If you are a credit card holder in Quebec, there are more changes coming to your minimum payments.
The Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) has put out their yearly reminder that the minimum payment on Quebec credit cards is set to jump to 3% of consumers' balance as of August 1 — an increase of 0.5%.
If you’ve owned a credit card for a few years, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Under Bill 134, a provincial law passed in 2017, banks were required to set the minimum payment at two per cent of the balance owing starting Aug. 1. That percentage would then increase every year until it reaches 5% in 2025. While the bill was passed in 2017, the changes went into effect in 2019.
According to OPC, it is "part of the government's efforts to prevent debt."
"Paying more than the minimum on a credit card allows consumers to save significantly on credit fees," the office said in a statement.
"For example, on a $1,000 balance on a card with a 19.9% credit rate, a consumer making a minimum payment of 2.5% would pay off the debt in 14 years and 7 months, paying a credit fee of $1,443.99. For a minimum payment of 5%, he would pay off his debt in 6 years and have to pay $441.87 in credit fees."
via MTLBlog
