#GTKnowledgeisMoney – Know Your Financial Rights and Responsibilities

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28 Nov 2017

As part of our #GTKnowledgeisMoney series, we’ve been sharing our financial advice on the different themes throughout Financial Literacy Month, you can read them here:

This week is focused on consumers knowing their financial rights and responsibilities. It’s important to know your rights and responsibilities to help guide your decisions.

Here is a list of tips to help you better understand your rights and responsibilities:

Banking:

  • You have a right to open a personal bank account and cannot be turned away if you are unemployed, unable to deposit money in the account immediately or if you’ve been bankrupt.
  • You have a responsibility to provide sufficient ID to the financial institution and your SIN if you are opening an account that earns interest.
  • You have a right to receive a copy of your account agreement within 7 business days from opening your account including information on the interest rate (if applicable) and how interest earned on the account is calculated.
  • You have a right to receive 30-days of notice regarding any increases to fees or new charges on your bank account.
  • You have a right to withdraw the first $100 from any cheque you deposit UNLESS:
    • Your account is less than 3 months old;
    • The cheque has been endorsed more than once;
    • The cheque is deposited more than 6 months from its date;
    • The cheque is not in Canadian dollars;
    • The cheque was issued from an account situated outside of Canada; or
    • The financial institution has reasonable grounds to believe that illegal or fraudulent activity has taken place.
  • You are responsible for protecting your personal information when banking online such as keeping confidential your debit and credit card information, user IDs, passwords and PIN numbers.

Credit Cards and Loans

  • You have a right to receive a statement every month detailing items like your account balance and transactions, interest charged, maximum and remaining credit limit.
  • Joint borrowers on credit cards have a right to receive the same statements as other borrowers.
  • You are responsible for reviewing your any loan or credit card agreement to understand the terms and conditions of the loan or your use of the credit card.
  • You are responsible for paying the minimum payment calculated on your credit card statement by the due date if you cannot pay off your balance in full.
  • Co-borrowers on the same credit account are responsible for the full balance owing on the account.
  • You are responsible for immediately notifying the credit card company if you lose your card or are a victim of fraud.
  • You have a right to not be charged overdraft fees or interest for prepaid credit cards unless you’ve given your consent to the financial institution.
  • You have a right to the investigation of a disputed or unauthorized transaction on your credit card.

Grant Thornton Limited is an experienced team of Licensed Insolvency Trustees who provide advice to clients who are looking for financial guidance and assistance across the country. Grant Thornton offers clients help with financial counselling, debt restructuring, consumer proposals and bankruptcy. Find an office near you for a free consultation by clicking here.

Want a chance to win a $500 prize?  All you need to do is share your money management advice online with us.

To be eligible for the contest, entrants must:

Contest is open to all Canadian residents. Deadline for entry is Thursday, November 30th, 2017 at 11:59 pm AST. Winner will be selected through random draw. Full contest rules here. 

Tell us how you achieve financial wellbeing by using the hashtag #GTKnowledgeisMoney on Facebook or Twitter.

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