So last month when I was in eastern Europe I saw that Square released their Square credit card reader that plugs into the headphone jack on iOS devices and can be used in Canada. Apple has always had a mobile credit card system at their Apple stores, but it’s something that’s been harder to obtain for the rest of us. I look at this type of device as a potential game-changer, since it essentially puts commerce into all of our pockets. I have quite a few friends that have written books – now they can sell them at events and take credit cards there. Other friends of mine are in bands – they ...

Canadians who just show up in Thailand are usually given a 30 day tourist visa without any hassles, or so I’m told. But given how I’m heading there for two months, I require a visa that is valid for a longer than normal duration. Generally people in my scenario can simply do a visa run, where basically you exit the country and return a short while later. In Buenos Aires most people would simply head over to Uruguay for the day and obtain a new 90 day visa upon return. But truthfully, I didn’t really want to have to worry about that while in Thailand, so I decided to get it all done beforehand. ...

Random Visa Card I received an automated call last week from TD Visa letting me know that my card had been deactivated due to fraud. Of course, there were no unauthorized transactions that I could tell on my VISA, nor has there been any previously when this has happened. In the past few years, I’d say this has probably happened three of four times. Each time it does, I have to head down to the bank and pick up my new card about a week later. It’s nice that they are trying to reduce fraud, but not so nice that it causes an inconvenience, first because it takes my main VISA card out of commission, ...

About three years ago, I walked onto a Mazda lot in Abbotsford and bought a new car. I only had about half of it in cash, so I was forced to finance the rest. During the application process, the guy looking at my credit said it had been quite a while since he saw someone with credit as good as mine. Last night I decided (since I’m looking at maybe buying a house in the new year) to get a copy of my credit report and make sure everything was in order. There are two places you can get one online, the first being EquiFax, and the second being TransUnion. Neither service is free, and are about $20 ...

Ever since I was about 18 years of age, I have had a credit card. The main reason, at least at first, was simply to build up a credit rating in case I ever needed a loan (which I ended up requiring when I went to university). Nowadays, I use my visa primarily for work expenses, since I tend to do a lot of traveling with my job. To that end, I probably spend close to $30,000 on my visa a year, a good portion of which comes from plane rides and hotel rooms when I’m on the road. I have no idea what my credit limit is on my visa, but last time I checked (which was a few years ago), there was enough ...