With Labour Day, the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of the school year, less than a week away, it’s the perfect time to discuss credit cards. There a lot of things to look forward to going back to school – frosh week, reconnecting with friends and pub nights – but credit card debt isn’t one of them.
Choose your credit card wisely. You’ll be spending a lot of time (and money) together. Not all credit cards are created equal. You should always compare interest rates, fees, and rewards programs to see how credit cards stack up against each other. After all, a rewards program is no good if you don’t value the rewards.
We all live busy lives. Between going to work, hitting the gym and finding time at the end of the night to watch the summer Olympics, your credit card is probably the last thing on your mind. It’s easy to overlook your credit card and take it for granted, but by doing that, you’re making a big mistake.
While there’s nothing wrong with taking full advantage of the summer, it shouldn’t mean taking a vacation from your finances. 35 percent of Canadians will go into small debt due to summer spending, finds a BMO report. In fact, 56 percent don’t have any solid plan for repaying that debt. Yikes! Maybe instead of “summertime,” we should call it “splurge-time”?
“Do you have Air Miles?” It’s question many of us have been asked by the perky cashier behind the counter at our favourite retailers. Air Miles is one of Canada’s most popular travel rewards, but that popularity has recently turned into cardholder outrage with the revelation that miles would soon start to expire.
Last month we wrote about the ongoing battle between Walmart and Visa over interchange fees. Walmart has been relentless in its demand for lower fees, but Visa is refusing to budge, claiming the retailer giant is asking for lower fees than local grocers, pharmacies, convenience stores, charities and schools.
