Canada Post, TD end KILLED
MyMoney loan program after less than a year
, BNN Bloomberg
Jun 29, 2023
Canada Post and TD Bank have ended a program meant to offer small loans to people living rurally with little access to bank services.
The two organizations launched the MyMoney program nationwide in October, but paused it indefinitely a month later after identifying “signs of irregular activities” by people who “tried to take advantage of a new product.”
Now, both parties are ending the service.
“Following a comprehensive review, we have now jointly decided to pause the MyMoney Loan application indefinitely,” a Canada Post spokesperson wrote in an email.
“While this means the MyMoney Loan application will no longer be offered, we are committed to exploring new ways to provide financial services to Canadians.”
Canada Post added those with existing loans will not be impacted and will be able to access their information as normal.
This comes as low-income Canadians are finding it harder to secure the short-term loans they need to get by.
A report Wednesday from the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now found there are a “very limited number of low-cost or fair credit options for low- and moderate-income people” and there is limited access to the ones that do exist.
The report specifically mentioned the MyMoney program as one of the only two options for these loans, along with Accord D from Desjardins. The report recommends continued use of the Canada Post plan with federal support.
TD Bank pauses Canada Post loan program weeks after national expansion
, BNN Bloomberg
Nov 25, 2022
A loan program delivered by Canada Post and Toronto-Dominion Bank has been paused weeks after the partner organizations announced plans to expand it across the country.
A spokeswoman for TD Bank confirmed that the MyMoney Loan program has been placed on pause indefinitely because of unspecified issues with processing.
“Since the launch, the product was paused both online and in physical locations, after experiencing processing issues,” Amy Thompson said in an email to BNNBloomberg.ca. “We're still working through this and will update accordingly.”
Canada Post referred questions about the status of the program to TD Bank.
The loan program offered variable or fixed loans ranging from $1,000 to $30,000. Repayments could be spread over one- to seven-year terms.
People did not need collateral security for the unsecured-term loans that were based on credit scores. Eligibility requirements included that people had an annual income of $1,000 or more, had not declared bankruptcy and were Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
Earlier this fall, the Crown corporation and TD announced a national expansion for the program that was first launched in 2021 at locations in Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Ontario.
An October Canada Post news release promoted the program as aimed at expanding financial services access to more Canadians by “combining the reach and trust of Canada Post’s national post office network with personal loans for amounts as low as $1,000 and competitive interest rates.”
The national launch was intended to make the program available in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, the release said, noting that the initial market test “demonstrated the potential of the MyMoney Loan to help meet the needs of many Canadians, including those who are new to credit.”
TD says 'irregular activity' alert prompted pause of Canada Post loan program
, BNN Bloomberg
Nov 30, 2022
Toronto-Dominion Bank said it paused a loan program it delivered in partnership with Canada Post after it identified “signs of irregular activities” by “bad actors”.
A TD Bank spokeswoman said the bank said it halted the MyMoney program to investigate what triggered the alert. News of the indefinite pause came weeks after the bank and Crown corporation had announced plans to expand the program nationwide.
“Our processing was impacted when our security protocols identified early warning signs of irregular activities. And while no TD customer information was compromised, we did elect to pause the program to investigate,” Ashleigh Murphy, senior manager of corporate and public affairs at TD Bank, said in an email to BNN Bloomberg.
“It is disappointing that bad actors tried to take advantage of a new product meant to help Canadians, but we are pleased that our security monitoring worked quickly and hope to reopen applications as soon as we feel it is appropriate.”
TD Bank said all new and in-progress loan applications are currently paused, but existing customers can still access their loans.
Murphy said the incident was not a cyber attack but did not elaborate further about what happened.
TD Bank told BNN Bloomberg last week that unresolved “processing issues” with the program had prompted the pause.
The MyMoney loan program, first launched in a handful of provinces in 2021, offered variable or fixed loans ranging from $1,000 to $30,000 with one- to seven-year repayment terms.
A national expansion was announced in October.
The unsecured-term loans were based on credit scores and did not need collateral security.
Canada Post had promoted the program as one aimed at offering financial services to Canadians in rural, remote and Indigenous communities and meeting the needs of Canadians who are new to credit.
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