to RBC USD still works on my other company’s Paypal account. Both companies setups are identical, both have that RBC USD accounts with 026004093 routing, both have Canadian addresses(even same street) and I’ve been doing those transfers for years on both accounts.
It all tells me there is something on Paypal side but I don’t want to contact my account rep yet because they know I have two companies with the same setups and they may block both like this.
Any one experienced this issue recently?
I have no problem link the RBC USD e-Saving account on PayPal.
Also transfer 2 time USD fund from PayPal to RBC USD account, successful received all the fund and deposit to my RBC USD account.
But I try transfer USD fund to RBC USD account today.
PayPal give me internal error message. Not let me direct transfer USD to USD account.
I only able convert USD to CAD and withdraw to Canadian account, back to the old day = ( .
Anyone have the same problem?
That’s so weird that they started to block your transactions when you already had it set up to work. Were you able to resolve this issue?
I can confirm that above solution is still working. I opened a new USD account with RBC (March 2016) and added to my PayPal and transferred money. From opening an account to actually see USD in my account took only 2 business days.
Thank you for your instructions … They worked fantastic!!!
I followed your instructions to the tee:
1) I opened an RBC High Interest USD e-Savings account (already an RBC client so it was easy online)
2) I received an account immediately after clicking SUBMIT. Within minutes, I saw the account in my accounts list and it showed the branch number and account number.
3) I went to PAYPAL, logged in and navigated to my WALLET.
4) I followed your instructions and used the ROUTING/TRANSIT number you supplied. I then entered the branch (5 digits) and account number (7 digits) as one long number (without the 003 as noted in your instructions) TWICE as REQUIRED … Clicked SUBMIT and VOILA!!!
5) The PAYPAL system then confirmed it was going to send 2 small funds transfers. Within 24 hours they were in my account … I went to PAYPAL and confirmed the amounts and then immediately tried to transfer some funds.
6) Within 24 hours I had the funds in my RBC account .. No PAYPAL fees or USD>CDN conversion!!!
Thanks again!!
This is strange that it worked since on April 8, 2916, I see this message written by Paypal when trying to add an account in Canada:
“Your bank account in Canada must contain only Canadian Dollars.”
If you click the Learn More next to it, you can read:
“When you withdraw funds from your PayPal account to your bank account in Canada, the funds will be converted to Canadian Dollars. When you add funds to your PayPal account from your bank account in Canada or use your bank account in Canada to fund a transfer, the amount will be in Canadian Dollars.”
what’s the route # you use?
I setup my account last week and the test transaction was rejected today
The intermediary bank is JP Morgan Chase NY instead of RBC NY branch
I wonder if there’s anyone else ran into same issue
Hi Will,
First off, thank you for compiling this guide. Its well written and easy to follow.
In summary, i tried this out and it did work for me. Yay!
Afew things to keep in mind:
1 – I do have an “old” paypal account – since 2007 in my case
2 – I did open a “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” account with the bank – only took 1 day
3 – I did not need to enter the “003” code when i setup the account on paypal
4 – The 2 verification deposits were received in 1 business day into the RBC account
5 – I was able to succesfully verify the account on paypal
6 – I then made a small $5 transfer from paypal to RBC and it was completed in 1 business day
So far so good! Next i’ll try moving the $5 back to Paypal to verify the reverse link.
Thanks again!
WOOT! Great to hear that you were able to get this done. Let me know how the reverse link goes. I know a lot of readers have been asking about that.
Awesome info! Question, would this work the opposite way? Say I have USD funds I want to transfer FROM canada TO the states?
Are you talking about moving money from a Canadian US savings account with RBC into Paypal as USD?
Doesn’t seem to work anymore ….
Should work from everyone’s comments that have come in these past few months!
I can confirm as of the past 3 weeks, it doesn’t work with both options mentioned here with and without the 003.
Hey Eddie, have you tried calling RBC directly? The French lines have been particularly helpful from what I’ve been hearing from other readers.
Inorder to get one’s Paypal funds into Canada without paying PayPal’s conversion fees, how about trying this.
1. open a USD checking account at an American bank.
2. Transfer your PayPal $$ into this account,
3. Write a check payable to yourself on this account and deposit into your Canadian USD bank account here in Canada
4. Wait the 3 weeks it takes for this money to reach your Canadian USD account.
My only question about this, since your PayPal $ is going first into a US Bank, will US Revenue Service change income taxes on this money?
I tried and it works like a charm !
Thank you
Hey, just wondering, are you able to link ANY RBC USD account? or is it specifically the eSvaings one? If you’re doing this for business purposes won’t your account get flagged/funds frozen?
I’ve been using the high interest esavings account and from what I’ve seen that’s the only one that works with the strategy. Haven’t had any issues with account flagging or freezing!
First try and it worked! Muhahaha
FYI April 8, 2016 when trying to add an account on Paypal
“Your bank account in Canada must contain only Canadian Dollars.”
“When you withdraw funds from your PayPal account to your bank account in Canada, the funds will be converted to Canadian Dollars. When you add funds to your PayPal account from your bank account in Canada or use your bank account in Canada to fund a transfer, the amount will be in Canadian Dollars.”
My mistake, I did not enter US under country as indicated. I will let you know if everything turned out ok and a transfer in US was successfully made. Cheers!
Sorry for the avalanche of messages but I have a heads-up to give concerning the currency conversion fee:
Transferring USD 150 from Paypal US balance to my RBC Canadian account = CAD 191.30
Transferring USD 150 from RBC US High interest to RBC Canadian account: CAD 189
Paypal’s currency conversion fee is better than RBC’s
here is RBC currency converter:
http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/cgi-bin/travel/currency-converter.pl
To know how much it would cost with Paypal, try sending an amount without confirming the transfer, the amount will show before completing the transfer.
That’s definitely enlightening Natasha! I always avoided Paypal’s conversion fees because I assumed it was higher.
Hi! New here…. I am a Banking Advisor at RBC and I’ve tried the directions given and it has worked! I have just received 2 small payments from PayPal to confirm the account, now I have transferred my own USD Paypal funds and waiting for it to land in my USD RBC (Canadian based) account. Hope this helps for everyone…. Thanks Will Tang
Haha hilarious to see an RBC banking advisor on here too. I told my advisor at RBC about this and he was dumbfounded as well but totally “got” what I was trying to do.
Your Rbc advisor will know exactly what to doif you show them this page. Very easy for us to doand have helped a client do the same. Thanks again for the teamwork
I just setup the account with RBC today but the route # is different than what you provided
I added the account to my paypal and waiting for the test fund to be deposited.
If you want to withdraw your money in canadian dollars after using this method, what do you do to avoid the currency exchange fees? Has anyone tried Transferwise?
If you’re wanting to convert to CAD after you hold USD in RBC, I would just go to your local FOREX shop or straight to the bank to be honest.
I use a routing number for US accounts (RBC and TD Bank both offer this now)… However, they will also put a withdrawal limit of $1,000/month from PayPal to your USD account until you can provide a US registered credit card or SSN … Wondering if anyone has found away around this?
Thanks
Jeff
It is really a nice and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this useful info with us.
Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Will
Last week, I opened an account with RBC (High Interest US e-Savings Account) I followed your instructions on entering the routing, transit & account number including the 003 and Paypal accepted it. But the following day I got this message:
Your bank reported a problem. Please contact your bank’s customer
service. If you still need assistance, you may contact us at……
My concern was that my Paypal account is under my business name and the account that I opened with RBC was only with my name. Could that be what causing this problem and that the two deposits Paypal sent did not go through and returned instead?
Today, (April 14, 2016) I re-entered the same information (routing number, transit and account number without spaces), the only difference was, I did not enter the 003. I hope and pray that this time it will work. I will let you know the outcome.
Thank you for all these wonderful information, for sure gave me hope. I am not quite giving up yet…….
Hey guys, having trouble with this.
I opened up and RBC US Direct Checking US account.
The Routing number they gave me was 063216608 but I tried the other one too.
Everyone here keeps referring to a transit number but the RBC people keep telling me there is no transit number for US banks and this RBC Bank (GA) is a US bank. So my RBC US account doesn’t have a transit number and the account number is a 9-digit number.
Nothing has seemed to work so far, would appreciate any advise from someone who is experiencing the same.
Just called the french number and they resolved it. She basically had to do something to my account to get it to work.
– Used Country United States
– Checking
– Royal Bank of Canada
– 063216608 routing number
– 9-digit account number
I had tried this before, but paypal had to do something to my account, so call
Her Rob, so the changes you made were a) Checking and b) new routing number?
And then it worked? I’m stuck as it wont allow me to add the bank!
Hi Rob,
Did you add the institution number 003 or the five digit transit number infront of your account number?
My account number is only seven digits.
For bank, type in RBC BANK (GEORGIA) instead of just GA
Awesome – thanks for this!
Hi Will
I can’t thank you enough for compiling these information and for your awesome blog.
Just an update. By eliminating the 003 (I just entered the routing 026004093, transit and my RBC account number) that, did the trick.Yesterday, Thursday April 14th I added my bank account and today Friday April 15th, I got the 2 confirmation deposits and I was able to transfer my Paypal US funds into my RBC US high interest e-saving account. So again, thank ever so much!
I just want to add some info. I read somewhere, (I wish I bookmarked it) that Paypal settles the accounts at (ACH) Automatic Clearing House at 7:00 pm each night before each banking day, (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday at 7:00 pm). So if the deposit was done on a Friday, the funds will not show up in the bank account until Tuesday.
Thanks for this helpful post. I had no problems linking the RBC account to my paypal and in less than 24hrs there is a notification in my PP account that they sent the two test deposits.
I do not see them in my RBC account though.
Should I have seen the deposits in my RBC immediately or is there usually a delay (and how long)
In response to your question Lily:
After successfully adding my RBC High Interest eSavings account to my Paypal (Thursday, April 14th), I got a notification email from Paypal almost instantaneously saying “We’re transferring money to your bank”. It was the following day (Friday afternoon) that I saw the two small deposits on my bank account. I confirmed and linked my Paypal to my bank account right away and that same day, I transferred some of my Paypal funds to my RBC bank account.
I know that the money was not going to be cleared until Sunday before 7:00 pm but I was very curious, so I decided to transfer some more Paypal funds Sunday (before 7:00 pm) and on Monday afternoon, April 18th both deposits were in my RBC bank account in one lump sum.
I found this for td canada trust. Seems to work!!
http://check-routing-numbers.com/toronto-dominion-bk/
Unfortunately, it has failed! Looks like it should have worked.
Ugh frustrating that it only works for some and not for others. Have you tried to call in as some of the others have?
Did it really work for you?? I’d love an update!
Thanks, Robert! It seems like this has worked for me. I still have to verify the account with the small deposits they send, but it didn’t give me an error so that’s a step in the right direction!
Hi Will, thanks so much for this; should help a lot!
Now i followed the process to the T, but in the end i get an error message “You cannot add a bank at this time.”
May be because the account is brand new? i deposited $100 CAD but in the canadian account. Any idea what i might be doing wrong? Should i have money in the USD account?
