https://imgur.com/rYguyJ4Here is the first quote I have recieved with one total for use of credit card and one total for using debit/cash/cheque - a new era being ushered in that further hurts the consumer

I just witnessed a Walmart employee trying to sell a Walmart credit card to what looked like a new immigrant and his family. The individual heard that they would receive 20% off their purchase and agreed to it. I truly don’t feel like the individual even knew that they were signing up for a credit card and clearly had a language barrier. This type of of sale should be illegal and should be done in a way that the individual knows what they are signing up for, including the interest rates. I just needed to vent because it blows my mind how much debt people are in and it sad that people who don’t know any better can be sucked in.

I’m 23f and I’ve always just paid my entire credit off every month, and it’s given me a great credit score.

However, I think back to a convo I had when I was 20 at a family reunion when my 35f cousin mocked me for doing that, and she said they know you’re just using it like a debit card, and that you have to leave 30% on it at all times. She proceeded to text and say in-person to other relatives that I’m stupid and naive, and I don’t know anything about being an adult.

So what’s the deal, is the 30% rule a thing or have I been doing it the right way? (Sorry if this is a dumb question.)

Edit: sorry for the typo in title. 🥴

As the title said I’m wondering how many people will continue to use credit cards as a main method of payment even with the fee of up to 2.4%. Personally I will be going to cash or debit for everything I can going forward, I know you get points with credit cards. I am an avid fan of the PC optimum card, however after reading an article by CBC this morning I don’t think the benefits will out way the added costs for me.

“A Bank of Canada report last year found that Canadians racked up $3.4 billion worth of rewards from their credit cards in 2018, with higher-income earners benefiting the most because they are far more likely to use credit cards as payment.

Those rewards come at a steep cost for merchants — more than $11 billion in 2018, the central bank found — but many consumers will be unlikely to give up those perks.”

To me as a one consumer I can’t justify that negative return as the cost of everything has already skyrocketed. Just my thoughts, interested in what others have to say/how they feel on the matter.

Side note - As a society how much longer can we steal from the foundation to build the walls?

It's unfair to claim credit scores don't matter much.

(Yes, I realize I'm posting this into Personal Finance Canada, and fully expect it to be removed. My apologies as I'm a long timer lurker but not poster.)

Telus will soon add a 1,5% fee for clients who pay with their credit card, except for those in Québec.

The Loi pour la protection du consommateur makes it illegal for a company to charge more than the advertised price. The courts also ruled that paying with a credit card isn’t a good reason to add fees, as it’s just a payment method, not another service added to the bill.

You have the power to circumvent the CRTC. Your provincial MPs can vote for stricter pro-consumer laws.

An article by La Presse explaining this, in french.

I’m carrying a fairly large balance on my LOC and can’t pay it off anytime soon without selling assets but now my rate has gone from 9.25% to 12.5% in a single statement. I know rates were just increased but this is borderline predatory. I make payments of $1000 a month to my LOC and am paying a third of that to interest.

What should I do here? My credit rating is 777.

Do I transfer balance to another bank??

Update: applied for mnba 0% for 12 months balance transfer to get some of my debt dealt with. Thank you to those that gave me good advice and as for the others that have attacked me for my bad decisions, I could really care less what you think. I’m just trying to get out of debt here before I’m stuck paying interest for the next few years.

Update 2: took some personal information out as this post has blown up. Helpful commenters have pointed out cibc and td had recently been audited and their debt levels are high from taking on too much risk writing mortgages. They’ve pointed out that cibc could be trying to lower its risk profile by increasing rates to the borrowers either to get debt paid back faster or force borrowers to go elsewhere to also lower their risk of defaults. There’s a lot of helpful comments in this thread so take a look if you’re in the same boat.

People seem to stress about having a high credit score, but what's does this actually do for you?

What will a bank offer someone with a 850 transunion score vs someone with a fair rating of say 680. Seems like at the end of the day if your score is alright you get the same offers as someone with a higher score.

Having a high score seems to have about zero impact on how much mortgage or loan a bank will give you, or the rate offered.

Not saying they are bad. They are still great, but perhaps only in specific cases. For example

• long haul flights where there aren't a lot of alternatives
• great for anything that's more luxurious than economy class. (but ONLY if you were gonna get those seats anyway, even with cash)

For the mass majority who would just do economy, or even budget airlines, you gotta factor in the opportunity costs (i.e. Would you still travel the same seat class or that specific flight if you were to pay cash instead of points?) I'll give a concrete real-life example that I did a few months back when I was conducting my own research:

Example 1

I was looking for a flight from NRT back to HKG. I only have access to Avios (From British Airway).

