They say the best things in life are free. They couldn’t have been more right! If you’re on the lookout for a new credit card, this is a deal you simply cannot pass up! CreditCardsCanada.ca is giving away free $50 gift cards on approval of select credit cards. What’s the catch? There is no catch! Once your credit card application is approved you’ll receive your gift card code via email.
If you’re like most Canadian families, you’re probably planning a summer getaway. While you probably know you should phone your issuer ahead of time, but have you given much thought to foreign exchange fees? Whether you’re traveling to the United States or Europe, it’s important to ask about foreign exchange fees, as they can really add up.
Contactless payments offer consumers a faster, more convenient way to make everyday purchases. Instead of inserting or swiping your credit card, you can wave your MasterCard PayPass or Visa payWave; the purchase is then authorized, processed and billed in one fell swoop – no signature required!
While contactless payment saves time, some consumers don’t feel at ease with the new method of payment. What if your credit card is lost or stolen? Could fraudsters go on a shopping spree at your expense? Some consumers have gone as far as asking their credit card issuer to disable contactless payment.
While Calgary may be shunning credit cards, Winnipeg is embracing them – at least partially. Although homeowners won’t be able to pay their property taxes directly to the City of Winnipeg by credit card, they can now use Plastiq, a third party service provider, to pay by credit card. This is similar to the service offered by Canada Revenue Agency to taxpayers, allowing them to pay their balance owing by credit card.
Your PIN – short for Personal Identification Number – is a unique four-digit number required to make purchases on credit cards with Chip-and-PIN technology. In today’s society with dozens of usernames and passwords to remember, choosing a credit card PIN that’s easy to remember, yet difficult for fraudsters to figure out, can be challenging.
Credit card fraud is a serious problem in Canada. In 2013, over 693 thousand accounts were the victim of credit card fraud, with an average loss of $671 per account (Source: Canadian Bankers Association PDF). With the widespread adoption of Chip-and-PIN credit card technology, it has helped reduce domestic credit card counterfeiting by more than 23% from 2012 to 2013 (Source: Canadian Bankers Association infographic).