Any help here would be awesome! 🙂
Hello All,
If you are having issues don’t lose hope. I was SUCCESSFUL only after when I called the paypal french help line *same as above* (1-855-477-1170). I don’t speak french but punched 0 until I finally got through to a live person.
Perhaps someone can help with the real buttons to quickly get through to a representative.
The rep who helped me made a change to the account, then asked me to log out and log back in and it worked!!!
Rob’s advice is pure gold. I can vouch for that. I called RBC and was also told the same routing number so, perhaps both of these are valid.
All I can say is call the french help line! Do it, they can actually make it work…
– Used Country United States
– Checking
– Royal Bank of Canada
– 063216608 routing number
– 9-digit account number
Hi there,
This is slightly unrelated but is there a way to do the reverse? Transfer USD funds already in my RBC High Interest eSavings account into PayPal, then using that to shop online in USD? (Trying to avoid the high CAD->USD conversion and the 2.5% on Canadian credit cards)
Sorry if this is common sense, I’m fairly new to all this. Thanks!!
Hi there, found this article about a month ago and was eager to try it out. But so far it has not worked for me.
I have the PayPal Business account and RBC US High eSavings account – both since 2007.
The first method I tried was:
– United States, Royal Bank of Canada, Checking, 026004093, 03832-XXXXXXX (didn’t add the 003)
– I was able to verify the account quickly but tried to add funds of $5 and failed twice.
The second method I tried was on April 12:
– United States, Royal Bank of Canada, Savings, 026004093, 06032-XXXXXXX (didn’t add the 003)
– PayPal sent the verification payments but confirmed that RBC was unable to receive it
I tried to remove the account (second method) to attempt to re-add it, but when I re-add the account it automatically says that the verification payments have already been sent April 12.
Any pointers? Appreciate it.
Hi Will!
Thanks for the article and instructions!
Have you heard of anyone linking their BMO USD Interest Chequing Account to their PayPal? A friend of mine spoke to the VP at her bank (a friend of hers) and they were able to get her setup but I haven’t been able to get any information out of her to do the same for my own account! (Kind of frustrating, esp. if you know it worked for someone else!)
I would definitely be interested to know if someone was able to get it working for a BMO account. Nobody’s offered up that info yet unfortunately 🙁
Looks like you guys have had a lot of trouble, well done to all those that got it working! I was just wondering if anyone would know what might be possible from another country not Canada – we are in Hong Kong and have mistakenly taken a lot of USD (we should have selected HKD). USD are usually not a problem in HK but PayPal are not letting us withdraw in USD so want to charge the 2.5% to convert to HKD….Our Account is a HK PayPal business account, and are not US/CAN citizens so not sure how we can set up an account in the US. Thanks in advance if anyone can help…
Wish I could help Chris. I would probably ask an expat HK board/forum to see if someone has a solution. What you’ll need to find out is if you can open a USD bank account in a Hong Kong bank like we have and see if their US routing numbers work with Paypal. Alternatively, depending on where your native country is, you could try to set up a USD account there and do something similar?
As of May 2016, I tested this out – account was set up easily and all money was transferred successfully. Also as a side note, I had been a PayPal member since 2005 so being in their old system may have helped. Thanks so much for this guide!
Strange, seems to vary for each person. I finally got it to work with a hybrid solution to the above. I did savings account, routing number of 026004093 then I needed to include the 003 in between the transit number and my account number. No spaces, it looked something like this:
xxxxx003xxxxxxx
Forgot to say a BIG THANKS for this information.
The steps above worked and the deposit occurred within 1 business day.
An alternative for people who still have issues is to set up an RBCBank.com account (RBC in the US) and then use that account to transfer the funds to their Canadian account of choice. Naturally this will be smoother if they bank with RBC since they would be able to link the US-based account with their Canadian one and have a single sign in for managing assets.
Long time Paypal business user and RBC Business account holder. Since most of my biz expenses are in USD it has not been that big of a deal to keep a big balance within Paypal but the nightmare stories of them freezing your accounts (for whatever reason) have always been a concern. I debated biting the bullet and transferring some over when the exchange rate was good a few months ago but didn’t.
Happy to say this process worked! I linked my Business USD Chequing account without an issue and did 2 transfers over 2 days – with each taking 1 business day to complete. Each was over $1000 USD so the apparent ‘limit’ that Jeff mentioned in a comment above (on April 11) was not a factor
THANK YOU!!
You’re very welcome Delio 🙂
I have a RBC business USD account too with my Canadian branch. I couldn’t get it to work with PayPal! Would you mind sharing how you got it to work?
Well, while I was able to add the account in Paypal I never received the two test transactions and now got an email from Paypal saying they were denied by my bank. I guess I need to call RBC and see what’s up.
****************************************
Just a heads up to anyone doing this…
If you are transferring the USD to your account with the intention of eventually converting it to CAD because you “””””think””””” that the banks conversion rate will be better then Paypals… Dont waste your time.
ONLY..and I mean ONLY go to the trouble of doing this IF you want to KEEP the money in USD.
I have been converting all my USD to CAD using Paypals currency convertor, and the rate is actually not bad at all…..
Heres an example…the rate today on May 16th 2016 is 1.2920 right now….Paypal will give you 1.2610
So $100 USD will come out to $126.10.
The bank WILL NOT give you a better rate by much….it will either be WORSE or just better by half a cent IF THAT depending on the bank.
So in conclusion……Paypals currency conversion tool and rate is actually not bad at all.
So once again….Only do this if you WANT to keep your money in USD and pull out physical USD cash from the bank.
Otherwise…..if you are eventually converting it to CAD….Then basically you are a moron, a time waster and are causing yourself an un-necessary headache.
Think hard before you do this….If you don’t need USD….Then what are you doing this for? The conversion rate on Paypal is some of the best rates you will get.
Great heads up and tip right here. You are right, you really only want to do this if you want to keep your USD as USD. For me this is important because I usually end up going to the US or needing to pay for bills in US. I can also withdraw the USD straight from RBC without having to worry about conversion. If you’re eventually going to be switching to CAD then you may want to reconsider.
Today’s rate from Tangerine is 1.268.
Besides, I don’t know if the rate from PayPal mentions it, but it’s supposed to include a 2.5% fee.
The foreign exchange market is larger than just the banks. There are much more competitive options. I use VBCE, http://online.vbce.ca/. It’s straight-forward to sign up and easy to connect to your online banking. I’ve already saved hundreds of dollars this year. I shudder to think what I could have saved over the last 10 years!
If a couple cents here or there doesn’t seem to mean much, look at some numbers. As of this morning (May 17), here are some rates to compare using $5000 USD as an example:
RBC
1.24500 * 5000.00 = 6225.00
PayPal
1.25509 * 5000.00 = 6275.45
VBCE
1.27971 * 5000.00 = 6398.55
VBCE vs PayPal – 123.10
VBCE vs RBC – 173.55
Will, this point REALLY needs to be highlighted. It’s a shame that many Canadians don’t know the foreign exchange options available to them.
I called them, they don’t do Paypal. Unfortunately, Paypal rates would be the best at this point for people like me which had never gotten this option (blog post method) working for them.
Unfortunately they don’t do Paypal – but if you can get your account linked to move USD to your RBC USD account you can then move it to VBCE or another platform and do the conversion. It’s usually not worth doing it for less than say $5k, but if you do it 5-10k or more at a time it’s worth the extra time.
Actually they aren’t moron’s and a “time waster” because people doing this method are doing it to escape the 2.5% fee that Paypal charges to convert.
It isn’t just about the rate and that 2.5% fee works out to be several thousand dollars.
I have this set up successfully! Does Paypal charge you a fee to withdraw USD from your account into your bank account?
I cant! I event spent almost 1hr at the phone with a PayPal lady reviewing why it didnt work.
For anyone who has set this up successfully of late, can you please let me know if there is anything you did differently form what Will has outlined in the article above? I have opened the RBC US high interest eSavings account and have tried linking it with my PayPal account using the routing number provided above, but it won’t work and always gives me the error message “Sorry — your last action could not be completed”.
I have called Paypal on both English and French lines, and the agents tell me that it’s not possible to transfer USD to a Canadian bank, even if it’s a US eSavings account.
Any tips??
Hi Will,
First of all, thank you so much for this great information and help! I followed all the directions and it successfully worked. I received the two small deposits and the account has been confirmed today. I opened the RBC US High Interest e-savings account but I noticed on PayPal they listed the Acct Type as “chequing” and not “savings” and account status is “confirmed”. I did check off “savings” and have you heard from any of your readers if they had the same listed on their account?
Hey Nora, I just checked and it is set to “chequing” so I think you’re in the clear! All systems normal 🙂
I was finally able to add my RBC account after calling the French support line, but it looks like my two test deposits failed. Any suggestions on where to go from here? I will be visiting RBC to see if third party transfers are enabled for my account and whether there are any other restrictions.
Tried Will’s method and it worked. Took about 4 days for the deposits to come into my account. Thanks!
Congrats Hung!
when you are referring to a paypal account, are you referring to a canadian paypal account or a American pay pal account? can the rbc account be set up for a business as well as an individual?
This process is for those that have Canadian Paypal accounts and have USD funds in them. The problem is that being a Canadian Paypal account, everything defaults back to CAD if you transfer to a Canadian bank account. This method allows you to connect a USD-fund Canadian account so USD goes straight in as USD without conversion. I would think this would work for business as well.
so far I can’t get it to work for business because as a business you don;t have the option of setting up a high interest savings account. I was only able to set up a regular savings or checking account for my business. Right now I just send all $ to my personal USDhigh interest savings an ONLY use that account for business. I don’t think this is a long term solution since my accountant isnt happy that im using a personal account for my corporation.
Hey Rebecca, yes I believe this only works for the personal account unless someone else can correct me here.
Has anyone ever had their paypal account closed or cancelled when using this method?
I’ve been doing this for the past 2 years and no issues as of yet!
Worked perfectly for me, first try. Thanks ! A few pointers:
– RBC will not let you open a new account with a teller unless you already bank with them — they say you need a lengthy appointment. It went faster to open the account online and then make an appointment through their website to show them my credentials.
-the ‘one free withdrawal per month’ is NOT per calendar month — rather, it is per statement month which is random, and lasts 30 days. So check your statement dates before withdrawing !
Just set up my RBC accounts this week so here are some notes:
1. If you have an RBC USD Savings account (based in Canada and viewable within your regular Canadian RBC account) the steps above work.
2. If you have an RBC USA Chequing acount (based in USA and connected to your RBC Canada account but you need to log into the RBC USA site to view) you will need to use the USA routing routing #063216608 and just your account number. There is no transit or institution number for the RBC USA Chequing account.
I have successfully set up both accounts with PayPal now.
Woohoo! That’s great MJ and thanks for providing the routing number for the RBC USA chequing account. VERY helpful! I’ve added this information to the post 🙂
Hi MJ – for the RBC USA chequing account (based in USA and connected to RBC Canada) – do you set it up online, or did you have to call in? If you called in, did you speak to a French rep or did you use the automated voice service to set it up?
