Terms of Service

Last Updated:

March 21, 2024

Product Overview

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In-branch, customers can apply for either the Flex or Short-term Loan offering and add-on features to meet the individual's financial needs.
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Flex Loans
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Flex loans are long-term personal loans that offer clients financing for large purchases, the ability to get out of a financial shortfall, or the ability to consolidate debt or bills into a single payment.

With a Flex loan, clients can borrow up to $7000 and have up to 60 months to pay it back. To ensure maximum flexibility, clients choose all the terms, including:

The loan amount(minimum $500, maximum $7000)
The payback timeframe (minimum 6 months, maximum 60 months)
The payment frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly) is based on client's income frequency.

Payday Loans
As a general rule, clients can borrow up to $1500 of their verified net income. The repayment terms are based on the client's pay frequency and the granted PDL’s are to be paid in full on the client’s next payday. Payday lenders cannot rollover a payday loan or issue any other credit to a borrower with an outstanding payday loan. There are regulatory nuances which differ by province that affect the general rule as follows:‍

Alberta PDL

Borrow up to 70% of take-home income.
A payday loan is an unsecured loan of $1,500 or less with a maximum term of 62 days or less.
Payday loans must have a term of between 42 and 62 days and a schedule of payments with at least two installments.
The maximum fee a payday lender can charge is $15 per $100. This includes all fees and charges related to the loan.
Payday lenders cannot rollover a payday loan or issue any other credit to a borrower with an outstanding payday loan.
Anyone offering payday loans in Alberta must be licensed to do so, including online lenders
Borrowers have a two-day cancellation period after signing a loan agreement. During this time, they may cancel the loan and return the money without paying any additional fees. If the payday lender is not open for business on the second day, you may cancel the loan on the next business day.
The loan can be repaid without penalty at any time.
Payday lenders must not:
- Discount the principal amount of a loan.
- Grant rollover loans.
- Require a loan to be due less than one full banking day after you receive your pay or other income.
- Charge any other fee for the loan other than those referred to in the loan agreement.
- Make unauthorized withdrawals from your account.
- Accept a cheque from you that is not made out to the payday lender.
- Take information from you that would give the payday lender or a third-party direct access to your bank account unless it is to be used for pre-authorized repayment of your loan.
- Charge more than $25 on a dishonoured cheque or pre-authorized debit.
- Directly solicit, negotiate or enter into another agreement for credit while a payday loan is outstanding.
- Market payday loans by directly contacting individuals.‍

British Columbia PDL

A payday loan is an unsecured loan of $1,500 or less with a term of 62 days or less.
A PDL cannot exceed 50% of the clients take home pay.
A maximum interest rate of 2.5% per month (non-compounding) is charged on the outstanding principal of a payday loan in default, providing relief to borrowers who are unable to repay their loans on time.
A one-time fee of $20 is applied for a dishonoured cheque or pre-authorized debit.
PDL can be cancelled and repaid, without penalty, within two full business days after getting the loan. “Right to Rescind”
Repay any amount of the payday loan early, before it is due, without penalty.
Fee of $15 per $100 borrowed. A company’s fees must be publicly displayed wherever a payday loan is offered.
Issue a borrower more than one payday loan at a time.
Roll over an existing payday loan into a new one with charges.
Require or request that you buy insurance or insure the payday loan.
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British Columbia Extended Payment Plan

A payday lender who enters into a third or subsequent payday loan agreement with a borrower in a 62-day period must meet the following conditions:

(a) if the borrower is paid or otherwise receives income on a bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or more frequent basis, the loan agreement must denote that repayment is to be spread over a minimum of 3 pay periods, or

(b) if the borrower is paid or otherwise receives income on a less frequent basis than referred to in paragraph (a), the loan agreement must denote that repayment is to be spread over at least 2 pay periods.
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Saskatchewan PDL

