Royal Bank of Canada has launched a cash back reward credit card offering 5 percent cash back on grocery store purchases until December 31, 2010. The standard cash back rate on the new RBC Cash Back card is 1 percent on purchases..

“The RBC Cash Back card lets you spend your cash back however you want, for example to reduce your outstanding balance,” says Anna Judek, RBC’s senior manager, rewards cards. “This is different to Wal-Mart’s new Canadian credit card, the Wal-Mart Rewards MasterCard, which only lets you redeem your reward points for money off purchases at WalMart.”

With the new Wal-Mart card, cardholders earn 1.25 percent of their purchases in Walmart Rewards for virtually every dollar spent at Walmart Canada and 1 percent of their purchases in Walmart Rewards when used elsewhere.

The RBC Cash Back card includes EMV chip-and-PIN security as well as Visa payWave contactless technology.

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This is embarrassing to admit for someone who thinks about personal finance a lot, but I have been overlooking a recurring charge on my credit card for about 10 years. The charge always appears as “Payment Protector Premium” and there is also a charge for a “Payment Protector Premium Tax.” I always assumed these charges were simply a part of the fee for the Aerogold Visa my husband and I jointly share. I should have known better. This week I noticed a phone number next to the charge and called to learn more. I reached an insurance company and was dismayed to discover that I have been paying for credit card insurance coverage.
If you own a credit card, chances are you have been asked at some point by the company if you would like to add insurance. It may be at the time you sign up for the card, activate it, or later on by a telemarketer. Sometimes the insurance is offered on a trial basis that continues unless you cancel it. While most insurance plans require a lot of paperwork and even medical tests, your commitment to credit card insurance is made with a simple “OK” over the phone. After accepting the insurance product, you will receive a certificate of insurance in the mail and have 30 days to cancel.

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While about 80% of Canadians visit a doctor at least once a year to help ensure they remain physically healthy, the number of people who check their financial health by regularly reviewing their mortgage is far less.

Plenty can change in someone’s life in a year, never mind during the standard five-year mortgage a lot of Canadians sign up for. A career change, kids, retirement or newfound money or it could be that such a major event is on the horizon. All can affect the type of mortgage that fits just right.

“A lot of people don’t like to face up to it but, doing an annual financial check-up is a very smart thing to do,” says Peter Aceto, CEO and president of Toronto-based ING Direct Canada. “Managing your financial lifestyle is just as important as managing your diet and exercise.”

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Freshly-minted Walmart Canada Bank stepped into the financial-services ring Tuesday with a single product: a rewards-based MasterCard.

But the low-price retailing giant did not rule out using its weight to provide serious competition for the country’s handful of big banks through products and services such as loans, deposits and mortgages.

“Walmart will always look to save customers more so they can live better. That’s our mission,” said Trudy Fahie, chief executive of Walmart Bank Canada. “The bank offering will be no different than our retail offering

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Having a great idea is the easy part of starting a business.

Finding the money — sometimes only a couple of thousand dollars — is the hurdle that trips most would-be entrepreneurs.

That’s a problem a new initiative from Hamilton-based FirstOntario Credit Union will try to solve with a new lending program.

Called micro-loans, the credit union will provide up to $2,500 to back the startup of great small-business ideas hatched by local entrepreneurs. The chief requirement to qualify for the money is completing a business skills course created by the four community agencies backing the program.

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The Canadian economy posted better-than-expected growth in the first three months of 2010, marking the best quarterly performance in over a decade, Statistics Canada reported Monday — and all but cementing the likelihood of a Bank of Canada rate hike this week.

Strong domestic demand and a robust manufacturing sector helped the Canadian economy record annualized growth of 6.1% for the first quarter, the strongest three-month showing since 1999. This followed a stellar 2009 fourth-quarter performance, of 4.9% annualized (although revised down from 5%).

The expectation was for a 5.8% expansion for the first quarter. The 6.1% gain in output marks the third straight quarter of positive growth after the recession, which lasted three quarters. Further, the first-quarter result is just over double the growth the U.S. economy produced for the first three months of 2010, of 3%.

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RBC today launched myFinanceTracker, Canada’s first online financial management tool integrated into an online banking system. myFinanceTracker will automatically categorize transactions, track expenses and provide advanced budgeting capabilities for all personal banking and credit card accounts.

“myFinanceTracker will help our clients save time and money while managing their finances,” said James McGuire, vice president, Digital Strategy and Experience at RBC. “Canadians of all ages and income levels are telling us they have a desire to better understand their financial situation. This online tool can help clients track and manage where they are spending money, an essential first step in reaching any financial goal – whether it’s saving money for a child’s education, retirement, getting out of debt or putting money away for a big purchase.”

A recent RBC poll shows there is demand for advanced yet simple online banking capabilities. A vast majority of Canadians (90 per cent) using financial tools take a combination approach to money management. Among this group, 23 per cent are looking for an automated way to access transactions that are simple and intuitive.

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Canada’s housing market won’t fall victim to the type of foreclosure wave the United States saw, according to a new report by debt-rating firm DBRS Ltd.

DBRS said in the report that Canada will continue to fare well in comparison with its neighbour to the south when the Canadian housing market corrects itself and interest rates rise. That’s because lending practices here are much more sound than in the U.S.

“The likelihood of us having the kind of situation they had in the U.S. is extremely low,” said Jerry Marriot, managing director of structured finance at DBRS. “It’s a combination of the lending practices prior to the peak in 2007 – they were more restrained, so there were better underwriting practices in Canada. We also think there are a number of factors in the Canadian market which have lent themselves to more prudent lending.”

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Entrepreneurs tend to have a little more difficulty getting a loan or mortgage. They tend to keep their income low for tax reasons which makes it hard for a lender to approve the loan. There are however solutions out there and companies that understand your specific situation.

One of those companies is Mortgage NOW out of Ontario. They offer a wide variety of lending options for your specific mortgage needs. They specialize in self employed applicants and those with not so perfect credit situations like bankruptcy and divorce. They have programs that include 100% financing for purchase or re-financing to consolidate debt or for investment purposes.

Learn more about Mortgage Now’s Business for Self Mortgage

According to the RBC survey results, most of us still prefer a fixed-rate mortgage, where the rate of interest is fixed for a specific period of time. With this kind of mortgage, you lock in your mortgage interest rate to a specified rate for a term as long as 10 years. The benefits of a fixed-rate mortgage are that your payments stay the same over this time, and you don’t have to worry about fluctuations in interest rates. If you’re the kind of person who loses sleep over 50-basis-point rate hikes, chances are you’ll find comfort in the fixed-rate mortgage.

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