The Rise of the Fringe Financial Services in Winnipeg's North End: Client Experiences, Firm Legitimacy and Community-Based Alternatives

Abstract

This report documents research undertaken... to examine the rise of fringe financial services in Winnipeg's North End. Fringe financial services include a variety of financial services such as loans and cheque-cashing that are offered by fringe banks. Although fringe banks are becoming more common today they generally operate on the margin of the mainstream banking and credit union system in Canada. Fringe banks include pawnshops, cheque-cashing firms, payday lenders, rent-to-own firms, tax refund advancers, finance companies and 'white-label' automatic teller machine providers. This report explores client experiences with fringe banks, it examines the issue of fringe bank legitimacy and it develops a model and provides a preliminary feasibility assessment of an alternative model to fringe banks for low- income people.