CreditCards posts

After cleaning the garage and giving the household a good scrub, you may think you're done with spring cleaning.

Before you rest in your newly cleaning backyard lounge, have you thought about your finances?

Everyone thinks about taxes during the month of April, but how about bank accounts, bills and credit cards and other payments?

When was the last time you took a look at what fees and surcharges were being taken from accounts or being issued when you access your money? Does your wallet look like George Costanza's?

Mobilicity is asking consumers to take time to look at their finances and make sure your money is benefitting you.

It's nearing the end of the month and you've either received your credit card statement from Christmas or the dreaded mail is about to arrive. Have you taken a deep breath and braved opening the envelope, or are you resigned to letting it collect dust for now and deal with it later?

If you have the courage to open your credit card statement up, you'll notice something new - a measure the government forced companies to report a few months ago. And, if you carry a balance on your card, it might be a scary number to look at. There's a little box either on the side or back of your statement that now has to tell you how long it will take for you to pay off your credit card balance if you only make the minimum payment. This month's mini money make-over features Jeffrey, who's looking at a whopping 134 years and 7 months to pay off his credit card. Yes, you read that right. He's currently 37 years old, and if he doesn't learn a simple trick to financial freedom, his debt will outlive him by decades.

Attention Cyber Monday shoppers, your credit card is being compromised in aisle three...

Just kidding. Well, sort of. According to PayPal Canada and Ipsos-Reid, the number of Canadians who are aware of this online shopping phenomenon has jumped dramatically, from 24 per cent in 2010 to 52 per cent today.

They also say roughly 41 cents of every dollar lost to scams in general, is lost to online scams in particular. (Note: If someone from Nigeria wants you to send money, don't do it.)

If you're interested in protecting yourself, we've written, somewhat extensively about the subject of online safety here at Walletpop. Check it out:

Visa is advising consumers to be on the lookout for devious online and telephone marketers that charge unauthorized fees.

According to Visa's second annual deceptive marketing survey, 21 per cent of Canadian credit card holders have been victimized by fraudsters after accepting an offer online or over the phone. Typically, the frauds involve hidden clauses or terms that are not well disclosed.

B.C. and Ontario residents reported the highest incidence rates, 26 per cent and 24 per cent respectively. On the Prairies, 17 per cent of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents reported being victimized.

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This guest post is provided by Bank Guru from BankNerd.ca, a finance blog dedicated to helping Canadian consumers learn more about the banking world. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook or join their newsletter.

Credit cards are among the most innovative inventions in history; they have been used for decades but have become a primary way for people to fall into debt. Knowing which credit cards pose the least risk and suit one's needs is essential. The first thing to understand is how many different types of cards exist, and the difference between them.

The new kids on the "plastic" block - let me introduce you to the world of prepaid credit cards, travel and gift cards.

All these cards can create confusion as to their use, value and costs. But search no further - I have the answers for you! Well, most of them, anyway.

RBC's Visa gift card. You can choose the value you wish to buy and use as you wish. If they're registered, you're protected against theft and generally used as if it were a regular credit card (in person or for purchases over the phone or via the Internet). There's no fee to use your card, however, if you don't within six months, you'll be charged a $1.50 a month fee until the balance runs out.

There are two main players on the market for your pre-paid gift giving pleasure (or for your own personal use). RBC's VISA Gift Card and somewhat newer on the market, BMO's prepaid MasterCard.

BMO's card is interesting and specifically targeted to traveling, replacing those pesky travelers cheques (do people still use those?) In any event, as a frequent road warrior myself, I do know the trepidation of having one's credit card shut down or suspended (by no fault of your own) just when checking in or out of a hotel, or when paying for a large party's tab. As the credit card companies have become ultra-sensitive to any unusual purchases on credit card holders accounts, they`re also quicker to shut down cards, issue news ones (leaving you without a credit card), or place a restrictive hold until you give them a call and tell them yes, it was you trying to make 'that' purchase. Because we're 100% protected from fraud with both VISA and MasterCard, they`re making using their own cards challenging at times.

Every time you take out that rewards card the merchant behind the counter is probably smiling through gritted teeth.

This is because rewards carry processing fees of 3 to 3.5%, as opposed to the typical 2% on credit cards without all the bells and whistles. Thanks to the current interchange fees in this country, among the highest in the industrialized world, for every item a retailer sells 3 to 3.5% of the total take on that item must go to the credit card companies the moment a rewards card is used.

"As a consumer, if you have any type of points program, flight program, rewards program, cash back or gas program on your credit card that's great for you, -- it makes sense, I have lots of those cards in my wallet --but who do you think is paying for those flights and for those points and for that cash back?" asks Marcus Dagenais, VP of business development for Fee Fighters Canada, a web company hoping to even the playing field for the merchant when it comes to exorbitant credit card processing fees. After all, interchange fees are paid by the retailer and passed to the card issuing banks to pay for those rewards.

With these fees so high, merchants are forced to pass on the cost to the consumer through retail markups. With close to 50% of the credit card market made up of rewards cards, consumers are being hit more than ever before.

Emerson emailed me looking for some financial assistance. He's self-employed, single and his annual income hovers around the $55,000 mark, although it fluctuates radically from month to month.

He's stressed about his finances as, in his words, "It's always gone before I even receive it". To figure out the mystery of his missing money, I had him take my 30-day anti-budget challenge. He agreed to track every dollar he was spending over a 30-day period and we sat down to figure out where his money was going. I also poured over his bank and credit card statements for the past year. One of the main culprits gobbling up his disposable income? Hidden fees that amounted to a trip or two a year if he had been aware of them.

Read on to see if you're making the same mistakes as Emerson and something as simple as not paying attention to the fees you pay could be standing in the way of your next vacation and more!

When it comes to loyalty, women adore their loyalty programs, while men love their credit cards.

In a new survey by popular loyalty program Air Miles, gender differences are more than just a preferred planet, men and woman focus on different financial concerns when it comes to spending their hard-earned loonies.

According to the survey, 61 per cent of men will have more than one credit card, and 42 per cent of men are more hands on when it comes to managing their credit cards.

Eighty per cent of women are more likely to have more than one loyalty program card and their spending habits are definitely affected by credit card debt - 74 per cent versus 63 per cent of men. And both genders agree - they have too many credit and loyalty cards in their wallets.