We started silverorange just over eight years ago. Back then a cheque (or "check" as our neighbours call it....er.. neighbors) from a client south of our border was worth over one and half of its value in Canadian funds. It was like winning a small lottery every time you made a deposit.

Today the tables have officially turned: We lost money making a US deposit. While the exchange rates are still not quite at par the greedy banks take a little off the top when they buy currencies off of you. With this small bank fee we received less Canadian dollars than the US dollars we deposited.

I'm not an economist but this can't be good for the US. Their websites are now going to cost more to build.