Marcia Bryan was one of many Canadians who took out a loan from an alternative financial services lender, only to find herself swamped with steep monthly payments and debt that wouldn’t budge.
proposed lowering the criminal rate of interest for consumers to 35 per cent annual percentage rate from the current 47 per cent APR. Bryan said she wants more clarity on whether the new interest rate will apply to all existing customers, and when it will come into effect. She’d also like to see efforts to create more options for customers at mainstream financial institutions, recalling to her own inability to obtain a loan from a major Canadian bank, despite being a longtime customer with good credit.
Doretta Thompson, director of corporate citizenship and financial literacy leader at CPA Canada, said governments are walking a fine line when it comes to regulating alternative lenders because if the businesses can’t make money, people could be driven into a completely unregulated black market to acquire credit.
criminal rate ?