Thanks a ton!
Hi, didn’t work for me. Tried both ways. with the 003 and without. without got the following message.
If you were making a purchase or sending money, we recommend that you check both your PayPal account and your email for a transaction confirmation after 30 minutes.
If you came to this page from another website, please return to that site (don’t use your browser’s Back button) and restart your activity.
If you came from PayPal’s website, click the PayPal logo in the upper-left corner to return to our home page and restart your activity. You might have to log in again.
It worked! THANK YOU ALL!
I opened a free savings account to access online banking. I didn’t have to close the account as per step 4 because it’s free too.
Great job everyone! love it!
You’re very welcome! I’m glad it worked out. This should give confidence to everyone else that’s been trying! Keep trying until it works 🙂
I found a easy way to add your Canadian USD account to paypal, you can simple get a one-time code on your online paypal website and call 877 569-1116 , then enter the one time passcode and tell the android that u want to add a bank account, and then it will ask u if the bank account u want to add is Canadian account, say”no”. Then they will ask u to enter the routing number and the bank account number, after u done those step, go back and check ur bank status, it will show u successfully add the account ex:Royal Bank Of Canada CHEQUING(US)–Confirmation pending, wait a couple days to get the small deposit from paypal, then u good.
I did this method as well… waiting for the deposits to show up. Ray, did it work for you?
How do you get the one-time code?
I found the answer – to get the one-time code:
1. Log Into Account
2. Click on Help and Contact
3. Click Call us (your pass-code will be there and expires in 60 minutes).
I followed these steps along with Ray’s instructions (have your account number ready), and now I am just waiting for my deposits.
After struggling with the same type of errors reported by others, I just used the phone system as described by Ray and Angel – my RBC account was added into PayPal almost instantly, and I am now waiting for the deposits.
Note: when speaking to the robot, say “add a BANK account”, not just “add an account”. Otherwise you will receive instructions for creating a new PayPal account instead of creating your connected bank account.
Good news! I just got my two deposits from PayPal into my RBC account!
I ended up getting an error message when I tried to add the account on the website (same error as Stephen, post on June 14, 2016) so I went to PayPal Contact, got my one-time code, called in, entered all the information that the automatic bot asked for and two days later I got my deposits!
I’ve transferred over a little bit of money to test it, hopefully that will work too!
Last update! I transferred a little money over just to test it out and it appeared in the account in 4 days!
Thanks for all your help Will 🙂 So glad to finally have this all setup!!
Woohoo! I’m so glad Christina. Another success in the books 🙂
Hi Christina – just to confirm, did you use the 5 digit transit number plus your act number when it asked for your account number? ex. 06032 123456
Also, is the transit number bank specific? Thanks!
Holy crap, Ray! It worked for me! I was able to add my RBC US High Interest eSavings through the phone robot. When I refresh my wallet, the RBC account is added and “pending”. AHHH!! Thank you so much! I spent over two hours on the phone with paypal (customer service is useless as everyone has noted) and tried multiple combinations in Wallet until I was blue in the face. The phone robot works! Now, I just need to wait for those paypal deposits to come through and then I’m golden. Thank you Will for this amazing compendium of information and for Ray for sharing your workaround!!
Thank you for your help Ray. The online paypal system works well and yes it is a lot of actions to do but everything can be done from my chair 😉 See my comment that decribes all the actions in detail.
I have RBC US High Interest eSavings so its e added as savings? or as checking.
Customer service told me its against the law.
Don’t use 003 in the middle – it will not work. Also, when you call PayPal (you can’t add an account online, will always give an error – must call PayPal) ask for “Rest of the world department” – they know exactly what to change on your account so you can add RBC US account.
Does anyone know if the best plan such as (RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings) for a Canadian to also get a credit card/credit debit card for being able to make online purchases at US online stores with his US funds?
Does the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account over credit card/credit debit card?
I have tried this several time with both routing numbers provided (063216608 or 026004093). I have tried with (and without) the 003, and nothing has worked so far, continue to get the message
“If you were making a purchase or sending money, we recommend that you check both your PayPal account and your email for a transaction confirmation after 30 minutes.
If you came to this page from another website, please return to that site (don’t use your browser’s Back button) and restart your activity.
If you came from PayPal’s website, click the PayPal logo in the upper-left corner to return to our home page and restart your activity. You might have to log in again.’
As it is a holiday here today, I will try and call the number provided (1855-477-1170 – french help line) on Monday to see if they can assist. I have had my High interest RBC account since Jan ’15 and have had my paypal account since 2012.
Will be back with an update.
It worked! All set up and ready to go! Thanks everyone!
What worked for you, Angel? I’m also going through the exact problem right now, and I’m getting that same error message. It’s so frustrating!
I had the same problem as Angel and others, i.e. following the instructions to add the account online did not work. However, following Ray’s advice above, i.e. entering all of the details using PayPal’s automated telephone service worked first time.
I am getting the same error. I called PayPal and they said I have to set up a new US PayPal account. The one I have now is a Canadian account j believe.
Is this correct?
I had this all set up about a year ago. I just went to Paypal account to transfer some money to my Canadian U.S. account and it said the that link has been suspended. This link had my wife’s email address. I went and checked my paypal account which was linked to the same bank but to the Canadian checking account and it had erased that link and I was told I was unable to link at this time. So it would appear this has all changed??
Do you know if your PayPal account can be a US one or Canadian one?
This is specifically for those that have a Canadian Paypal account
I currently have a US Paypal. Do everything work in the same way with US Paypal account? Or I have to get a Canadian Paypal for this to work?
This is specifically for folks with Canadian Paypal accounts and want to move USD there to a Canadian bank account.
Hello beautiful people. I have an update. I just spoke to Paypal in French and I extracted the following:
Sometimes it depends on your browser, if you have do not track enabled or if Paypal thinks you are behind a proxy, they will stop the process and give you a “Could not complete process at this time.”
Steps I took in order to get until the verification page (currently waiting for deposits)
I opened up a US High Interest ESavings account at RBC.
Logged into Paypal, followed the steps outlined in the guide.
Received an error.
Called Paypal’s French Line, spoke to a great gentlemen over there, who explained to me that the system believed that I was behind a proxy (possibly because of Google Chrome’s Do Not Track feature.)
He approved my account.
Went back into my wallet. -> I have a different bank.
Entered the following routing number: 026004093
For the account information, enter the following: Transit number (06032) + Bank number (003) + my account number (seven digits)
Currently waiting for the verification, but everything looks perfect. Thanks!
Hey guys,
This has been so helpful to me! Thank you, Will, for this post and for everyone for the awesome updates! It’s so super valuable! I’m about to open my own RBC account following these instructions, and I’m so nervous about it! (Banks make my nervous for some reason).
Anyway, I have a question for anyone who currently has a RBC US high interest esavings account: are you able to transfer your USD to another bank account using online banking? Ideally, I’d like to transfer my USD from RBC into my HSBC account, but I would need to do that online and not in-person at a branch because I travel a lot. HSBC is ideal because they have branches all over Asia, where I’m travelling.
Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!
This has been a huge nightmare that I’ve been trying to do for over a year but grew tired and stopped twice with Paypal’s ridiculous system.
Finally looks like it will work.
Guys should note RBC offers a Full US account as well. The benefits are you get a debit visa which means you can actually use your american money on the internet to buy things.
Also, did the AI trick because even a full blooded american account wouldnt go through on the add an account webpage.
Hi, I would like to know more about this Full US account, is there a withdrawal limits as well? did you have any difficulty linking it to Paypal? what should I do to open one? Thank you in advance for your help.
Can you give me more details about how it worked for you?
Thanks.
hi everyone and Will Tang! I want to thank you first for this info You shared.
I will share my experience with this method and I hope You could help me or anyone that succeeded.
So, I follow all the procedure It works Fine I had my 2 small deposits on my account, but after my Rbc esavings was confirmed i got the email and everything that i am confirmed.
(Btw, I use a US ADDRESS and OPEN a NEW account because it DOESN’T work on my canadian paypal account)
Then the day after the bank account on my paypal was GONE!.
I contacted the customer service and told me that I should wait for at least 10days for my bank to be working?
(I Don’t know about this)
Is there anyone Experienced this please I will thank you from the bottom of my heart.
so i tried it again and again
“Error Message
You cannot add a bank at this time.”
I still have 7 days to go for that 10 friekn days!
Just writing in to confirm that the AI trick appears to be working.
I recently signed up for an RBC USA account (rbcbank.com) so I can benefit from having a US Visa and better exchange rates. I then sweep the USD into my Canadian RBC account as needed.
So just call PayPal after hours, say “add bank account” to the robot on the line, say it’s “not in canada” and give it all the routing and account numbers.
Waiting on the deposits now, fingers crossed.
Got my deposit, so I can confirm this is 100% working!
Wow ! Thank you for this guide and for all the usefull comments from all the users.
I had try diffrent ways and the one that worked for me is the one describres by Ray (June 17, 2016 at 7:20 pm) using PayPal’s automated telephone service with minor adjustements.
In detail, this is what I did:
Note: I do have an “old” canadian paypal account and I already have a RBC Canadian account.
1 – I log in my existing RBC account ONLINE. From the menu I choose “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” and click on ” Sign me up!” and follow the instructions.
2 – After 3 days my account was available to use.
3 – Go to Paypal, click on “Help and Contact” and Click “Call us” – my pass-code was there with a phone number.
4 – I called the number that was listed: 877 569-1116. It is an automatic “service” (Android).
– Enter my one time passcode. Say that I want to add a bank account. Say “NO” when the system ask me if the bank account I want to add is Canadian account.
– Then the system ask me to enter the routing number and the bank account number. I did not use the 003. Just the 5 transit numbers and the 7 numbers of my bank account.
5 – Look in my wallet and it shows my new account ex:Royal Bank Of Canada –Confirmation pending.
After 3 days, I received an email from Paypal in order to confirm my bank account. The message said: “PayPal has sent 2 small deposits to your bank account. Check your bank account in 3-5 days for the deposit amounts. Log in to your PayPal account, click Confirm Bank Account, and enter the amounts.”
6 – So, I go to RBC ONLINE and I saw that 2 verification deposits in $US were received in my “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings”.
7 – Go to Paypal. Log in and I saw “To confirm” beside my US account. Click on “Confirm” and my US account was listed as “confirmed”.
So big thanks to Ray and Angel for their help !
Good day all,
Okay here’s my story. I deal at TD Canada Trust in Canada. I tried all the things mentioned thus far is the above posts with the same failure rate as everyone else. Then I set us a TD (not TD Canada Trust) account in the states over the internet. I’m still waiting for the access card in the mail. I used the process mentioned in previous posts regarding using PP automated system. It (autobot) took the information. (see previous posts by other contributors) Later I got an email from PP that indicated they were confirming the account and a few hours later it was accepted. I then had to wait for PP to send deposits which they did. As I did not have my access card yet from the US TD, I ended up calling TD customer service and they gave me the amounts of the deposits. I went into my PP account and confirmed/entered the deposit amounts which finalized the US account. Just like that success. I did a test transfer of USD from my PP account and it accepted it. So this appears to be a fix for this issue.
