Pay2day

I went in to apply for a payday loan. They did not explain the process initially. Had they, I would not have continued with an application because I was not comfortable with providing the data they ultimately needed to process the application.

I felt coerced into providing data. First, I was asked for my social insurance number. I was not informed that it was optional. After a series of standard questions, I was told I had to log into my bank account on their computer. I questioned why it was necessary. Her answer was that they needed to confirm that my paycheques go into my account steadily.

I proceeded to pull up my account, and selected a 6-month period and showed all deposits. She took back the keyboard and started clicking buttons. I asked her what she was doing again and she asked me if I did not use the account because she doesn’t see any transactions other than my cheques. I asked her why she needed to see this info since she had told me that that’s their process and she had to send it to their Headquarters. I asked to speak with a ***. He explained its so they can see what kind of debt I have. Why did she not inform me of this initially? I said he could pull my credit bureau. He said they don’t do that, they look at my bank statement.

I refused this and declined to proceed. My mother, sibling and I were stalked, our home then broken into. I grew up with bars on the windows of my family home. The last thing I would ever agree to is someone having an intimate list of where I frequently shop, not to mention my husband is in an IT security field & I know my data needs safeguarding.
I’m upset because I was lied to about the reason they needed to see my statement & they did not provide me with an opt out on my SIN. At the point of me refusing to continue, they already had name, SIN, phone number, address, email, work information, bank statement, my photo etc.