Learn before you borrow

What a payday loan is, what it costs, how you apply and repay, and how it differs from a cash advance or other short-term loan.

The fee, the annual rate, the cost of late payments and the cost of borrowing again, worked out in dollars.

Employer advances, credit union loans, cash advances, payment arrangements, government help and free credit counselling, compared.

Four steps to verify a payday lender with your provincial regulator, plus the warning signs of an unlicensed or fake lender.

How online lenders check your income, how e-Transfer funding works, how long it takes, and how to stay safe.

Whether payday lenders check credit, what they look at instead, whether loans affect your credit score, and better ways to rebuild.

Whether lenders accept benefit income, the risks of borrowing against benefits, and the emergency help that may cost nothing.

Extended payment plans, consolidation, credit counselling and consumer proposals: the ways out of repeat payday borrowing.