“Given the lack of financial inclusion, many low- and moderate-income people are being forced to borrow from predatory lenders,” the report said.īy the time Geoffrey McFadden tried to apply for a small loan with the Canada Post/TD program after struggling to pay for groceries and gas late last year, it was already too late. “While (regional) credit unions are playing an important role and so are programs such as rent banks/rent grant programs, these remain too few and limited in reach,” said the report. (The latter requires a chequing account and credit card with Desjardins.) The report, which ACORN is publishing on Thursday, concludes that “short term, low-cost credit alternatives in Canada” are “extremely limited.”Ī scan of short-term, low-cost credit options offered in recent years found only two available nationally: the now defunct TD/Canada Post program and Accord D financing offered by Desjardins. News of the loss of the consumer loan program comes as a new report from anti-poverty advocacy group ACORN highlights the lack of affordable lending options available for Canadians struggling to meet budget shortfalls. TD directed questions to Canada Post and did not answer followup queries about how many customers applied for or received the loans. “Following a comprehensive review, we have now jointly decided to pause the MyMoney Loan application indefinitely,” Canada Post spokesperson Lisa Liu said in an email. But months later, neither Canada Post nor TD would provide a reason for ending the program. When the MyMoney program was paused in November, TD said it was because security monitoring detected an apparent attack (the bank said no customer information was compromised). The Crown corporation and TD launched the MyMoney program nationally last fall, billing it as a way to fill the gap between payday loans and the much lower-interest loans traditional banks offer to customers with better credit ratings.īut about two months later, they put the program “on pause” and now, Canada Post confirmed to the Star, MyMoney loans “will no longer be offered.” An initiative by TD Bank and Canada Post to offer small consumer loans at post offices across the country has come to an end, leaving another vacancy in the landscape of lending options for low- and moderate-income Canadians.
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