October 19 Update: Scotia buys Sears Card portfolio from Chase, Sonesta Hotels added to Rewards Canada + MORE Oct 20th

ROME – Rome’s outgoing mayor has denied using public money for private family dinners as he seeks to defend himself from a politicized scandal that may cost him his job.
Mayor Ignazio Marino held a press conference Tuesday after he voluntarily met with Italian prosecutors investigating his use of a city hall credit card. He and his lawyer made it clear he is not under investigation in the case but is merely someone with information to offer prosecutors — an important distinction in Italy.
Marino announced Oct. 8 he was resigning after newspapers documented a half-dozen dinners, totalling a few hundred euros (dollars), that apparently didn’t correspond to official business. He said then he would take the 20 days allowed by Italian law to reconsider. He said Tuesday he was still reconsidering.
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According to data from the National Association of Realtors, an overwhelming majority of homebuyers search for properties online and then purchase their home through a real estate agent.
But, if real estate search site BuzzBuzzHome has its way, that’s about to change.
For the past few years, the online searchable catalogue has been offering potential homebuyers extensive information on new-construction homes or condos for sale, including projects in their planning stages, under construction or recently completed.
As with online classified site Kijiji, builders or developers can pay to have their projects showcased on the site, ensuring the listing receives a bit more attention.
Instant Purchase With The Push Of A Button
To fuel the engine further, BuzzBuzzHome recently announced plans to launch a “buy now” button, allowing homebuyers to skip busy sales centres and instantly purchase one of these listings with nothing more than a credit card.
After choosing your condo and reviewing the related documents online, you need only digitally sign the purchase agreement and wait for the developer to sign off…

Don’t look now but the credit card space is getting a little more crowded. PC Financial, Scotiabank and Rogers Bank have all unwrapped new retail rewards credit cards in recent weeks—and of these offerings, the Scotia GM Infinite Visa is particularly rich. Below we’ve provided breakdowns for a typical consumer spending $2,000 a month using one these new cards. But if you’re still not sure which type of card offers the best value for you, head over to our online credit card selector tool to personalize your search.

 
The post New retail rewards credit cards unveiled appeared first on MoneySense.

Election day here in Canada and lots of things going on behind the scenes mean our daily update is being posted later than usual today! News, Tips & TricksLast Thursday news broke the Scotiabank had bought JP Morgan Chase’s credit card portfolio here in Canada. There was mixed news as to whether it was just the Sears card portfolio being bought seeing as that agreement ends in November or if it was all of Chase’s cards including Amazon and Marriott. We have spoken with both Chase and Scotiabank representatives and have confirmed it is strictly the Sears Card portfolio that Scotia has bought. This is good news as I know some of you were worried about what might happen to your Marriott Premier Visa in particular. We don’t have the details yet as to what the Sears cards from Scotia will be like but hopefully they keep the Voyage MasterCard as it was a decent card. We added yet another new loyalty program to Rewards Canada today. Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass. This hotel chain has over 30 hotels in the U…