Vancouver Financial Services Deals

Shopping around for a new MasterCard? Here's one that may appeal to the travel bug in you -- apply for a new WestJet RBC World MasterCard by September 30 and you'll receive 100 WestJet dollars and a $99 round-trip companion flight.

The $99 companion fare is valid when purchased in conjunction with another seat on any WestJet-operated flight in Canada or to the continental US. The $99 price does not include taxes, fees, and surcharges. The 100 WestJet dollars are equal to $100 towards any flight with WestJet, including the $99 companion fare. Cardholders will earn 1.5% back in WestJet dollars on every purchase and 2% back when purchasing WestJet flights or vacations.

Now that we've told you the good news, here's the "less good" news -- this card has an annual interest rate of 19.99% on all purchases and cash advances and an annual fee of $79 for the primary card and $39 for each additional card you may require. For complete details on other fees and late penalties associated with this card, or to apply, visit this page.

There is also the option of the WestJet RBC MasterCard for a lower annual fee of $39 for the primary card and $19 for additional cards. Cardholders who opt for this version will earn 1% back in WestJet dollars on purchases and 1.5% back when purchasing WestJet flights or vacations. With this card you will receive 50 WestJet dollars as your bonus gift and will not be eligible for the $99 companion fare.

Note: While the deadline for the 100 WestJet dollars and $99 companion fare is listed as April 30, 2012 on this page, the offer has been extended until September 30, 2012.

If you're searching for an affordable service to trade stocks online, you should take a look at Questrade.com. Questrade is a Toronto based direct-access broker that offers a per trade price from $4.95 to a maximum of $9.95. They also have no activity minimums, no inactivity fees, and 24-hour account management.

Use offer code redflagdeals when signing up a new account with a minimum of $1000 and you will also receive a $50 rebate. Additionally, if you move an account with a minimum of $25,000 from another Canadian brokerage, Questrade will pay your transfer fees up to a maximum of $150.

If you're looking to do more research, there's a long-running thread in our personal finance forums that discusses Questrade with over 2000 replies.

Capital One has recently rolled out changes to some of its more popular credit cards. The biggest story is the revamped Capital One Aspire Cash World MasterCard. Capital One has cut the annual fee (from $120 to $0!) and made some other important tweaks. Here's how the card breaks down now:

• no annual fee
• 1% cash rewards on all purchases
• 50% extra cash rewards every year
• $100 bonus cash reward on your first purchase
• No limit to the amount of cash you can earn
• Ability to add an authorized user for $0
• World MasterCard benefits including travel insurance, extended warranties, and more
• minimum income of $60,000 required to apply

The removal of the annual fee is a big shift that makes this card very appealing. The annual extra cash reward has also moved up from 20% to 50%, which gives you an effective cashback rate of 1.5% on your purchases. To top it off, there aren't caps or limits to the cashback -- it applies to all purchases and there are no hoops to jump through for redemption. You also receive great perks with this being a World MasterCard -- things like extended warranty coverage up to 2-years and travel insurance.

With the new changes, we'd have to say that the Capital One Aspire Cash World MasterCard is now one of the best cashback credit cards available. If your income doesn't meet the requirements of a World MasterCard, the Aspire Cash Platinum MasterCard still offers an effective 1.25% cashback rate with no annual fee and a $30,000 income requirement.

As always, you can check out the RedFlagDeals.com Credit Card Comparison Tool as well as the discussion thread in our personal finance forums for more insights.

If you're carrying some credit card debt, chances are that you're paying 19% -- or more -- on it. MBNA has a decent, no-fee, no-frills card that's particularly good for balance transfers. Here's a look at the MBNA Platinum Plus MasterCard:

• 0% Annual Interest Rate on Balance Transfers for the first 10 full months
• 0% Annual Interest Rate on Access Cheques and Deposits
• No annual fee
• Credit Limit up to $100,000
• Extended Warranty Benefits extending the written warranty for up to one year on most new purchases made with the card

Application restrictions are pretty minimal -- you must be the age of majority with a minimum total household income of $35,000. If you're looking for some of the higher-end credit card perks -- cash back or price protection -- you'll probably do better with something like the Smart Cash card -- or you can explore all the options with RedFlagDeals.com's Canadian Credit Card Comparison page.

Tax time is almost here, and UFile.ca is one of many tools that you can use to make your tax preparation a bit easier. Like other online tax preparation tools, UFile.ca has a range of free and paid options. Here's a look at the groups that qualify for the ability to file tax returns free of charge:

• Low-income taxpayer with income of $20,000 or less
• Free File Friday for taxpayers 60 years or older, March 2 with promo code 543P292
• Student in a post-secondary program last year

If you have dependants, you can also file their tax returns for free. If you don't fall into any of these qualifying groups, you can still try UFile for free -- you will, however, need to pay when you are ready to file.