Oh sweet yes this is a good idea as well if you’re able to set up a US-based account with TD. Awesome!
Open the rbc high usd saving account yesterday.
tried today. use 026004093
put 08400003+ my account number (7 digital)
not working. what is wrong. please help
Hello Will! Thanks for the information. Its July 30, 2016 and looks like Paypal may have caught on to this. I had a ton of problems adding. After being on the phone with a supervisor for 45 minutes it was finally done. BUT she told me that transferring to my USD acct in the US Paypal would first convert to CAD and then my bank would convert back to USD currency. Needless to say, I did not try to convert. Have you made a transfer recently? Is it still working without getting dinged like this?
I’ve been trying to do this it appears that the loophole no longer works. Has anyone done it recently?
Definitely still works!
Hmmm. I have a Canadian RBC account (USD) and also a US RBC account and I still cannot seem to resolve this issue. I get the error message :/ I have called the French line and they have no idea.
Any other solutions??
I had no luck using the Paypal website, but was successful in adding an account by calling Paypal and talking to the computer only (which has fairly incredible speech-to-text recognition), using the keywords “Adding a bank account”. It talked me through the process of routing and account numbers, account types etc. Waiting now to see if deposits come through to my account. Fingers crossed.
This does not work for me. I got the following error:
You cannot add a bank at this time.
When calling Paypal to add the account through the automated bot, do you select checking or savings? Also, when it asks for the account number – do you include the transit number as well?
Anyone know a way of doing this with Desjardins? I prefer to stick to teh co-op banks instead of the corporate ones.
Just talked to two people at paypal and one at Desjardins and they all seem to say its impossible through Desjardins.
I’ve been told that the way to do this is to open an RBC US bank account, add that to my Paypal account, get my money out, then transfer the money to my Canadian RBC account. Wondering if anybody knows if there are any pitfalls (eg fees currency conversions etc) involved in this.
Hello,
Thank you for posting this information. I was wondering if this method still works. I’ve read quite a few posts that said it does not. I recently opened a USD account with TD bank, only to find out that I could not transfer from paypal Canada to my new TD USD account and keep the funds in USD (they would convert to CND first and then convert back to USD to deposit in my account…I lose money twice on exchange rate). So before I go open a whole new account with RBC, I want to find out if it still works….
Thanks again for the help!
I just tried it and it wouldn’t work until I changed the setting from savings to chequing. Then it worked! I’m waiting for the deposits now. Used chequing and the transit # and the account number.
Thanks!
Anyone tried this with a CIBC US$ Personal Account? When I try to add the account online it doesn’t recognize the routing number (026002558).
I have linked my RBC us E savings account but when I “add money” in PayPal, the transfer fails. I was able to receive the 2 PayPal deposits into the RBC account with no problems. Anyone have a similar issue and was able to fix it?
For folks in British Columbia who use Coast Capital Savings Credit Union, I have just successfully linked my US $ Business Checking Account to PayPal (a Business Account from the early 2000s). Now I just need to wait for the 2 deposits.
The 9-digit routing number I got from my business account rep at Coast Capital. It’s the ABA number. In the account # field, I plugged in the 5-digit Coast Capital transit # and my 12-digit account number. No spaces.
Hope that helps a fellow British Columbian!
Wow thanks for sharing Sheila! That’s huge news for those out in BC 🙂
Hi Sheila,
It is easy to connect this account to your paypal but are you sure that your money will not be converted twice when you withdrawal it from paypal into the coast capital account?
Thanks,
Katrina
We have now successfully set up our RBC USD e-savings account (in Edmonton) and received a USD deposit from Pay Pal. Following is my experience, showing what worked and what didn’t. I opened a new Pay Pal account and connected my RBC USD account to it. I transferred my USD from Pay Pal but Pay Pal converted it to Canadian. I called to complain. Pay Pal told me there was no way around it. I researched and found your website. I deleted my bank account and tried to open a new bank account with Pay Pal following the instructions on your website. It kept giving me error messages. I called to complain. The Pay Pal employee asked me if this was the same account I had deleted earlier. Turns out “deleting” your bank account does not delete it on Pay Pal’s end. It’s still there! So my husband followed your website instructions to open our RBC USD account on his Pay Pal account. The routing number 063216608 appeared to work at first. But then Pay Pal sent an email saying the deposits did not go through. He changed the routing number to 026004093. This worked. We then transferred the USD from our Pay Pal account to our RBC USD account successfully. The 6.6% Pay Pal took from the whole transaction seems excessive. But that’s a different problem.
As of 07-SEP-2016 the RBC solution has successfully worked for me — and the first time! Thank you Will.
Please note, this was the solution of routing number without the institution number (003) and US chequing account number, input as a savings account. We had an existing CDN PP account and an existing CDN RBC CHEQUE USD account so the elapsed time was short. I’m not sure what specific type of USD account as we opened long ago.
After 36 hours, the two deposits were made to the account and we confirmed with PP these and the account was added to the mix. We then withdrew USD monies to our USD account.
Thank you so much for this! I’ve been working online earning USD for 3 years now and I’ve lost so much money because of the PayPal exchange rate! I’m with RBC and I decided to open a US account 2 weeks ago hoping that it would change things but today I tried to withdraw and PayPal still wanted to exchange my USD into CAD, and that’s when I found your website. I followed the steps and everything seems to work, I’m waiting for the test deposits. I’ll let you know what happens.
It works! Thank you, you just saved me a lot of money! Thank you so much for sharing! 😀
I have it all set up and can withdraw from my PayPal to my RBC USD account… but I can’t fund my PayPal account with my RBC USD account… Anyone have success doing this?
Thanks, Jeff
The best part of doing this is to add a USD credit card account. Most Canadian banks offer it now. I’m using CIBC USD credit card account. That’s really the only way.
will CIBC be able to guide me through this? I have a CIBC USD account. Why do I need a credit card?
Hi Will,
I don’t know if anyone mentioned it in the comments above but your screenshot for entering the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account has “Checking” checked off – the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account is a “Savings” account.
Thanks,
Glenn
Thanks for the heads up Glenn!
I can personally attest to the fact that this WORKS! 😀
My ONLY problem now is that I have business dealings in USD under my company name, and my RBC US account is in my personal name. Apparently, this is not ideal according to my accountant to send USD Paypal business funds to a personal name RBC USD account.
Does anyone know how to make this work with RBC USD BUSINESS accounts? Or any other way to transfer Paypal USD from a business name to a CANADIAN bank USD BUSINESS account?
My RBC USD account was booted from my PayPal after two years of successful use. I tried readding using these instructions and it kept giving me an error.
I had to call in and have them remove the block on my account from adding new bank accounts. The lady on the phone told me it wasn’t possible, but when I mentioned that I had been using it for two years without problems and that I read online (here) that there was a block that needed to be lifted, she put me on hold and came back with the block lifted after 10 minutes. I guess they need to take it up with their manager.
French hotline wasn’t working for me.
I was able to connect both my “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” and my “RBC Bank USA” checking to my Canadian Paypal account.
I have linked my “Royal Bank” online banking with my “RBC Bank USA”. This allows me to transfer USD from the US bank to the Canadian bank online and immediately. I can walk into “Royal Bank” and withdraw USD in cash. Nice.
Doesn’t work … Triied RBC..
Doesn’t work got the You cannot add a bank at this time.” error
A last option transfer your Canadian Pay Pal account which is USD funded to your American Pay Pal account Pay Pay Canada only takes a 1% fee. Not ideal but better than going through exchange rates… if anybody got the above working let me know…
Does the method in the original post still work or is there an updated version?
Still works!
Hello Will,
I followed your procedures and set up a connection with my RBC account. However, when my friend transferred my fund to my Paypal. Paypal can receive my fund, but it won’t allow to transfer to my RBC account. Paypal told me that I am living in Canada, so they must convert to Canadial dollar even if I have a USD account. I am wondering if there is another way to transfer funding from US? Thanks for your response!
That shouldn’t be the case and most likely the person you talked about doesn’t know about this little trick that we’ve all been doing.
I tried the Coast Capital Savings as Shiela recommended and received this message: “We were unable to process your bank account registration at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please try again at a later date.”
I got the same problem saying “cannot add bank account at this time” and I had it all fixed after calling them 4 times with Canada paypal line. I spoke to “jefferson” and thank god that he knows what he was doing and he just need to reset the security to remove the blockage of creating a RBC e-savings us dollar account. Its been a day that i just linked to my paypal account. Now i tried to withdraw at least $2.50 from my paypal to my rbc e-savings. hopefully by the next day it should show up to my us dollar account. Cheers!
From Vancouver, BC
Hi,
Does this work with any US account with Royal Bank of Canada? Or do I have to open a savings account?
What i opened a USD Business account with Royal Bank of Canada?
I did this specifically with the high interest savings account. I don’t think this works with the business account.
This is gold – THANK YOU! I used this at the beginning of the year and it’s saving my ass all of the paypal fees – so thank you!
The issue now is that my accountant isn’t so happy that one of my corporate business accounts is actually a personal account (the USD high interest savings account is under my personal profile – I couldn’t open it under business). He said it could become a problem when I do my taxes because I am essentially paying out corporate money to a personal account (even though I ONLY use that account for business – i guess when you’re Inc. that’s a no-no).
Do you have idea if I were to open a USD business account if the routing number would be the same? I feel like when I tried back in January they didn’t have a savings account, just a checking account.. so I don’t know if that sound change the routing number at all?
Any ideas?
well, they have officially started to shut down this loop hole. I tried with 2 new account after they closed my existing US RBC account, and 2 deposits are not going in.
Should still be good!
Thank you, Will! Your advice was spot-on. I’m just waiting for the confirmation from PayPal. (My PayPal account is over 10 years old and my USD bank account is new.)
Best regards
You’re welcome!
First of all, thanks so much Will for posting this detailed information and all the other comments. Last night I successfully added my existing RBC US account using your instructions just waiting for the two small deposits which I’m thinking will arrive soon in my account since almost immediately I received the email from PayPal that they have deposited them and to confirm my account. I’m just wondering though since it is a Canadian PP account do you have your primary currency set as Canadian dollars or USD? I’ve now also received a payment in euros which I will be converting to CAD. I noticed that whatever currency you have as your primary is what PP shows as your balance. If it’s set as Canadian can you still transfer your USD as USD to your US account? This is confusing especially now with a new currency added to my account. Do you or anyone else have any insight on this?
Yeah I can see that being a bit confusing. My account is set to CAD because it’s a Canadian PP account but the USD funds do stay in their own USD bucket. You should be able to see that in your PP dashboard.
Hey there, so I’m thinking of starting to do some online transcribing. Most pay in USD to paypal, and I’m ok with that as like the beginning of the article said, the way the dollar is now, that turns $1000 USD to just over $1300 CAD. But people are complaining about the 2.5% conversion rate to put it into your Canadian bank account?
