Photo via flickr user chuckthewriter
General Electric (GE) recently announced they are spinning off their successful North American retail credit card division. The IPO (Initial Public Offering) of GE’s credit card division, soon to be known as Synchrony Financial, is set for this week. GE has decided to sell off its retail credit card division in an effort to concentrate on its core competencies. What does this mean for credit cardholders? Could better rewards be on the way? Let’s take a look.
Photo via jreed (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It would be a major understatement to say that the last few months have been easygoing for the bullseye brand. Most recently in May 2014, the CEO of Target resigned under mounting pressure after a major security breach and losses of almost $1 billion for its Canadian expansion.
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.
Bank of Canada chief Stephen Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins
If you have a variable rate mortgage, you can relax. The Bank of Canada has decided to yet again to hold the overnight lending rate at 1 per cent. It has been nearly four years since the key interest has been frozen at 1 per cent. This marks the longest stretch in Canadian history interest rates have remained the same.
If you dream of being a homeowner one day, it’s important to understand how to calculate debt service ratios. With home prices sky-rocketing in major cities across Canada, paying for your home with savings is no longer possible for most homebuyers.
A mortgage can help make your dreams of homeownership a reality a lot sooner. Banks use debt service ratios when reviewing your mortgage application. Good debt service ratios can mean the difference between your mortgage application being tossed in the approved or rejected pile.
You may have seen those ads on TV – the ones where the suspicious-looking character with the hand-held device sneaks past the unsuspecting pedestrian. In just the blink of an eye — voila! The victim’s complete credit card information has been stolen by the sneaky, device-wielding thief.
Unfortunately, this isn’t merely a worst-case scenario dreamed up by an over-imaginative marketing department; it’s urban fact. Thanks to modern technology, a criminal can steal your identity by simply walking past you and recording your credit card information, using a hand-held electronic card reader that anyone can purchase for less than $100. This device has the capability to instantly skim information from the radio frequency identity (RFID) chip imbedded in your credit cards. Your credit card information will then be displayed on a computer that’s equipped with a magnetic strip-writing device, which can be used to counterfeit a new card.