A PDL cannot exceed 50% of the clients take home pay.
A maximum interest rate of 2.5% per month (non-compounding) is charged on the outstanding principal of a payday loan in default, providing relief to borrowers who are unable to repay their loans on time.
Lenders are allowed to charge up to $17 for every $100 advanced, which means a payday loan of $300 can cost $351 ($300 x 17% = $51). By signing a pre-authorized debt agreement, $351 will come out of your bank account on your next payday. This amount must include all fees whatsoever that may be directly or indirectly connected to your loan, including:
- interest.
- loan administration or processing fees.
- application fees.
- brokerage fees.
If a client defaults on a payday loan, a payday lender may charge:
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- default interest, up to a maximum of 30% per annum, on the loan principal amount in default.
- an NSF charge, up to a maximum of $25, if your cheque or pre-authorized debit was dishonoured.
- Clients may only be charged one NSF charge per loan agreement, no matter how many of your cheques or pre-authorized debits were dishonoured.

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Ontario PDL

The maximum fee a payday lender can charge is $15 per $100. This includes all fees and charges related to the loan.
Anyone offering payday loans in Ontario must be licensed to do so, including online lenders.
There is a two-day cancellation period after signing a loan agreement. During this time, you may cancel the loan and return the money without paying any additional fees. If the payday lender is not open for business on the second day, you may cancel the loan on the next business day.
The loan can be repaid without penalty at any time.
Discount the principal amount of a loan.
Grant rollover loans.
Require a loan to be due less than one full banking day after you receive your pay or other income.
Charge any other fee for the loan other than those referred to in the loan agreement.
Make unauthorized withdrawals from your account.
Accept a cheque from you that is not made out to the payday lender.
Take information from you that would give the payday lender or a third-party direct access to your bank account unless it is to be used for pre-authorized repayment of your loan.
Charge $25 on a dishonoured cheque or pre-authorized debit.
Directly solicit, negotiate or enter into another agreement for credit while a payday loan is outstanding.
Market payday loans by directly contacting individuals.

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Extended payment plan‍

Lenders must give you the option of an extended payment plan if you take out three loans within a 63-day period.

An extended payment plan allows borrower:

To make prepayments at any time without any additional fee or penalty.
To exit the extended payment plan at any time without any additional fee or penalty.
To have the option to pay back your loan in equal instalments over multiple pay periods. The amount you pay back per instalment will depend on how frequently you are paid.
If you are paid weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or more frequently:
- Instalments must be spread out over at least three pay periods. The maximum amount of each instalment is 35% of the combined total of the loan and cost of borrowing.
if you are paid monthly or less frequently than semi-monthly:
- Your instalments must be spread out over at least two pay periods. The maximum amount of each instalment is 50% of the combined total of the loan and cost of borrowing.‍

Other Products

Flex loan product customers can also purchase our Loan Protection Program (LPP) and Buy Some Time (BST).

BST is an add-on product that is exclusive to Flex Loans. BST can be added to any Flex Loan at any time; this means that BST can be added to a loan after the loan has already been written. BST is a monthly payment of $19.95 per month that is added to the cost of the loan (i.e., the client will see the loan & BST as one lump payment). Buy Some Time is an optional service and can be canceled at any time if the client feels like they are not benefiting from the product.

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New Customer Creation

For our products, the process below is required for new customer applications. Customer information is meant to satisfy customer stability, confirm identity and ensure their ability/willingness to repay.

Minimum Requirements
- Over the age of 18
- Canadian Resident
Complete Client ID Information
- Government issued photo identification
- Legal Name
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Residential Address
- Income & Employment Information
- Credit Check (for Flex Products)
Financial Health Questionnaire
Complete Phone Verification
- Phone Verification is required for all clients.
- Employees are required to call the number provided by the client during the loan application. Prior to calling the number, employees must instruct the client to not answer the call to ensure the number is not from a temporary app.
- If the phone number is validated when you call it, proceed to the phone number verification in FSL. The client will receive a verification code to their phone number, at which time the employee must ask the client for the code and enter it into the verification field in FSL.
Update Income & Banking Information
- Using Inverite, a third-party account linking service, the employee will validate customer income, pay frequency and banking information.
- If bank account linking is unavailable (or in Saskatchewan), employees must retain a copy of the client’s most recent bank statement with proof of employment income
Discuss Loan Options with Clients
Confirm Decision Engine Approval
- Employees must run a decision engine query to determine loan maximum and term amounts.
- Decision override: If employees are not comfortable with the decision, they will be required to contact their Regional Manager or Operations Manager to review an alternative and to override the decision.
Review Funding Options with Clients
Sign Documents
Fund Loan
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Loan Modifications & Rewrites

Before employees commit to rewriting a client’s Flex loan to increase the amount borrowed, they must first make sure that the client has the ability to make the new payment.

