Tausi Insider

Gordon Dean hands groceries to a customer (Will and his dog Sammi) in his store in Chesterville, Ont., on Nov. 10. Christinne Muschi/Tausi Insider At Gordon Dean’s small-town grocery stores in Ontario and Quebec, the rattle of coins in the checkout tills is a more infrequent sound than it used to be. The five stores in the Mike Dean Local Grocer chain are seeing customers pay with credit cards much more often. Before COVID-19, about 40 per cent of purchases were made in cash; these days, it’s closer to 18 per cent. And that has taken a bite out of the bottom line. “It’s chewed it up,” Mr. Dean said. “It basically increased our monthly processing-fee bill by 30 per cent.” Credit cards are the most common form of payment in Canada, and their use has skyrocketed during the pandemic. But how the credit-card system actually works is something most of us rarely think about – to the chagrin of some business owners, who subsidize the cost of that system. “Your travel points or your rebates –...

People shop at the Eaton Centre in Toronto on Nov. 22. CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters As disturbing as the past year has been in personal finance, 2023 threatens to be worse. A huge wave of interest rate increases hit this year. Next year, they really sink in. The cumulative impact of higher payments on mortgages, credit lines and floating rate loans will challenge households to maintain their lifestyle without incurring more debt, and slow the entire economy. Stress Test podcast: Recession-beating tips for the job market, housing, investing and cost of life One way to ease your way into 2023 is to keep a firm grip on your holiday season spending. You won’t find the religion of frugality preached here. Ya gotta live, I say. But there are ways to stay in control of your spending so that you don’t spend January regretting December. Here’s a 10-pack of ideas for you: Avoid BNPL Buy now, pay later is an option that many retailers and some credit card issuers offer where you pay for a purchase wit...

Equifax Canada says an increase in borrowers helped push total consumer debt to $2.36-trillion in the third quarter for a 7.3 per cent rise from last year, even as mortgage volumes decline. It says average non-mortgage debt rose to $21,183 for the highest level since the second quarter of 2020, with early signs of strain starting to show in auto loans and credit cards. Overall non-mortgage debt came in at $599.9-billion for a 5.3 per cent climb from last year, and up 1.9 per cent from the third quarter of 2019, as the number of borrowers rose by 3.1 per cent. Rebecca Oakes, Equifax Canada’s head of advanced analytics, says the rising debt stems from a combination of growth from immigration, pent-up spending, as well as increased borrowing as consumers feel the strain of higher living costs. Credit card spending in the quarter was up 17.3 per cent from last year to an all-time high for the time period. Average spending put on credit cards was almost $2,447, a 21.8 per cent jump from t...