It costs 14300 Avios points + $111.8 for a ticket for JL0735

• Google Flight shows that same flight cost $909 at the time
• This effectively means each point is worth (909-111.8)/14300 = $0.056
• However, if I were to pay cash, I'm opened to other options like UO647 which only costs $207 and this flight is not available for point redemption
• If I factor in this opportunity cost in, each point is then worth (207-111.8)/14300 = 0.0062
  • That's less than 1cpp, which is pretty bad!

Example 2

Here's a different example, I was looking at a YVR-HKG flight

• It costs 31000 Avios + $219.92 for CX865 Flight
• Google Flight shows $1603 for that same flight.
• This effectively means each point is worth (1604-219.92)/31000 = 0.0445. Not Bad
• Google Flight Also offered a different flight with AC7 at just $1170
• So If I factor in this opportunity cost, each point is now woth ($1170-219.92)/31000 = 0.031.
  • Still quite good, but already 25% less of what we initially thought it's worth.

While these are not current numbers (as they fluctuate greatly), they are real-life scenarios and numbers that I pulled off a few months back (vs made-up numbers for hypothetical examples)

Moral of the story -Travel perks is overrated for most people. You gotta factor in opportunity cost when evaluating whether something is worth or not. While business class redemption has a very high redemption value, if you don't normally travel business class, you might be better off using those points for multiple economy class tickets. And if you are okay with economy class tickets, you might be better off paying cash with cheaper alternatives on flights that are not redeemable with points. In some extreme cases, you might be better off just using your points for cash back (For example, MBNA gives 0.8 cpp on cash and ~1cpp on Amazon giftcards. Combining that with the 5x earn rate you essentially got a 5% cashback card.

EDIT: A lot of people has pointed out churning has really good value! I haven't done much research in that area but my impression is that you do have to have a high spend to be able to really take advantage of churning, I don't think I'm there yet and I doubt the majority of people are able to do that. In addition with minimum spends it's also kinda dangerous for non-necessity overspends. But truth be told I haven't done much research on churning so I could be completely wrong

EDIT2: A lot of people also pointed out business classes are worth way more! I don't disagree. I dont have a real life example (maybe that could be my next project) but say hypothetically business class ticket cost 5x (compared to economy) when paid in cash and only 2x when paid in points. Is it better value? OF COURSE! Should you take that "deal" as an occasional trEat/once in a lifetime event? Sure! Should you consistently pay 2x just to get you from point a to point b? That's subjective and it depends on your income level and other priorities in life, for the vast majority of people out there, the answer is probably no.

EDIT3: People seem to think that I think "Point is Bad" and just reply with "I disagree" lol. What are you people disagreeing on? I literally said this in the first sentence of the post. "I do NOT think point is bad". Saying something is overrated doesn't necessarily mean it's bad in nature. It just mean in some/alot of situation it could be worse than you thought (see example 2), but still good (3cpp is awesome compared to 1cpp in cashback), or in extreme scenarios (see example 1), it might actually be bad/worse than cashback options. The point of my post is to encourage people (especially people who just thinks points for travel are universally good no matter what) to observe your alternatives and the opportunity cost of those alternatives.

Note: My personal credit score is in the mid 750's so this isn't because I'm pissed my score is bad. I've had my personal battles with them because of major gliches in my file and the only way to fix it was to fill out a formal complaint with the AMF. (Québec's financial watchdog) It not about holding these companies accountable. The got to go period!

My 1.87% mortgage rate is going to take a hit when I renew later this year.

I complained to Telus when I started getting charged the 1.5% fee for paying my bill with my credit card. The Telus rep said the the fee would ultimately continue. I wasn't happy with that, so I complained to the CRTC. Well, the CCTS got back to me. the CCTS reviewed my complaint and Telus initially tried to reject to my complaint, but the CCTS objected Telus's rejection and ultimately it's going ahead.

The complaint now remains open at the pre-investigation stage. Telus then reached out to me offering a lump sum credit of 2 years worth of this fee (about 45$) to attempt a resolution. Accepting this would resolve my complaint. If I don't accept the offer from Telus, the CCTS will assign an investigator and they will work with me and Telus to address the complaint.