Low mortgage rates are still making a big splash. If you're looking for long term security, ING Direct is offering a 10 Year Fixed Rate "Unmortgage" at 3.99%. Some other institutions have followed suit, but a 10-year fixed rate mortgage at under 4% is definitely news!

ING Direct mortgages give you flexible prepayment options -- you can make lump sum payments up to 25% of your original mortgage amount and increase regular payments up to 25% every year.

If you're still considering your options, you can compare mortgage rates with the RedFlagDeals.com mortgage comparison tool.

After BMO jumped out of the gate with a 5-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.99%, other financial institutions have responded aggressively with low mortgage rate offers of their own. Now, multiple banks have 2.99% 4-year fixed rate mortgages!

• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at RBC Royal Bank
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at TD Canada Trust
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at Scotiabank
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at CIBC

Instead of the extra year you get from BMO, these 4-year mortgages tend to have a more flexibility in terms of paying off your mortgage -- longer amortization periods and higher prepayment/payment increase options, for instance. No offer is definitively better than the other since everyone has different needs.

All in all, it's a good time if you're hunting for a mortgage. Even if you aren't, educating yourself now will help you in the long run. You can start doing more research with the RedFlagDeals.com mortgage rate comparison tool.

November 26, 2011 Update: With the news in August that TD bought MBNA Canada, we can't be certain how much longer the Smart Cash Platinum Plus MasterCard will be available. To date, it remains one of the best no-fee cashback credit cards on the market, and it's very much worth a look if you don't have one. It could definitely come in handy during the holiday season, too!

Originally posted September 24, 2009: Still looking for the right credit card? MBNA has put an impressive credit card offer online. The MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard is a no annual fee card with some pretty robust cash back rewards. Here are the details:

• Get 5% cash back on net gas and grocery purchases for the first 6 months (up to spending $600 per month, 1% thereafter)
• Get 3% cash back on net gas and grocery purchases thereafter (up to spending $600 per month, 1% thereafter)
• Get 1% cash back for all other net retail purchases
• 1.99% introductory annual interest rate on balance transfers and cheque cash advances for 10 months
• No annual fee

As a platinum card, it also carries the the normal platinum benefits -- a warranty extension of up to one additional year on most new purchases and free car rental insurance when renting vehicles. In terms of application restrictions, you do need to have a minimum income of total household income of $35,000 or greater. Overall, it's a very strong credit card offer. If you want to see how it stacks up to the competition, use the RedFlagDeals.com's Canadian Credit Card Comparison page or you can compare it against other MBNA Credit Cards here.

Capital One has recently introduced a new cashback credit card that will be a good fit for a lot of consumers out there. The Capital One Aspire Cash Platinum MasterCard has no annual fee and offers cashback on all purchases (1% with an annual 20% cashback bonus for 1.2% total). Here's a closer look:

• 1% cash rewards on all net purchases
• 20% extra cash rewards every year
• $50 bonus cash reward on your first purchase
• Ability to add an authorized user for $0
• Platinum perks including travel benefits (baggage delay, travel accident insurance, car rental collision/damage) and extended warranties (double the manufacturer warranty up to 1 additional year)
• $30k minimum personal income

With no annual fee, modest requirements, and some good perks, this is good general-use credit card. If you're not at a point where you qualify for or need more robust options like the very popular Capital One Aspire Travel World MasterCard, the Aspire Cash Platinum makes a lot of sense. You get platinum benefits, won't be restricted by redemption tiers, and you get a straight cash reward with no fuss.

It's worth noting that Capital One has also launched the higher end Aspire Cash World MasterCard as well.

To do more research, check out the RedFlagDeals.com Credit Card Comparison Tool as well as the discussion thread in our personal finance forums.

TradePub is a magazine service that offers subscriptions to industry specific publications as well as complimentary eBooks and technical document downloads. Generally, subscriptions are free as long as you work in the relevant industry. Here are some of the goodies available at RedFlagDeals.TradePub.com:

• Oracle Magazine - Oracle Magazine contains technology strategy articles, sample code, tips, Oracle and partner news, how to articles for developers and DBAs, and more. Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company.
• Bloomberg Businessweek - this offer includes four free issues and the digital playbook Power Plays.
• EDN - EDN magazine provides how-to solutions for design engineers in the electronics industry.
• Twitter Means Business - this eBook excerpt details how your company can benefit from Twitter.
• Bank Systems & Technology - Bank Systems & Technology delivers information on the strategic use of technology for increased productivity and profitability.
• Profit Magazine - this magazine reports on technology investments.

