The unannounced Pantech P9020 appeared on the FCC web site today. This small touch-screen phone sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and HSDPA 3G data suitable for AT&T's network. Other features appear to include Bluetooth, GPS navigation, memory card slot, and music player. The draft user manual mentioned numerous AT&T services, such as AT&T Navigator, AT&T Radio, YPmobile, and AppCenter, indicating the phone is planned for release by AT&T.

By Melanie Dixon

Canadians love cashing in credit card rewards, according to a piece on TheStar.com, but do they know who really funds them?

It can be tempting to use your card for virtually every purchase in return for rewards. Save up your points and, at the end of the year, there could be enough to cash in for a valuable gift. Who could say no to a free family vacation worth thousands? In addition to free trips, rewards credit cards can offer free groceries and other products and services.

To the average consumer, gifts from rewards credit cards appear free, but when it comes down to it, they really aren't.

The people who really pay are the retailers through increased credit card fees, though there are few benefits to do so. In one scenario, a small business could end up paying more than $10,000 a month in added fees.

Rewards programs are funded through merchant interchange fees initially paid by the retailer, but the cost is passed down into the price of the goods that you buy. Consumers don't seem troubled by the fact that they may be paying more for the goods and services they purchase, as long as they get something free out of it.

Everywhere we turn, we are being offered a rewards credit card for this, a rewards credit card for that. Soon our wallets are bursting with rewards credit cards, with little thought that without them, we may have had cheaper prices at the supermarket.

According to Colloquy, a market research arm of LoyaltyOne, which owns the Air Miles program, Canadians are mad for rewards programs. There are 114 million active members of rewards credit cards programs in Canada. That adds up to four rewards credit cards for every single person.

Retailers feel they need to accept all types of credit cards or risk losing the business to someone else, despite the higher costs associated with accepting rewards credit cards.

Meanwhile, the Consumers Association of Canada opposes any action that would reduce the value of rewards programs, either through a cap on interest or fees.

Costs are passed down to consumers in the form of increased pricing, but for now, Canadian consumers remain oblivious to the impact rewards credit card programs have on the prices of the goods and products they purchase, as long as they can get a free gift in the process.

By Cara Henis

Shoppers are swiping their credit and debit cards more frequently and spending more voraciously this holiday season compared to the last, signifying a boost in consumer confidence, according to Moneris, a payment processing firm.

Analysis of credit and debit card usage indicates that total retail spending rose by about 5 per cent during the first weekend of December compared to the same weekend last year. Sales at department stores shot up by almost 13 per cent from last year while spending at clothing and drug stores increased by about 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

Shoppers continued to swipe, increasing expenditures by about 6 per cent during the second weekend in December contrasted to holiday season 2008. Consumers spent most on clothing, raising apparel purchases by more than 11 per cent this year versus last.

"As the Canadian economy begins a trend toward recovery, the increase in pre-holiday spending is a clear indication of renewed consumer confidence," said David Ades, Moneris Solutions senior vice president of sales and marketing, in a press release. "Canadians are clearly more optimistic about the future this year than they were during this time last year, and retailers are capitalizing on this by using creative marketing tactics to draw them in early and often."

Spending habits were calculated by considering both the number of credit and debit card transactions in addition to the total amount spent.

By Cara Henis

Return fraud, dubbed "the biggest crime you never heard of," is the most common caper pulled against retailers, accounting for more instances of fraud than credit card and counterfeit cash schemes combined, according to a report released by Statistics Canada.

Return fraud involves bringing stolen merchandise back to a store under the guise that it was purchased to obtain a refund or store credit. The government's survey of retailers indicates these scams make up 33 per cent of all fraudulent activities while more well-known schemes like credit card and counterfeit money scams each only account for 15 per cent of all crimes.

In addition to collecting money by returning stolen goods, fraudsters also bank by bringing back goods purchased with counterfeit money or by using bogus receipts to return used items.

"These types of crimes are more often than not perpetrated by organized crime groups who are also active in other criminal activities," said Mark Beazley, a spokesman for the Retail Council of Canada, to Canwest News Service. "Of course there are some opportunists out there, but for the most part, fraud scams involve sophisticated networks of career criminals."

According to a Retail Council of Canada survey, 72 per cent of retailers fell victim to a return fraud scam during the past year. Criminals often target stores with lax return policies, which has spurred retailers to begin beefing up return requirements. Some stores are only accepting returns with proof of purchase or restricting return authorization to senior staff members.

"It's important to keep in mind that retailers have to strike a fine balance between good customer service and fraud prevention when drafting their return policies," Beazley told Canwest News Service. "They don't want to cause frustration for customers with legitimate returns."

Return fraud isn't unique to Canada. The National Retail Federation in United States predicts a $9.6 billion loss this year alone because of return scams, hence earning return fraud the title in several U.S. news reports as the "the biggest crime you've never heard of."

By Melanie Dixon

New findings show that the new chip credit card migration in Canada increases security and fraud detection, thus preventing charge backs. The new chip cards have already proved their success in preventing fraudulent transactions at the till.