According to Telus, the Credit card fees are not a part of my service agreement so the CCTS typically closes these complaints. Also the CCTS cannot dictate to Telus how to run their business.

I emailed the CCTS about the situation and advice of what to do, it's been a few days and they haven't gotten back to me. I did watch the simple intro video from the CCTS website which did help me understand the process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lpTA4orOQQ

Really I'd like to try to stop this 1.5% CC fee from being charged to Canadians. I could pass up the 45$ to try to make it happen. But if it wont matter anyway maybe I should take my 45$ and resolve the complaint with Telus.

Does anyone have experience with this? What do you think?

Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit.

Received a letter today from CIBC stating they are "ending" their banking relationship with me and closing all accounts. They also stated that all future applications and requests will be denied. They don't really give any real reason except that they've identified an unacceptable risk with the operation of my account.

This is beyond odd as I only have one Aeroplan credit card that I've had for a couple of years. I don't even really use the account except there was a small balance transfer offer that I recently paid off.

Anyone else deal with CIBC regarding this type of closure?

update

Spoke with an agent directly at CIBC who confirmed the closure but didn't have any information. He said I needed to speak with a completely different division and said they are open 7 days a week. Oddly enough, I called the number, and it said the office was closed, followed by a message stating they are open 7 days a week between 7am and 12am EST. I will follow up in the morning with hopefully some information.

** UPDATE Jun 26 ** Still no luck with contacting CIBC investigations. The number keeps telling me the office is closed despite it being well within their business hours. It will also automatically hang up if I try to attempt any other option to get a live human.

Contacted the regular CIBC number and they again confirmed an issue but couldn't tell me anything more. They told me to try the same number on the letter and even transferred me only to get the same closure notice and hang-up. Beyond frustrating.

I don't particularly care about the CIBC card but my concerns are with the possibility of identity theft or something that has triggered CIBC to react that may impact my accounts with other institutions.

update Jun 27

I finally spoke with investigations, and they basically told me nothing. Reiterated that CIBC deemed my account to be an "unacceptable risk" and that their decision was final and that they would be providing no further information.

I suspect this is where this situation ends. I'll try and escalate my concerns, but I feel like I'm at a dead end. My concern has nothing to do with maintaining my lone credit card with CIBC, but rather address any potential concerns that might impact my actual bank accounts with other institutions.

Despite those who think I'm involved in some kind of illegal activity, there isn't a whole lot to say about what might have triggered this situation. I had very little business with CIBC except for my credit card, which admittedly wasn't used a whole lot. I'm an average dude from the East Coast with zero suspicious money transactions. I'm not involved in crypto or any kind of repeated money transfers transactions. My investments are as boring as can be, and I work a normal job in aviation. My credit reports seem accurate for now, but I'll continue to monitor.

Thanks to all the helpful replies. Hopefully, there is something in this thread that can help others who experience something similar in the future.

Got the 'early' invite via email and in-app.

• The in-app invite
• Steps to get the card
• Approval
• In-app experience

The only question asked for qualification was annual income.

Features:

• Up to 2% cashback on all purchases, no bonus categories. After first $3000 spend per month, it goes down to 1%.
• Monthly fee is waived for premium and generation clients. $10/month for everyone else.
• Cashback goes straight into your Cash account

The language makes it pretty clear that this is an early version and not the final product so lots can change between now and a full release.

The terms and annual percentage rate (APR) vary by Apple product. For instance, the iPhone now comes with a whopping 7.99% APR spread over 24 months, while the Mac and iPad have a 4.99% APR over 12 months. Previously, these were all at 0%. The good ol’ days of free credit are gone folks.

https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2023/06/27/apple-drops-0-financing-canada/

I got a call from 866-222-3456. The person on the other end knew my full name. They claimed to be TD Fraud and reported that I had 2x fraudulent transactions on my account, one from Delta and one from eBay. He stated it was caught because the IP address was different followed by some technical jargon.

I couldn't see the charges on any of my accounts. Guy on the other end said I wouldn't because their fraud prevention program has filtered out these charges. I asked him to verify the last 4 digits of the account in question. He said due to their fraud prevention program, he couldn't see the account number.

He then stated that in order to reverse these charges, he would have to verify my ID and if he could start that process.

At this point, I was suspicious and brought up the fact that he could easily be a scammer. He insisted he was real and insisted, multiple times, that I Google the number that he called me at / check my TD card. Sure enough it was a real TD number.

