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).
The emergence of Bitcoin has helped digital currency go mainstream. Major cities like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal have recently hopped on board the Bitcoin bandwagon. You can now perform transactions with the cryptocurrency at Bitcoin ATMs. Although Bitcoin is in its infancy, it’s quickly growing – in 2013 there were on average about 30 bitcoin transactions per minute, compared 200,000 per minute for Visa transactions. (Source: Chicago Fed Letter PDF)
“Do you Smallenfreuden?” It’s already been a year since this phrase was introduced to our vocabulary during last year’s NHL playoffs. Visa ran a viral marketing campaign with the hashtag #smallenfreuden – it wasn’t until a few months later, when we discovered its true meaning. “Smallenfreuden” is a made up English/German word that roughly translates to “the joy of small.” The advertisements encouraged consumers to use their credit card for small purchases.
The deal that shook up the credit card world appears to be paying immediate dividends for TD Bank. New credit cardholders have been signing up in droves for TD Bank’s Aeroplan Visa card. The deal added to the big bank’s bottom line by boosting TD Bank’s first quarter profits to $2 billion.
Martin Good – shutterstock.com
The red-hot credit card market just got even more heated. In another blockbuster deal, ScotiaBank announced it’s purchasing a 20 per cent stake in Canadian Tire’s lucrative financial services division for the tidy sum of $500 million. In addition, ScotiaBank has agreed to finance up to $2.25 billion in credit card receivables for Canadian Tire.
Canadian Tire may be best known for its successful retail business, but its highly-successful financial services unit generates most of its cash flow today. As the country’s eighth-largest credit card issuer, Canadian Tire’s financial services division has $4.4 billion in receivables and 1.8 million active customer accounts. The partnership with Canadian Tire Financial Services will help ScotiaBank gain a bigger foothold in the highly sought-after credit card space.
Have you visited the Credit Card Education Centre lately? Well you should – the halls of knowledge have recently been revamped with the information you need to boost your financial knowledge to get the most out of your credit card (while avoiding the not-so-nice pitfalls).
With great power comes great responsibility – a credit card can be a powerful financial tool, when used responsibly. Our goal is to empower cardholders everywhere with the information they need to use credit responsibly, without the burdens of excessive debt. We achieve this through our Education Centre.
