What is the Difference Between Personal Loans and Payday Loans? + MORE Jan 31st

While they may seem like a quick and easy way to access cash, payday loans (or cash advance loans) are high-risk products that have the potential to lead borrowers into a never-ending spiral of debt and interest payments. A payday loan may be the quick fix that provides instant cash with minimal questions asked, but it can quickly lead the borrower into massive amounts of debt. In many cases, the borrower gets caught up in a vicious cycle of applying for more payday loans just to pay down the interest on their initial loan.
Why do people get payday loans?
Payday loans are typically marketed through smart and often misleading advertising campaigns as a sensible way to see consumers through until their next paycheque. However, these types of loans often come with exorbitant interest rates. Lenders don’t typically ask many questions and don’t generally conduct a credit check, so payday loans may seem enticing to vulnerable people who likely have a bad credit score and are under significant financial stress…

Jan. 31, 2018: The average credit card interest rate inched higher this week, breaking another 10-year record, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report.

OTTAWA _ Traffickers are exploiting Canadian money service businesses to buy deadly fentanyl from overseas and then launder the proceeds through banks and credit unions, warns the national financial intelligence agency.
The federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre is issuing a detailed operational alert to help businesses detect and report suspicious dealings that may be linked to illicit fentanyl, an opioid that is wreaking havoc across Canada.
The alert, which lists specific signs of fentanyl-related activity, was developed through Fintrac’s analysis of intelligence in consultation with Canadian financial institutions and the RCMP.
It is intended to support a broader anti-fentanyl initiative, Project Guardian, led by Fintrac, major bank CIBC and Canadian law-enforcement agencies. CIBC is hosting a meeting of the various players Thursday in Toronto.
The opioid problem is not limited to large cities, noted Bob Kapur, deputy chief anti-money laundering officer at CIBC…

The Citi Simplicity card takes the prize for best balance transfer card, thanks to its long introductory period and simple payment terms.

The newest set of Air France KLM’s Promo Awards were released today and once again we see two Canadian cities in the promotion. This offers will go live around 6pm ET tonight. With promo awards the discount ranges from 25 to 50% off the regular amount of miles required to redeem for these flights. As you can see just by the discount this can be a very good offer if you get 50% off for Business Class! However for us here in Canada the 50% offers are few and far between but we do get 25% off which can definitely be utilized by some! While 25% isn’t as good as 50% of course, it still is something to look at if you were planning travel to Europe for April or MayThe offers are for February are:Toronto, Edmonton, to Europe: 25% off Business ClassOffer Details:February Promo Awards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. Full Details Book by Feb 28 for travel Apr 1 – May 31 18  (Edmonton is Apr 1-30, 18)Here are all the details on the  Canadian offers available for booking this month:Don’t have all the miles? You could always consider transferring Starpoints earned via the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to Flying Blue…