To me that makes no logical sense. I’m making an extra $300 more than I normally would, but at the sacrifice of losing less than $50. That’s still a $250 gain just for getting paid in USD! I understand that $50 bucks ads up depending on how much your getting paid and how often, but the benefits to me seem to way outweigh the drawbacks.
Unless I’m missing something really major here and am sounding like a complete idiot lol. If so please let me know where my logic is faltering and I will gladly be humbled for my mistake being pointed out if there is one.
Not sure if someone responded back to you but for me it’s all about keeping funds in USD. This way I can pay off my USD CC’s with this USD or when I travel, I have a reserve of USD funds that I can pull from.
Worked for me as described, using my existing RBC USD Chequing account. I followed the directions and specifically configured “Savings” and it worked anyway. Got the deposits. Much appreciated!
i have canadinan paypal account and its been just 1 month, so i add us checking td trust bank to my paypal so its been 5 days i never got two small deposit then i got mail that your bank info is not correct so i talk wit paypal hen asked some detail then they confirm the bank account within 1 minutes without two deposit but once i try to withdrawal payment to bank account its not coming its been 8 days so what should i do please help..
Hi, any one know if we can do this with RBC Business account instead of personal account? I am not sure if RBC offers high interest e saving account for business.
I get about 70K USD per month, I pay my suppliers in USD, will probably transfer 10K USD to Canadian dollar each month. rest of the money will be wired to my bank accout overseas, hopefully we can do wire transfer directly in USD.
Thanks!
New Developments as of November 2016:
I was able to add my RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account to my PayPal more than a year ago. But today November 30, 2016, when I logged in to my PayPal, I was surprised that my previously linked RBC U.S. High Interest e-Savings account is no longer there (linked). It seems like it was removed. So I tried adding (linking) it again using the same procedure described here in this website, but I got the following error message: “You cannot add a bank at this time”.
Is this just a temporary thing?
Or this “door” has been shut down by PayPal?
Tried adding it again using same procedure as described here. This time I used
“5 digit transit number + bank number + your account number”, whereas I a while ago, I did not include the bank number. It went through the next page, allowing me to confirm with an auto-phone call to myself so I can enter a code. I entered the code over the phone, but got the following message in PayPal:
Sorry, we can’t move forward
We couldn’t verify your account.
If you need help, you can send us an email or call.
Whew…. I tried again. This time, it went further the automated phone call confirmation. Got the following message: “Confirm your bank account in 2-3 days”. Yeheyyyyyyyy 🙂
I would like to hear from other readers of this website that are encountering problems recently with this procedure mentioned in this website; because I have.
As a backgrounder, I had been able to add (linked) my RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account to my Canadian PayPal account more than a year ago, and had used it on several occasions already transferring U.S. dollars received from my PayPal account to my bank account intact in U.S. denomination; thanks to the procedures written in this blog.
Three days ago, when I logged in to my PayPal, I noticed that my previously linked RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account was no longer linked. So I proceeded to add it again, with some difficulty, but was able to add it successfully after three attempts. Got as far as the phone auto-confirmation. The next step is to confirm the two small deposit amounts that PayPal deposited to my bank account which will take three days. Well, after three days, I received an email from PayPal that says, “The two deposits that PayPal sent to your bank account as part of the bank confirmation process were returned to us for the following reason: Your bank reported a problem. Please contact your bank’s customer service. If you still need assistance, you may contact us at…”
Is anyone experiencing the same issue I described above?
Did you notice that your RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account has been de-linked from your Canadian PayPal account lately without you doing it, or is it still linked?
Would appreciate your feedback. Thanks.
Ok Guys, Definitely tested this method with adding accounts with Paypal. I have two paypal account. One personal that I have since 2000 and another one for business that I opened on 2013. For some reason I can not add my RBC USD savings account to my paypal account that was made on 2013. Funny part is that when I used my old paypal created on 2000 I was able to add my RBC USD account with no issues and just waiting for confirmation. I called paypal and they told me I have to call their customer support that deals with bank accounts which sucks.
December 5, 2016
Hi guys,
I’d like to add my short update on the subject as it might be helpful for someone else struggling with the same Paypal issue. I tried to add my US-based RBC account to my Canadian PayPal account today following the updated guide published in this blog. I made several attempts but the system rejected them, saying that this bank cannot be added at this time. As a next step, I called the French help line at 1855-477-1170 (just kept pressing “0” till I was transferred to a representative). She was bi-lingual and very efficient (our conversation lasted about 10 minutes only). The PayPal girl has made some technical arrangements on her side and requested me to sign-in to the site and to insert the data once again. I followed this scenario and the system accepted my RBC account. The matter is still in progress, as now I have to wait for 2 small deposits coming into my account and then to confirm my account with the codes. Just hope nothing bad will happen at this stage… Keep fingers crossed……
So, it looks like it still works!! Never give up and keep going on!
I wish you all Merry Christmas and good luck in your business.
Cheers,
Sergei
Interesting thread. I have a Canadian USD TD Canada Trust acct and I also have a USD TD Bank account (based in the US). I don’t think I’ve tried transferring money to my Cdn based USD acct yet bc of the restriction (I will experiment just because) but I have my TD Bank (US based) acct on my paypal and am able to transfer to and fund money from that account with no problems.
You can also transfer money between your US based TD acct and ur Canadian TD accts for free and the TD Bank acct comes with a visa debit card so you can spend in USD online, etc. Way better than the RBC accts in my opinion bc TD also has physical locations in the US so you can withdraw money for free as well if you travel through there.
Great post – thanks for the info. I’ve got the account all set up.
Problem – the RBC rate sucks too. I did a comparison right now – if I were to convert 3,000 USD to CDN, RBC would give me a rate of 1.2788. (or 1.2775 for a lower amt of say $1,000USD)
If I cash out of Pay Pal directly to my CDN bank account (i.e. let PayPal convert it), they would give me a rate of 1.2888 even for a low amount of $150 USD.
So, PayPal wins by a full % point?! How is this possible?
I’m using this rate table for non-cash transfers, which was given to me by an RBC rep in their secure message centre: http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/cgi-bin/travel/currency-converter.pl
I just got this done through TDCanadaTrust. Nothing underhanded about it, but you have to know exactly what you’re asking for. Success! Now I can get my $US from paypal into my online poker sites with no fees or conversion or interest charges or anything. Now, if I can just fill in this straight on the river all be good…
how did you get it to work with TD? please let me know, thanks
If you a transferring to a USD acct based in Canada you just need to ask your bank for the correct routing number.
You need to go to your TD Canada Trust and see an accounts manager. The manager then has to get on the phone with TD Bank in the US, and open an account in your name in a branch located in the US. It’ll be with “America’s most convenient bank”. Bring some ID, proof of addess, etc.. Tell the accounts manager that you need an account at a US branch so that can transfer USD to it from paypal.
There’s an account with no fees, if you keep a balance of $250, and you can make one transaction per week I think.
Linking the American account to paypal is simple because it’s at an American branch. Paypal will ask you if the account is in Canada, and you say “no” because it isn’t. You might need the address of the TD Bank branch in the US.
Then open a USD account at your TD Canada Trust branch. There’s an account with no fees if you keep a balance of over $1000
You can transfer from your American to your Canadian USD accounts, it takes a phone call to confirm. Each transfer requires a call. Make sure you know about limits and annual totals of transfer so as not to attract the attention of the authorities.
So it’s a pain, but you can do it. I hope you have a need for USD in Canada, or that you can get a much better conversion rate than paypal, that’s the only reason to go through all of this. I do it so I can use USD on poker sites without converting it twice and thus lose a bunch of the value.
Thank you Mark!
This is a wonderful article. Thanks a lot! You’ve saved me time and nerves!
I’ve been using this method for a while now. The key is to use a VPN when signing into paypal. Otherwise it knows you’re Canadian and won’t allow access. CHeers
Can confirm that this still works in 2017!!
Used routing number 026004093, and formatted my account number like XXXXX-XXXXXXX (with the dash, and no 003. This was my account number as shown for my US RBC account when I sign into my RBC banking).
Signed up for my US account on a Sunday, so the Paypal confirmation payments didn’t show up in my online banking until Tuesday.
Thanks for this very helpful post!
Thank you for putting together this detailed guide! I’ve been frustrated with being unable to connect my TD USD account to PayPal so I hope this works. Just opened a new account and submitted it. Fingers crossed!
did you successful transfer to your TD USD account?
can you let me know how you did it?
thanks
Thanks so much for these instructions!
I already had an RBC US High Interest Savings account, and I’m looking for a way to pay for an item through PayPal in USD with this account. Has anyone been able to make purchases from their USD account through PayPal? I’m used to using a CAD credit card, so I’m not sure what the process would be for a bank account, especially one in USD (or if it’s even possible).
Thanks!
Hi Will,
Thanks for helping out many people here. I have a question. I have RBC USD account. I am expecting a payment from US client and I want it in USD only which I can withdraw from RBC bank. Wondering if there is a way to get paid directly in my USD account. The whole point is why would client pay through PayPal and then I get money from Paypal to USD account.
Hello!
Set up the account as per instructions, the deposit appeared in bank, but then removed itself from the list in PayPal. This was done with a US paypal, should i instead use Canadian?
Any updates?
Hey Kat, these instructions are specifically for people with Canadian Paypal accounts.
I setup my RBC account online (took a few minutes and instantly had access to online banking), and then added the newly created account to paypal and did the test deposits. The deposits showed up a couple days later and I was able to confirm them with paypal.
I’ve now successfully withdrawn USD to my USD RBC account as described in this article.
Note, I did have some trouble withdrawing at first through the website because the amount being shown was converted to CAD. I think because my paypal account was setup default as CAD, so it was trying to convert my USD balance to CAD and before sending to my USD RBC account. However, this was just shown as such on the page, once the money was actually transferred to my account it was in fact “untouched” USD. I will admit, I wasn’t sure so I did a simple $10 EFT to test the waters. All is well.
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this! I know this was written a while back now – does anyone know if it still works?
Definitely still works from all the folks that are chiming in through the comments!
It didn’t work for me. 🙁 Tried all sorts of combinations on different days, called Paypal (useless). I’m hoping someone may think or discover something that works. Thanks for the ideas though.
Just a note that I’ve had problems doing transfers from other sources to a US Savings account. I set up a USD Chequeing account instead. That has worked for my transfers from my other source (royalties) and I am not setting it up with PayPal as well. I’ll check back in when I get the results. Fingers crossed!
I got this to work with an RBC USD account and the routing number given above in the article. The RBC banker I met with didn’t think it would work but it did – fast! I had the money in the account in less than 48 hours. NO issues.
I posted above how I got it done through TD Canada Trust / TD Bank recently.
I added it originally, then it disappeared….
then I called the French line and they fixed it.
Thanks for this thread!
So as of today I can finally say that it works for me. I tried this about 4 times total and it seems that it’s actually just luck no matter what is mentioned here. I followed the same steps EXACTLY probably 2 or 3 times so I know this is weird and will work based on luck because my friend had his done years ago and not like what is mentioned here and it worked for him without issues.