Update Client Information and Review File
Re-run adjudication decisionComplete the new customer creation steps to create a new loan

A zero-dollar rewrite can also be done. This allows employees to take the current balance of a Flex Loan and re-issue the loan over a specified term. No funds are exchanged in this process. In this case, the rewrite is done specifically to add LPP and/or BST onto a loan that does not currently have the optional product that the client would like to add.
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Collections & Recovery

Cashco understands that when it comes to its products or services, timely and comprehensive support is crucial for clients facing delinquency.

Collections is a joint responsibility of both in-branch staff and a dedicated, centralized client retention team (after 90 days for flex loans and 45 days for short-term loans).

Proactive Communications

Branch managers and associates proactively call customers in the days leading up to a payment as a reminder that a draw from the client’s bank account is upcoming.

Recoveries/Delinquencies

Once a client is late (between 1-45 days for PDL and 1-90 for Flex), the branch team sends communications to attempt a recovery of the delinquent loan.

· Determine the lateness of the loan and send "Past Due" emails accordingly.

· Set up recovery EFT in accordance with provincial laws for where the loan was written.

· If the recovery EFT is not successful, the employee will contact the customer again. If the client is reached, the employee will ask them for immediate payment including late fees. Detailed notes of all calls/texts/emails are kept. If the client is not reached, two more attempts are made, and a voicemail is left on the final call. This is repeated until a promise-to-pay is reached or the file is transferred to collections.

Collections

PDL loans that are 46 days past due roll into collections in ON, AB, and BC. In SK, PDL loans roll into collections after 1 day past due. These loans are assigned to a Collections Manager where a process of collections is initiated:

A Cashco past-due document is auto-generated with a click of a button. This is the first line of communication between a collector and the client.
The collector attempts to contact the client. Three communication channels are attempted: Phone call, SMS, and email. A record of this communication is kept at this stage for follow-up, audit, etc.
When a collector gets a client on the phone in real time, they ensure that they get a promise-to-pay (PTP) commitment. The client provides a date in the future they will be making a full payment for the loan.

The collections team flags customers that have the ability but refuse to pay at which point Cashco’s in-house legal team will pursue legal action.
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Charge Offs and Write Offs

A charge off occurs when past due amount reaches 90+ days for the flex product and 45+ days for the PDL product. When accounts reach the threshold for days late, the account charges off the following day. Should the accounts resolve the past due payment that is above the threshold of days late, the account will be considered recovered and reverse the charge off expense previously incurred. In the event that only partial payments are received on a charged off account, only the principal value of a payment received will be recognized as a recovery against the past charge off.
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Handling Bankruptcy Accounts (Abeyance)

When a client contacts the branch, by phone, SMS or email to notify employees that they have signed up for Credit Counseling, Consumer Proposal, Bankruptcy or Debt Management, or if a stakeholder informs an employee that the client is deceased, details about the client and their loan will be forwarded to the Abeyance Team. We may also become aware of a customer’s status if we receive Debt Management Proposal (DMP) or Money Mentors Orderly Payment of Debt (OPD) documents via email or fax on behalf of an agency.

Upon confirmation of the client being in Abeyance status, their account will be locked and they will not be able to access further funds. Completion of the Abeyance form will initiate this status, and adjust the product:

For Payday Loans, we drop the Interest to 0%, and the Company gets 10%.
For Flex loans, we charge 20% Interest, the Company get 5%, unless the Company charges 0% contribution, then we charge 10% interest.
For Flex loans, we cancel the LPP enrollment while in Abeyance status.
The exception is Money Mentors. For Money Mentors we can add up to thirty days (about four and a half weeks) interest on the Flex Loan only. You will need to calculate the value of the interest to be added based on the principle owing on that day.

All communications and legal documentation in regards to the client’s file must be stored.
Payments received will be processed within FSL by the Abeyance team.