Bc Credit Union Raises Alarms About Payday Loans

MNP's TAKE: It's no secret: Many Canadians are struggling. With a weakened dollar, increased job losses and the cost of living skyrocketing, many Canadians are simply struggling to keep up with financial obligations from one month to the next. It's easy to understand why, in an attempt to keep themselves and in some cases, their families afloat, thousands of people are flocking to debt relief options that offer quick payoff - like those oh-so-tempting payday loans, for example. 

The problem with payday loans is they often come with high fees and quick turnaround expectations. This means - if you're still struggling financially when you return the loan - it's going to be very tempting to turn your original loan into another, then another and another, until you're stuck in a payday loan cycle of debt you can't seem to find your way out of. And that's on top of your regular expenses. 

There is however, good news. If you are struggling with unmanageable debt, there are several debt solutions available that provide actual relief and allow you to get back on track to financial freedom instead of holding you back. 

To learn more about how you can get a fresh financial start, contact Grant Bazian, CIRP, President of MNP Ltd. at 778.374.2108 or grant.bazian@mnp.ca for information as to what debt solutions are available to help you achieve a fresh financial start.

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER - British Columbians are more likely to use payday loan services than residents elsewhere in the country and that worries Canada's largest community credit union.

Vancity has issued a report showing the payday loan industry is thriving in B.C., and use of the high-fee loans has climbed 58 per cent between 2012 and 2014.

Over that same period, the report finds the numb er of people with more than 15 payday loans leaped over 600 per cent as users increasingly relied on the service for necessities.

The credit union notes B.C. has a soaring cost of living, along with the highest rate of working-age people living in poverty, and says those factors may contribute to the sharp increase in the loans.

According to the study, 198,000 people — about 5.5 per cent of adults in B.C. — used payday loans, compared with 5.4 per cent in Alberta and Saskatchewan, just over four per cent in Ontario and a low of 3.89 per cent in Manitoba.

Regulations in B.C. restrict service charges to 23 per cent of the amount borrowed, but Vancity is calling on the banking industry to improve access to small dollar, lower interest loans to reverse the trend.

This article was written by The Canadian Press from The Canadian Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.