I already had opened the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account months ago when I tried last time and it didn’t work with the exact same steps I took a few days ago. This is so random. So I had the regular checking account so I can login online and I put a few bucks there so it stays open.
Logged in to Paypal, Add account > Other bank or something like that. Changed dropdown to United States and entered Royal Bank of Canada in the field. Chose the Savings account. Used routing # 026004093 and my account # (11 characters) without spaces/dashes/003 and like 06032123456 and 2 days later, deposits showed and I entered those in Paypal and booooooom I’m in business now finally after about 2 years or trying to get this done. WOW! Thanks to everyone who helped with this including the comments 🙂
Hey – thank you so much for this – Want to let you know that the RBC routing number didn’t work for me – I used the one on the RBC site, and it worked – Although I did have to get Paypal on the line and authorize the bank add on their end so that it would go through. The routing number is 063216608
See https://www.rbcbank.com/help-and-faqs/frequently-asked-questions/general-faqs/what-is-the-rbc-bank-routing-institution-or-aba-number/index.page
Thanks for the heads up on the alternate routing number – 063216608!
It still works. I linked my paypal to RBC USD eSaving account yesterday.
Here is a 100% working manual on how to connect your Canadian Paypal to a Canadian USD bank account (thank me later;)
https://willbecoded.ca/link-canadian-usd-bank-to-paypal-account/
Hello! Just want to thank you for posting this — I have a RBC USD account and was able to hook it up to my PayPal (and avoid those exchange fees!).
Awesome! More success is what I like to hear 🙂
Just in case this helps anyone: make sure your RBC online banking is registered before you sign into Paypal and link your RBC high interesting US Dollars e-savings account. If you don’t complete this step first, an error message on Paypal will appear saying “We are unable to process…” Hope this helps someone out there!
>>make sure your RBC online banking is registered
what do you mean ‘registered’? With whom?
What do you mean by “registered”? If I can see the account online is it not registered?
I had this working for a month or two recently and then today, RBC is missing from PayPal as one of my withdrawal banks and attempts to re-add it fail.
Anyone else had their RBC bank account removed from PayPal after it was working just fine for withdrawals?
Literally just tried right now and I was able to transfer funds back to my RBC US High Interest account. Confirmed!
Do I have to have money in the RBC US account when trying to link it with paypal? I kept getting the unable to add account at this time error
Worked perfectly, thank you!
Unfortunately, this has stopped working for me last week. After three years of doing it like this it no longer works. Tried adding it back, and I couldn’t. Called PayPal and they said that the bank has blocked the deposits. After checking with RBC they said they do random checks and they thought it shouldn’t even have been possible in the first place. Now I have to find another way, because I can’t afford to give away a crazy amount of money every year just to convert into CAD.
Hello, just wanted to share that this worked for me. Thanks for posting such detailed instructions!
Hi,
This worked for me. The regular customer reps at paypal didn’t help much. I had to be transferred to a account specialist. I tried using this routing number first 063216608. That one didn’t work for me. This 026004093 routing number ending up working for me.
I just wanted to share my experience setting up my TD Cross-Border US$ Checking Account and linking it to my Canadian Paypal, for the benefit of those who don’t want to go the RBC route. I have a Canadian Paypal business account and all along had my TD Canada Trust CAD$ bank account linked to it. Most of my earnings are in USD, so every time I withdrew into my TD Canadian bank account, I incurred an exchange rate loss. Even though I have a Canada Trust USD Daily Interest Checking account, I was still unable to add that to my Paypal because it has to be in Canadian dollar for bank accounts located in Canada. The only way to do it is open a US-based bank account.
So last week, I decided to open a TD Bank Cross Border USD Checking Account which is a bank account physically located in one of TD Bank’s branches in U.S., mainly in the east coast. (Note: “TD Canada Trust” is in Canada whereas “TD Bank” is in the U.S. Both are related but located across the border from each other). I opened this TD Cross Border USD account by visiting my local Canada Trust bank (you may do it online). I just needed to produce 2 IDs (passport and driver’s license). The TD Bank’s cross border specialist spoke with my local bank rep over the phone to verify my identity, and then spoke with me at length over details of opening a US-based account.
There are 3 types of Cross Border USD accounts, but I chose to open a TD Convenience Checking because it does NOT have any service fees as long as I keep a minimum US$100 balance in it. I also requested for 3 things:
1. The Routing Number associated with my account. My Cross Border specialist happened to be in New Jersey, so she randomly picked a TD Bank in New Jersey to have my account there. So my Routing number was specifically for New Jersey. If you open an account in New York, you will have a different Routing number. They differ by states.
2. The new U.S. account to be linked to my Canada Trust online Easyweb account, so I can view both account information online.
3. A free ATM Visa debit card to be mailed to me. This ATM card is useful if you wish to transfer money from your Canada Trust account to your TD Bank account. But you won’t be able to use the card to transfer from your TD Bank to Canada Trust; for that, you will have to call their rep. Transfers are free, although the receiving bank will charge $15 on the day of transfer and then reverse the $15 on the next business day.
I was asked to come up with a username, and with that the cross border specialist was able to set up my TD Bank online account. There are 3 important things to do once you get home:
1. Log into your new TD Bank account using the username that you had just created.
2. Change the login password and create 3 security questions with your answers. This is important for confirming your account with Paypal later on (below).
3. After 2 or 3 days, when my new account was confirmed and linked to my Easyweb, I haven’t received my ATM card so I called a Cross Border specialist and asked to transfer $150 USD from my Canada Trust USD Daily Checking Account into my new TD Bank Convenience Checking to make it active (note: you have up to 30 days to fund your account). Although I mentioned that $100 USD was the minimum to avoid fees, I transferred more because of the temporary $15 transfer fee mentioned above. Had I transferred only $100, it will dip under the minimum balance required for a day which will trigger a monthly fee.
Next, linking the Cross Border Checking Account to Paypal. I called the English speaking customer service rep and as expected, he said it could not be done. I spoke with his supervisor and she said it was impossible. So I advise you not to waste time arguing with these incompetent reps. Just call the French-speaking Paypal reps directly via 1-855-477-1170. Unless you know French, otherwise you will have to press “0” multiple times until a live agent speaks to you. Just asked if he/she speaks English. Fortunately for me, the rep spoke English although she wasn’t fluent but very polite. I just told her I needed help adding a USD bank account to my Paypal. She asked if it was an account in Canada or U.S. I said it was a USD bank account in the United States. She then told me she will have to reset my account settings and asked me to log out of Paypal, wait a couple of hours, and then retry adding it online. I don’t know why the system needed 2 hours reset, but I waited nonetheless just in case I messed it up by trying it earlier.
At the end of 2 hours, I proceeded to add this new TD Cross Border Bank account by Other Banks, then by clicking “United States” under the country drop-down menu and then filling in the Routing number that I got when I first set up the account, followed by the bank account number itself. Very straightforward. This time, my Paypal produced a new page that asked if I wanted IMMEDIATE confirmation of my account or wait for Paypal to deposit 2 tokens into my account before confirmation. This is something new that I didn’t expect because no one mentioned it in this thread. Of course I chose Immediate Confirmation. Next, the screen prompted me to log into my TD Bank account with my username and password (NOTE: not Easyweb username/password, but your newly set up TD Bank account username/password). After that, a new screen asked me a security question which I set up earlier for my online TD bank account (see above). I typed in the correct answer, and my TD Cross Border Account was IMMEDIATELY confirmed. I then proceeded to transfer US dollars from my Paypal into my newly added TD Cross Border Account and it allowed me to do so with a message saying the funds will be in my account in 1 business day. If anyone needs clarifications, I’ll be happy to advise.
Super thorough and very helpful. Thank you for your advice!
It’s April 2017 and it still works. I have a Paypal Canada site with USD funds and I created an RBC USD High eSavings account online. I waited 24 hours then I went to PayPal and added my RBC account. Used 026004093 as the route # and put in my transit (01234) and account # (1234567) combined to form 012341234567 as the account # to enter. (I didn’t put in the bank # of 003)
PayPal then deposited 2 small amounts (0.02 and 0.05) to my RBC account 1 day later and I confirmed it on the PayPal site. I then tested sending $10 to my RBC account and 1 day later, that amount showed up in my RBC account!
I wonder if I buy something that is in USD, would I be able to choose my RBC USD account for payment? I can do that with my CAD bank account.
Now that it’s in my RBC account as USD, I guess I can transfer it to another USD account that would offer better rates for exchange, like VBEC. Send USD there, convert it to CAD then transfer it back to a CAD bank account.
—
See some of the PayPal correspondence below.
You asked us to transfer $10.00 USD to your bank account, and we’re processing this transaction now.
Estimated arrival: 1 business day
Transfers made after 7:00 PM ET or on weekends or holidays take longer. All transfers are subject to review and could be delayed or stopped if we identify an issue.
—
Your ROYAL BANK OF CANADA bank account x-1234 was confirmed, and your sending limits were removed.
Your PayPal account is Verified
Now that your account is Verified, you can send payments from your bank account even when your PayPal balance is zero.
Verification increases customer trust, so thank you for taking this extra step, and enjoy the benefits of being a Verified PayPal member.
Sincerely,
PayPal
—
Now that you’ve linked your bank account, please confirm this account to:
Make payments from your bank account.
Transfer money between your bank and your PayPal account.
Become verified and remove your spending limit.
We made 2 small deposits (less than $1.00 USD) into your bank account. You’ll need to:
1. Check your bank account in 2-3 business days for the exact amounts.
2. Log in to your PayPal account.
3. Click Confirm Bank Account from your Account Overview and enter the 2 amounts.
Thank you guys. This worked for me registered my canadian paypal on thursday at 9’clock opened esavings on thursday at 10 o’ clock as well. Phoned in to check if i had any flags on my chequing and savings none were there. The rep told me that the esavings account is more than capable of doing online transfers. Went home loged into paypal added the account details as exactly in the article.
Country UNITED States
NAME Royal Bank of Canada
account type :savings
routing number:026004093
account number: transitnumberaccountnumber (no spaces between them)
Did the Telephone thing. that comes up next.
got the small deposits on friday about 11o’clock.
I didn’t call in to any hotlines it just plain worked on brand new accounts.
I used windows 10 with the latest chrome as of april 2017.
These were brand new chequing and savings account.
(although i did had rbc 4 years before as a joint bank account with my wife) But that was closed.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the article writer and the commenters.
and good luck to the people after me.
Thank you for sharing!
RBC is now requiring businesses to move on to the RBC business US account $9 USD per month with $1.12 transaction fee PER deposit/withdrawal. Waived monthly fee if you have a balance of $2500 or more and ONE transaction free. Was given a call by a rep telling me that using the esavings for business is an infringement to their policies. Really hoping to change to a different bank altogether if there’s other avenues. Just another way for banks to make more money. At least now I get to use the business line and skip the snake line ups.
Ugh that’s terrible!
