Cash still king with Canadian consumers + MORE Nov 17th

VICTORIA _ British Columbia’s finance minister is pointing to what she says is another confirmation of the province’s healthy economy.
Bond rating agency Standard and Poor’s has confirmed B.C.’s triple-A long-term credit rating.
James says in a release that the rating reflects the province’s superior financial management practices, strong economy and robust liquidity.
B.C. has been rated triple-A with Standard and Poor’s since May 2007, when the province was upgraded from a double-A plus rating.
The release from the Finance Ministry says B.C. is the only province rated triple-A with all three international credit rating agencies, which include Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch.
James says the latest rating report verifies that B.C.’s path forward is a fiscally prudent one.
“Our government will continue to take action to make life more affordable, improve the services that British Columbians count on, and ensure strong economic growth that benefits the entire province,” James says in the release…

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In an increasingly digital world, most Canadians still carry physical money in their wallets and favour cash payments, especially for smaller sums, according to a new report by Canada’s central bank.
However, the report cautions cash could eventually be replaced by continued innovations in payment methods.
“As merchant acceptance of contactless payments increases, consumers may use their debit and credit cards more frequently, accelerating the decline in the use of cash,” read the Bank of Canada report, which is based on two surveys conducted in 2015 and 2013.
In 2015, cash payments made up the majority of transactions at 51 per cent, it said.
Debit cards held the second greatest share of transactions at 31 per cent with credit cards falling last at 19 per cent.
Nearly all small businesses (94 per cent) and large ones (98 per cent) accept cash, according to the report.
However, consumers seem to rely on physical money for the smallest purchases, with the median amount of a cash transaction valued at $8…

Amazon, Marriott and now this, the best Travel Points Credit Card with an annual fee and our 2nd place card overall in Canada is no longer available to new customers. You may have noticed that as of a few days ago we pulled all references of this card off our site and as of yesterday it was taken off the Capital One site as it has been officially discontinued!Citing economics due to the change in interchange rates (see our 2015 death knell post) Capital One has decided to pull this card from the market.What if I already have the card?For now you are OK. Capital One has told us that all existing Aspire Travel World Elite card holders will continue to enjoy this amazing card!It is just for anyone who has not got the card that you have now lost out if you were considering it. We asked Capital One if there is a replacement product in the works and unfortunately there is not.All other Capital One products like the Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum Mastercard® and the Capital One® Aspire Cash™ Platinum Mastercard® are still available…

While racking up miles and points are great, they shouldn’t come first when deciding which credit cards to use for holiday shopping purchases.

Mastercard plans to ditch the signature with credit and debit card payments in April 2018. Visa, American Express and Discover are expected to follow suit, payments experts and retail groups say.