News

Credit card issuers (including banks, credit unions or other financial companies) often try to attract new customers to their cards by offering low interest rates on amounts transferred from other cards. The special promotional rates are typically offered for a limited time. After the promotional period, interest rates generally increase significantly.

Read OBSI's latest newsletter featuring our Q3 case statistics, a new approach, a public consultation, and more.

Click here to read OBSI e-news: Q4/2024.

Ms. J held a credit card with her bank for several years when she learned of a promotional offer that allowed customers to transfer balances from other credit cards to her bank’s credit card at a 0% interest rate for 12 months. She called the bank to ask about this offer and the bank confirmed that it was still available, with a 3% balance transfer fee. 

Ms. W was a smart credit card user, always making sure to pay off her balance in full each month. She used her cashback card for everything from travel expenses to groceries, and for cash advances. Her bank informed her of a promotional offer to transfer balances from other credit cards to her cashback card at a 0% interest rate for 12 months. This offer represented a significant savings from the usual interest rates of 20.99% on outstanding balances and 21.99% on cash advances.

We would like to thank all those who provided their input to our loss calculation for complaints involving unsuitably sold illiquid exempt market securities consultation. The public consultation period was announced September 26, 2024, and the comment period for the project closed November 21, 2024. This consultation focused on assessing the process we currently use and helping us determine whether there are better alternative approaches we should adopt in such cases. This consultation was recommended in our 2021 independent expert external review.

Toronto, November 1, 2024 – Starting today, OBSI will serve as Canada’s sole, designated External Complaints Body (ECB) for banking. From today, OBSI will be accepting complaints from consumers of all federally regulated banks. This decision, made by the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, streamlines the complaint resolution process for consumers across the country. 

As a not-for-profit organization, OBSI recovers all of its budgeted operating expenses from its participating firms each year. OBSI's budget and the allocation of this budget between the different industry sectors that use OBSI's services is approved by OBSI's Board of Directors each September. Our board also considers fairness and the impact of fee changes on member firms when setting fees. A guiding principle is that no sector or registrant category should subsidize another.

Read OBSI's latest newsletter featuring our Q3 case statistics, a new approach, a public consultation, and more.

Click here to read OBSI e-news: Q3/2024.

On September 11, 2024, the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) submitted its response to the Department of Finance’s consultation on Proposals to Strengthen Canada’s Financial Sector.

Starting November 1, OBSI will begin serving as Canada’s sole designated external complaints body (ECB) for banking, accepting complaints from consumers of all federally regulated financial institutions.