I was excited to receive my two small deposits to verify my Paypal account was linked with my new RBC Us e-savings however when I gave the go ahead for my first US dollar payout it was covered to CDn by Paypal even though I made the US e-saving my primary account.
I have now switched the primary currency tab to US dollars so I am hoping the next payout doesn’t get converted.
I could arrange a bank transfer directly but was scared off by all the bank info they wanted. Any help here would be appreciated. I could supply the US routing number but not sure what to do about the other numbers or a zip code. There is a formula Canucks can use for pay at the pump gasoline purchases but I can’t remember it and am not sure if that would work anyways.
IBAN Account Number:
Routing Number:
Bank Code (BIC/SWIFT):
Name on the account:
DOB:
Address:
Zipcode:
Cheers, Heather
Thanks for the helpful post! It did not work at first. I got the message “”could not add bank account” but then after calling the french help line and pressing “0” many times I spoke with a gentlemen who knew some English and he must have changed something because I got “the deposits have been sent” message after that. Awesome!
just did it today, it worked great for me. Thanks for this blog post. I didn’t use a hyphen in the account number, I followed exactly what the blog post told me to do.
I’ve been unsuccessful in linking the RBC high-interest US account I’ve had for years (including with online access) to PayPal. The stumbling block appears to be RBC. I’ve used the routing number 026004093 and didn’t include the bank number (003) in the account number.
The first time I added the US account using the helpful steps listed on this page, the test deposits were rejected. The reason, according to PayPal, was that the account was closed. I talked to RBC and the rep said the only reason she could think of for the rejection was account inactivity. So, I made a small deposit and tried again to link to PayPal.
That time, I had to speak to a PayPal rep and answer security questions. When I passed those tests, they were able to confirm the account. Yay, right? Not quite. The transfer I made was rejected by RBC.
I called RBC and found someone who said they had “PayPal experience”. It was his understanding that RBC is trying to close this “loophole”. They only want accounts opened through their U.S. domiciled business to connect to PayPal for USD transfers. I don’t want an U.S.-based account. I decided to give it one more shot the other way.
Again, a rep at PayPal could set up and confirm the account. Again, my transfer was rejected.
Unless someone has other suggestions or insights for fixing this problems, I’m going to have to hold my nose and accept PayPal’s not so great exchange rate and withdraw funds in CAD. (My need for U.S. cash is low. I wanted to move funds in USD to RBC to get a more favourable exchange rate.)
Has anyone else been told that RBC is getting tough on PayPal links?
Worked for me. Opened the USD esavings account over the phone since i already have an online profile with RBC. In paypal, add bank, choose other bank, called it “Royal bank of canada” chose savings, Used transit number 026004093, I did not include the bank number 003, only my 5 digit transit number + my 7 digit account number (no spaces).
Received the test payments next business day.
THANK YOU!!!
correction, i used 026004093 as the ROUTING number, as suggested in the article.
You’re welcome 🙂
I’m glad that I found this blog! – I’m going to open a PayPal account because it’s now the only way for Canadians to receive USD payments from StubHub. – So I just opened a RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account. – And the RBC employee in Ontario who assisted me with same gave me a printout of my Account Info … and re the crucial Routing Number it says “ABA Routing Number (from U.S.) is 021000021.” – So don’t know whether I should use this routing number or the 026004093 that this very helpful blog advises? Cheers.
I would use the one here and give it a shot.
I also went through the same thing as you in the beginning and spoke with so many people at TD and PayPal and it was useless. I’m definitely going to try this!
Just thought I’d comment, my PayPal using the routing number 026004093 stopped working a few days ago. I’ve been instructed to use the routing number 021000021 instead.
After doing some more reading, it seems like RBC has not been using that routing number for 9 years!
This info is incorrect! I made a mistake.
Sorry!
I have Bank account in US bank and RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account in RBC Canada. I need to transfer funds from my US Bank account to RBC US $ account. I have Paypal account in both US and Canada also. I have my US bank account added to my US Paypal and I have been trying to add RBC US$ account to it using suggestion above but none have worked so far. I used routing no-> 026004093 and account no-> 01095003XXXXXX and even got 2 deposits from paypal but then the account was removed form paypal and never got automated withdrawl also. Tried the phone call methond also using routing no-> 026004093or 063216608 and account no-> 01095003XXXXXX adds it first says waiting for confirmation then gets email that it can not be added. I tried using transit no 01095 but it does not take on phone this no.
Can anyone suggest any way which might work to add RBC US$ account to US Paypal which might have worked recently.
I’ve been using this method for almost 2 years and suddenly my transfers are not going through. Anybody have the same issue? More importantly, does anybody have an updated solution?
I transferred money a month ago and didn’t have any problems. What happens when you try transferring?
Does this only work with the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings or will it work with other RBC US Accounts?
I kept getting an error for so many times, but someone here mentioned that it is because of the Chrome. I tried Safary and it worked like a charge May 2017
That’s good to know! I wouldn’t have thought browser would make a difference.
First of all, this is amazing to see so much advice on this thread! I followed your instructions but each time I try, PayPal sends me an email saying the two deposits failed and the bank account is invalid. I’m trying to connect payal to my Canadian RBC business US account. Has anyone had any luck with this?
Just a heads up. I was using this same method for Stripe and Amazon for about a year. As of May 13th 2017 RBC changed something and is not allowing these payments to make it to my bank account. I was just on the phone with RBC and sounds like I need to go fill out a EFORM 1700 for US origin ACH payments. We will see if this fixes things. The paypal deposits however are still working for some reason.
I didn’t know about using this for Stripe or Amazon but I suppose why not. For those that have had this linkage, I don’t think anything has broken as I’ve been able to move funds to my RBC account no problem.
Anyone had luck with this recently? It worked for me back in March but now the first step with linking paypal works but a couple of days later paypal sends email that the micro deposits got rejected by the bank ‘bank account invalid’. I was told by RBC that on May 25th there were some changes made. As a result, only US dollar account in US RBC branch can receive US dollars (monthly fee applies). 🙁
When I go to the option to send money to my current regular cad$ Scotia bank account that is currently linked to my paypal from my usd$ balance in paypal I get *PayPal exchange rate $ 1 USD = $1.308375701 CAD. This rate includes our currency conversion fee.* which comes to $3000usd = $3,925.12 CAD however when I go to the RBC bank converter $3k usd comes up to $3,919.80 cad (
Rate: 1.30660) so paypal actually comes up to a bit more….when checked on xe.com 3,000 USD =4,039.92CAD (1 USD = 1.34664 CAD) …
Anyway, I did just open an RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account successfully and did it online so I did not have to go into a branch with ids which is good and it linked to my paypal account with no issues with the steps provided so I will use it to deposit usd$ and take out usd$ to spend when travelling. Thanks 🙂
Hi there, I was using this for my payments from amazon.com to canadian business account, everything was OK till May 2017. Anyone knows what happened?
Do you mean you were getting paid by Amazon.com via their affiliate program to your Canadian Paypal account but it stopped working?
Thanks for this post! As of June 2017, I can confirm that this “loophole” still works (for me at least)! I was scared that this method won’t work since so many people has been doing this for so many years, but still I gave it a try and it worked!
So here’s my story: I already had an RBC US account (high e-savings) and I followed all the steps. Unfortunately, I got an email after a couple days saying that the bank sent back the small deposits. Then I read WillBeCoded blog post (link is above) and try to do that solution. I contacted PayPal and used their one-time code on the phone. I talked to one of their rep, Whitney, and told her that I wanted to speak with a tech specialist (one of the steps). Instead of transferring to another person, Whitney linked the account for me. She even did the small deposits confirmation step. After that, I withdrew my money and I got it to my bank account in a couple days!
Anyways, I think is hit-or-miss when getting a support rep to help you, but just keep trying because this method definitely still works!
That is good to hear Ceci. Unfortunately it’s not easy for all and it takes a bit of determination to make it work but yes it totally still works!
It seems like it could still work but I keep getting those “bank account invalid” after trying the method and by trying some of the comments way aswell..
After 3 weeks of bank account invalid, I tried again today and now I get “cannot add bank at this time”..
Tried calling the french paypal line, waste of time.
Anybody had success recently?
I have had nothing but troubles over the past 2-3 weeks. I have had a USD high interest savings account for over a year with RBC. I am on my 4th attempt at linking the account.
I have used the routing numbers.
026004093 – Canadian RBC.
This routing number was denied as the two small payments were rejected an I was not able to confirm the bank account.
021000021- JP Morgan Chase in the USA. Given to me from an RBC tech specialist who said this was the routing number to do this.
However, the two payments were not able to be accepted into my account. I had PayPal then manually verify this account. I made a small withdrawal of $10.00 USD. The funds never made it to my bank account. Paypal is now tracing the deposit to retrieve the funds.
I have just spoken with PayPal and we are now trying the US routing number
063216608
I am currently waiting for 2 small deposits to confirm the account. As Paypal would not manually verify as the previous one did not work.
Does anyone have any insight?
I am using my account number, less the “003”
Cheers
063216608 is the correct routing number, can confirm as I am using it.
I was told by RBC that there were changes made and that the only way to do the transfer now is to open a US account which costs $3.95/month. I still tried several different routing numbers including the Georgia one which is what an RBC US account would be using but nothing works.
Many users – paypal, amazon and more are now saying this no longer works.
Not sure if the numbers changed or what.
Hello. I had previously commented on the struggles I had trying to link my Canadian and US PayPal to my Canadian RBC USD high-interest savings account. However, I spoke with an RBC tech specialist who helped me bypass this and get my USD funds properly sent to RBC without the conversation fiasco.
I have a US PayPal account. I used the address of a family member. But realistically, any address will suffice to open a US PayPal account. The RBC specialist then informed me to open a US bank account through their Georgia Branch. So last Friday I did just that. Within 15 minutes I had opened a US RBC account and linked it to my Canadian RBC online banking. At the same time, I was alerted to the fact that if you have a US RBC account, you can also get their no fee USD MasterCard. Which I also did, at the same time I canceled my Canadian RBC USD MasterCard which holds a $65 annual fee.
I then linked my new US RBC account to my US Paypal. using the account number and the US routing number. (It’s all displayed on your US RBC account.) Within a day the confirmation funds were in and my Paypal was confirmed. I can now transfer money freely to my US account and then distribute it how I like. It is free to transfer USD funds from the US account to my Canadian accounts.
Great tip Blake!
Do you have the link for the RBC Georgia bank? Also did you upon a savings or checkings account? How did you link the accounts, did you do it online or over the phone?
hmm.. did the rbc specialist tell you there’s a monthly fee for a US chq acct? they do have a fee free savings acct with certain conditions but you can’t open that one unless you open the chequing which defeats the entire purpose of cost saving. unless there is an account option i’m not aware of? if so, please let us know what type of account you opened. thanks!
I’m just wondering if anyone has successfully been able to send money in USD from RBC back to PayPal and without fees if it worked. I’ve tried and a friend has too but it failed to go through. Please test this & reply. Thanks!