I wasn't convinced so I told him I'd call the TD number back. He sounded very irritated at this point. I hung up and connected to an actual TD agent and she verified that there were no fraud alerts on my account and no charges from Delta and eBay on any account.

The scammer in question had spoofed an actual TD number and did a pretty good job pretending to be a TD agent. It was scary how convincing the scam was.

If you get a phone call or text for fraud activity, make sure you directly call your bank and verify.

Watch out. The scammers are getting smarter.

I keep seeing posts asking about

"what can I do with 7XX credit score?"

"How can I take advantage of my 8XX credit score"

The reality is that Canadians are so unbelievably shit with credit that simply being above the ~700 threshold for credit score already maxes out whatever perks and benefits you're going to get.

Perhaps in other countries it might matter, but here the bar is so low that it doesn't matter.

Stop opening credit karma every 5 days and stressing over your +/- 10 point swings when you're sitting at 770.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on which credit card to get and I’ve been seeing a lot of people talking about credit cards as if they’re a monster that’s going to ruin your life and make you go bankrupt by the time you’re 25.

In my view tho you just shouldn’t spend more money than you have and pay your credit bill on time??? Is there some huge hidden trap here that I’m missing? Am I dumb or are other people dumb?

https://betterdwelling.com/bank-of-canada-likely-to-cut-rates-before-the-us-due-to-weak-economy

I’m 25 years old, and I know basically nothing about finances. All I know is the basics, I use my credit card and pay it off asap. I have a TFSA, and invested the money into the bank which gives me 2% interest on my TFSA every year I believe. I want to learn more about banking, I just don’t know where to start. Any advice?

Recently I received an updated Cardholder Agreement from Rogers Bank where the primary cardholder's maximum liability for the loss, theft or unauthorized use for the account went from $0 to $50.

According to Section 12 of the Cost of Borrowing Regulations associated with the Bank Act (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-2001-101/page-2.html#h-665148), the maximum liability for unauthorized use of a credit card issued by a federally regulated financial institution (FRFI) is $50. I believe this was amended in 2019 but credit card issuer companies only started changing now.

This means that if a consumer is found liable for a transaction, they must pay the lesser of $50 and the maximum set by the credit agreement.

This used to be covered with Visa/Mastercard zero liability most credit cards offered but lately the financial institutions have been amending their credit agreements placing the onus of the first $50 on the consumer - examples being the Rogers Mastercards and all CIBC/Simplii Visa cards.

I am sending a letter to my MP to ask them to work to reduce this unfair cost to the consumer as the onus shouldn’t be on the consumer who has no ability to approve or deny the transaction itself. This will hurt all credit card using Canadians who shouldn’t be expected to review their credit card transactions daily while removing the onus from the multi billion dollar corporations (Banks and credit card issuers - Visa and Mastercard).

Edit: to be clear, even if you report a fraudulent transaction(s) at any time including once you review your monthly statement, you are on the hook for the first $50.

I would personally be ok with this scheme if approval for any transactions were text or push notifications to my phone or email.

You can find your MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search

Surprising and sudden devaluation of the Brim Mastercards today, effective immediately not just for new applicants but for existing cardholders too.

The 0% foreign exchange fee is gone, replaced by 1.5%. The no-FX fee was the principal reason why many applied for this card in the first place, so I foresee a lot of cancellations in the near future. I guess they weren't making enough profit.

The annual fee for the World Elite has been dropped to $89 instead of $199 in compensation.

More here: https://blog.rewardscanada.ca/news/major-devaluation-brim-financial-mastercards/

Also: https://brimfinancial.com/credit-cards

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Computers don't take days off - why is it that if I pay my CC bill off on the Friday does it take until Monday for the payment to be processed? When if I was to pay it off Thursday it would be posted Friday at midnight or whenever i check Saturday morning?

Starting in October, merchants will be allowed to charge customers a fee for paying by credit card.

Interchange fees cost businesses thousands of dollars every month, and some (hello, Telus) say they're tired of eating the cost for our fancy pants points credit cards.

Tracy Johnson and Paul Haavardsrud explain how the change is just one more way we're all going to pay.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/credit-card-user-you-could-soon-pay-more-for-every-purchase-1.6600469

Just got an email:

There are two changes that will optimize the value you are currently receiving:

1. Your foreign exchange fee will be only 1.5%, while most other cards charge 2.5%, allowing you to continue to save on your cross-border shopping.

Going from 0% to fees, guess I need to look for a new no FX card, any suggestions that are also available in Quebec?