If you're looking for a travel rewards credit card, Capital One has emerged with a very strong offering. The Capital One Aspire Travel World MasterCard comes with a lot of perks and looks to be one of the strongest options available. Here's a look at the primary features:

• $120 annual fee
• 2 miles per $1 spent on all purchases (including travel that you redeem points on)
• sign-up bonus of 35,000 miles when you make your first purchase
• anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles annually
• extended warranties and price protection
• comprehensive travel insurance (accident, car rental, travel emergency medical, flight delay, trip interrupt, trip cancellation, baggage loss, baggage delay)
• option to redeem reward miles for cash or gift cards
• annual interest rate of 19.8%
• minimum household income of $60,000 required to apply

The annual 10,000 reward miles bonus takes care of most of the $120 annual fee (leaving $20) and the robust travel insurance is a big enticement. The sign-up bonus is definitely pretty juicy as well. Reward miles can be put toward a wide variety of travel costs -- flights, hotels, vacation packages, train, bus, cruises, and car rentals. The notable restriction is that there are set redemption tiers up to $600, at which point the redemption is just 100 points per dollar.

Overall, it's a very flexible travel rewards card. If you are careful about how you redeem miles, you can have a return rate around 2%. That, along with the other perks (travel insurances, extended warranties, and the option of 1.5% cashback for instance) make this worth checking out.

To do more research, check out the RedFlagDeals.com Credit Card Comparison Tool.

If you're a small business looking for a good banking solution, HSBC has emerged with a very strong offering called HSBC Business Direct. According to HSBC, it provides "all the services and transactions a typical small business needs to manage its day-to-day banking". Here's an overview:

• No monthly fee
• Unlimited free Business Internet Banking, ATM and Business Telephone Banking, including free transfers, bill payments and electronic deposits and withdrawals
• 20 free cheques deposited per month
• Write up to 20 cheques free per month
• 24/7 automated assistance from the HSBC Business Centre
• Access by phone to Business Direct Relationship Managers
• Free Business Internet Banking upgrade to international wire capability

Cheques written after the free 20, activities at branches, and currency deposits can still incur fees (more details can be found on the HSBC Business Direct FAQ page), but the core features of this offering are impressive. For applicable small business, this is a pretty hot offer!

For those of you in Quebec, MBNA has a pretty interesting credit card offer that may help you out at the gas pumps. The MBNA CAA-Quebec Mastercard is open to Quebec CAA members. Here's the low down for this card:

• On top of the 2¢ per litre of gas earned in CAA-Quebec Dollars when you show your CAA-Quebec membership card at the counter when filling up on gas at participating Couche-Tard outlets, you receive an additional 2% rebate by paying with your CAA-Quebec MasterCard credit card on all your qualifying purchases — including gas — at participating Couche-Tard outlets that sell gas
• the2 % is added to the .5% rebate you earn each time you use your CAA-Quebec MasterCard credit card
• 3.99% introductory interest rate for 6 months on Cheque Cash Advances and Balance Transfers (16.99% thereafter)
• No Annual Fee
• 14.99% interest rate on purchases

Obviously, the card should be most appealing to those of you who fill up and do a decent amount of shopping at Couche-Tard. Then again, with over 550 stores in Quebec, that should be a lot of folks in Quebec! You can apply online here or you can compare it against other MBNA Credit Cards here.

Scotiabank has a pretty appealing offer for seniors (anyone aged 59 or older). The Scotia Plus Program is available by request and for no monthly fee offers unlimited debit transactions (self-service or teller-assisted transactions). Other features include:

• No commission fees for bank drafts, money orders or regular American Express Travelers Cheques
• Discount of $5.00 on the annual rental fee for any size safety deposit box
• Bonus interest on Scotia Daily Interest Savings Accounts

Many, but not every Scotiabank account qualifies for the the Scotia Plus Program, so be sure to read all of the details on the Scotiabank page.

Like Scotiabank, RBC is now offering new Canadian immigrants a bit of a jump start on their banking with the RBC Welcome to Canada Package. The details of their package are not very clear online but it at least includes no fee banking and a safe deposit box free for a year. Here's what they're showing:

• All-inclusive RBC Signature No Limit Banking account
• Free rental of a small safe deposit box for one year
• Preferred rate on non-redeemable GIC
• Free copy of "Understanding Banking in Canada" – an RBC Advice Guidebook

To qualify you'll need to have arrived within Canada in the last three years and show proof of immigration.