I’ve tried everything there is to try, various routing numbers, with and without the bank code, nothing works if your account is in Canada even it it is a US dollar account. I was told by my RBC branch manager there were some changes earlier this year and what worked in March no longer does. The only way to transfer without paypal fees is to open a US account with RBC in the USA, which you can do as Blake above mentioned. BUT, such account comes with monthly fees so while you save on paypal you have to pay RBC. Do your math and if you’re dealing with large amounts it might be worthwhile for you.
I have an “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” account that has no monthly fees. I linked this to my (Canadian) PayPal account. I could receive USD in my PayPal account, and transfer the USD to my “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” with no problem. However, it is not possible to transfer USD from my RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account to PayPal. It will only allow you to transfer money in to your PayPal account in the local currency. The determining factor here is the address shown in “My Account-Profile” in PayPal. If the address in your PayPal account is in Canada, then your local currency is in Canadian dollars; thus, you cannot transfer USD back to PayPal.
Hi Chito, very interesting. I am only interested in transfer FROM Paypal to USD account, so that works for you? When did you link your “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” account to Paypal? I know it worked earlier this year.
Hi Regi,
I don’t remember the exact date, but I’ve done it twice already. The first time I linked it was around 5 years ago following instructions in this website. Then I noticed for some reason, it got de-linked a year ago, and I don’t know how it happened or why, and I could not re-linked it back when I tried a year ago. However, about 5 months ago, I tried to link it again (following the same instructions in this website) and it worked.
Yes, it used to work. Last time I linked successfully was in mid March 2017.Now it no longer works 🙁
Hi Regi,
My memory is off with regards to my first attempt. It could not have been 5 years ago for my first attempt to link it because this website was not around back then, so maybe it was only 2+ years ago.
On another note, since I have a USA bank account (it’s an internet bank account called CapitalOne360) with an address in USA (I have dual residence/citizenship), I created a separate USA PayPal account (with my USA address in My Account-Profile) using a different email address (from that of my Canadian PayPal account). And with this, of course I can transfer USD from my CapitalOne360 USA bank account to my USA PayPal account. 🙂
Hi Chito, thanks for all the info. I think the paypal US address is key here. My understanding is that paypal converts withdrawals to the currency of your residence and since you’re deemed to be in US they let you keep your US dollars.
Hi Regi,
I have a different view than yours. I don’t believe PayPal knows that my Canadian PayPal account and my USA PayPal account belongs to the same person. They are not linked in anyway, with different addresses, bank accounts, and email addresses. I can only assume, based on my experience, that PayPal will only allow money transfer from a bank account to PayPal in the local currency. Hence, I can only transfer Canadian dollars from my RBC account to my PayPal account, but could not transfer USD from my “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” to PayPal. I could withdraw USD from my Canadian PayPal to my “RBC U.S. High Ingterest eSavings” account though.
My Canadian PayPal account has an address in Canada. It is linked to my “RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings” account in Canada.
My USA PayPal has an address in USA. It is linked to my CapitalOne360 bank account in USA.
I keep them separate, so there is no way PayPal could know it belongs to the same person. I remember, I too had difficulties linking them the last time I tried. It took me several attempts, but eventually got it to work. I just wish someone who has tried recently and was successful will post here, so that we know it still works. I’m just too afraid to de-link mine now just to prove it still works, knowing that I encountered great difficulty the last time I tried. 🙂
There’s a company called TransferWise that does currency transfer at market rates with a flat fee. Pretty good deal and tested a transfer without any hassles (they have a promo for your first transfer up to $1000 free or something)
But they also just brough out a borderless bank account and they give you a proper USD and GBP bank account with routing numbers and everything. Could be something to look at?
Go to the site then select “Borderless” in the top right
https://transferwise.com/u/matthewm271
This TravelBlog Breakthrough post helped me get set up to receive USD from a contract I had and saved me a bunch so thanks a lot for your help!
So I tried to pay for something with the USD account that I added via PayPal and it got rejected and they also removed it from my PayPal account! I’ll try to re-add it.
—
A recent transaction with your bank account ending in x-xx73 didn’t go through.
As a result, we have removed this bank account from your PayPal account.
To re-add this bank account to your PayPal account, please confirm with your bank that all information is correct. Alternatively, you can add another bank account.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Sincerely,
PayPal
Okay so I tried to add my RBC savings account back.. but it wouldn’t let me…. after many tries… it says “You cannot add a bank account at this time”
So I tried after a few hours but this time I added the 3 digit bank # . So transit + bank + account #. It’s odd since the first time I did it, I didn’t have to use the bank #.
Don’t celebrate yet, I was able to get to that stage as well. In a couple of days you should get an email that the bank didn’t accept the micro deposits 🙁
That sucks! I had it added and working too in April, until I tried to pay with my RBC USD account on a purchase… then they removed it. If I can’t add it back in I don’t know what other options I have.
Ah yes, as I expected, based on previous test I have done.
My conclusion:
If your PayPal profile-address is in Canada, it will not allow you to make PayPal payment using your Royal Bank USD account for your funding source. It will only allow you to make payment in USD if you have USD in your PayPal balance. Although it allows you to receive USD in PayPal, then transfer the USD to your Royal Bank USD account; but, the reverse transaction does not work. You cannot make transfer from your Royal Bank USD account to PayPal.
So yeah it didn’t work. That sucks. I had it working since April but it got removed when I accidently paid with the RBC account in Paypal. Oh well I think I’ll get the Crossborder account from TD.
I just accidentally made a USD purchase from my RBC US saving account. Have you relinked your RBC USD saving account successfully?
Fails with a USD RBC Business account.
Doesn’t work for me and I’ve tried everything. I’ve been using the above method successfully for the past 10 years, however recently due to some attempted fraud RBC had to change my business USD bank account number. PayPal won’t let you edit your existing verified account, only add a new one.
I’ve spoken to many agents and they are able to add my account but the micropayments always fail with “Your bank reported a problem”. PayPal is saying the bank is rejecting it, my account manager is saying that they are not seeing any incoming payments.
I’ve tried all 3 transit numbers, including with the 003 bank code and without. I’ve considered opening a crossborder RBC account but it is $175/month for a business account! Really losing my patience with PayPal but no way to avoid them at this time.
*sigh* yeah that really sucks. Sorry that this didn’t work. You’re not the only one. It is possible that RBC has just blocked this method of micro-payments. For those that have the link already, it still works but new folks trying this method might not have luck!
Thanks a lot. I have linked my RBC US saving account to my Paypal. Just wonder it could withdraw USD from Paypal to RBC only or I can add USD from RBC back to Paypal as well?
The link works both ways so yes you can totally fund your Canadian Paypal account with USD from your RBC balance.
Hi Will,
I set up the account but it didn’t accept the micropayments when it was trying to link to paypal 🙁 Can you help?
Hey Jack, I wish I could! It is quite possible that RBC has closed the loop on this as I’m reading more and more comments about the payments not going through. Hopefully someone else trying this an shed some light.
Hey will, i was talking to someone over at rbc and they told me the routing number in this post is outdated, and that i should use 021000021 instead. Is that correct? I tried the routing number you mentioned but the transaction did not go through. Is there another number other then this perhaps? I would really appreciate your help. Thanks a lot for providing all this information by the way, it would be awesome if I can get it to work as well.
Hey Fahad. That’s news to me. Did your rep at RBC know about this specific “technique” or was he speaking about the general routing number for RBC?
Is This still working for anyone? Everytime I try I get
The two deposits that PayPal sent to your bank account as part of the bank confirmation process were returned to us for the following reason:
I’ve tried all kinds of combos 026004093 didn’t work now I’m waiting on 063216608
Royal Bank Of Canada
Savings
transit number + account number (no spaces, no dashes, no institution 003 number at the start)
I have a USD Pay pal business account and trying to link it to my RBC USD account? Any help would be appreciated! Ive tried everything
Hey Jesse, any luck since you tried it the first time?
It didn’t work to me too. I couldn’t withdraw Paypal USD fund to RBC high interest esavings account even though I managed to link the RBC account with my Canadian Paypal account by calling Paypal support. Does anyone here tried with RBC USD chequing account with US branch that has monthly fee and had a luck to withdraw Paypal USD fund to the account? I believed the monthly fee is $4 and in my case that’s cheaper than Paypal fee so I’m thinking of opening the one.
I had to re-add it again because mine was accidentally deleted when paypal tried to withdraw from us bank account which caused to erase the bank account automatically. Just follow the steps above, mine worked like a charm. Just waiting for deposit
Just successfully linked account and clicked withdraw and waiting for money to pop up in the account!
Will update!
Sweet that’s good news! Keep us posted on whether the connection is completed with the deposits!
Hi,
Thanks for all of those informations !
I did everything mentionned in the pinned information on top of this page.
– I opened a RBC e-Saving account
– I linked it to my PayPal
– I was able to transfer US money from PayPal to my RBC e-Saving
The only thing that doesn’t work, are the two small deposits. Every time that PayPal send the 2 small deposits it got rejected and I got an email from PayPal that says Bank Account Invalid and then they remove my bank from PayPal.
I contacted PayPal and asked them how could I transfer money to this bank account but I can’t get those 2 small deposits… they told me that in reality, it’s not 2 deposits, they withdraw 2 small amount and they put it back 2 sec later.
I was like.. ok! But why it got rejected then!?
I contacted RBC and they told me that the e-saving account doesn’t allow Cross-Border Debit! That’s why they rejected the « fake » deposits (in fact small withdraw).
So, how am I supposed to confirm my bank account in PayPal? To be honest, I don’t care about leaving it as Unconfirmed, but as soon as I link it PayPal automatically sent the 2 small deposits.. got rejected.. got removed from my PayPal.
What is the trick to do it?
Thank you,
Philippe
Hopefully somebody in the community is able to help. There are some other folks that I know got the link working and are waiting foe their deposits but I wonder if they’ll run into the same issue as you.
Hi Philippe!
Same here, I couldn’t get through for the 2 small deposits part and my RBC bank was removed.
But you were told that:
“it’s not 2 deposits, they withdraw 2 small amount and they put it back 2 sec later.”
So now I’m wondering because my RBC has $0 balance, the withdrawal/deposit didn’t work.
Did you have funds in your RBC e-savings?
Hi Emma,
Initially I had $0, so I thought that was the problem so I transferred money into it but it didn’t work either. The reason, I think, is that the e-Savings account doesn’t allow Cross-Border Debit.
What I am doing now is.. during the time PayPal sent the 2 deposits and they reject the Bank, we are able to transfer the money and it works perfectly.
So as of now, I have done this 5-6 times already (called PayPal to tell them to put the Bank up again in my account and transfer US money before they Reject the deposits and remove my bank)
That is the only way that I found to transfer US money to my RBC e-Savings account.
Thank you,
Philippe
Do you know how to do it the other way around? I followed this and got it linked to a USD RBC account and can transfer money from Paypal to RBC no problem.
But with all this virus stuff I need to send refunds to customers for a tour and need to send money FROM the RBC USD account back to Paypal. I tried and it failed and Paypal said to call the bank. But they have no clue either. Any ideas?? I’m desperate at this point and running out of options.