The cards were created to address increasing merchant concerns over fraud and charge backs. Traditionally, credit card fraud has been a lucrative enterprise by criminals. The chip cards will address the $250 million that was lost to fraudulent activities in 2006, with growth at an alarming rate of 25 per cent annually.

Moneris Solutions revealed that merchants who accept the new chip credit cards are experiencing a lower-than-average rate of fraud. Moneris Solutions is Canada's largest credit card payment processor. "This is the first data of its kind from Canada and demonstrates that chip cards reduce fraud and charge backs," says Moneris

Capturing the fraudulent activity before it starts means fewer charge backs for merchants, and fewer worries for customers who have had lost or stolen cards.

The new cards have a microchip embedded in the card that stores the cardholder's account number. The cards and the chip terminals work together to ensure a secure transaction. The cardholder confirms the transaction with a personal identificaiton number (PIN) number at the terminal. Counterfeiting is stopped in its tracks, as without the PIN number, the card will be denied.

Figures reveal that those merchants who processed more than 40 per cent of their total daily transactions using the new chip technology have up to four times fewer charge backs than those who processed less than 40 per cent of total transactions using the older version.

Retailers said that they had 2.9 per cent fewer charge backs overall, while restaurants had 1.8 times fewer charge backs. Gas stations were not included in the findings, as they normally have fewer instances of fraud.

Sango Ligotti, director of marketing and communications at Moneris Solutions, addressed concerns by saying in an article in eCommerce Journal, "Not only does the data illustrate the importance of chip cards to merchants but it shows their tremendous value to everyone along the payment value chain, including cardholders."

Nearly one-third of all transactions processed overall are currently using the new chip cards. Ligotti stressed that the findings show that it was well worth the effort.

Moneris examined the data of 21,000 merchants. Of those merchants, 40 per cent to 95 per cent had processed transactions with the new chip technology during the September 2009 period.

The new chip cards arrive just in time for the holiday shopping season. Canadian merchants are eagerly anticipating the arrival of consumers with their new chip cards in hand.

By Cara Henis

Some of Canada's largest banks cut the amount of money kept aside to cover credit card defaults, signaling optimism that the credit crisis is over.

According to fourth quarter 2009 figures, The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Toronto-Dominion Bank all lowered their provisions for credit card-related losses. These provisions are kept on hand to cover lapses in consumer payments on credit card accounts.

CIBC, one of the largest credit extenders in the country, set aside $224 million, down from $248 million last quarter.

"If [CIBC] is right and the economy's going to recover imminently, that's great, but if 2010 turns out to be worse than expected, they will be impacted significantly," said Brad Smith, an analyst at Blackmont Capital, told the National Post.

Toronto-Dominion Bank also showed confidence that defaults would decrease, slashing its credit card loss provisions, according to the National Post.

"The whole credit thing is a concern for me because there is nothing to support the levels of provisioning the banks are doing," Smith told the National Post. He said economic forecasting may be inaccurate due to unusual market events that have occurred in the past two years.

"You can't look to the past to support the adequacy of the provisioning," he said.

Yet not all banks are placing as much confidence in consumers' abilities to pay. The Royal Bank of Canada, the largest bank in the country, set aside $108 million to cover potential credit card losses, up from $107 last quarter.

By Melanie Dixon

A yearly credit conference has provided survey findings that show that couples continue to struggle over control of the household finances.

The findings came from a Torque Customer Strategy conducted on behalf of Credit Canada, a non-profit charitable service, and Capital One Canada, a division of Capital One Bank, as part of the national financial literacy initiative, Credit Education Week 2009. The survey was completed online by couples between Sept. 7-14, 2009. A grand total of 1,656 people participated, meaning 828 couples, from four major regions of Canada.

Credit Education Week 2009 was held from Nov. 2-6 to assist Canadians with financial management skills. This was the third year running for the initiative, with support from financial service leaders, consumer and advocacy groups, community organizations and government departments.

The survey's theme was "The Effect of the Economic Recession on Canadians and their Relationships."

The underlying points of the survey were that the recession is having a debilitating effect on Canadian couples. Twenty per cent of people have suddenly found themselves a primary breadwinner in the past 12 months.

Women particularly are concerned that being a main breadwinner is negatively impacting their relationships with their spouses.

Couples confirm that the economic downturn has added more stress and conflict to financial planning. Half of those couples claim that as a result of the recession and their inability to stick to a budget, they have been kept awake at night.

Canadians are anxious about their financial situations. Those who are now the new breadwinner of the family, are being kept awake at night over worrying about whether the money they bring in will be enough to pay the expenses.

A whopping one third of Canadians (37 per cent) have had a sleepless night over financial issues. Of those people, 26 per cent have not reduced their spending due to the recession.

Eighty-six per cent of couples are struggling and arguing extensively over financial issues.

Spending seems a more contentious issue than debt, causing concern that it may make the financial situation worse. Forty-eight per cent of couples argue about spending, as compared to the the 24 per cent that argue over debt.

More findings from the survey conclude that money is the issue that is fought over more than sex, chores or children. Couples also can't decide which partner really controls the purse strings. Surprisingly, only 6 per cent of those couples say their relationship is in trouble over financial issues. The 53 per cent who realistically believe their relationship is in trouble have seen a marriage counsellor.

The survey has also concluded that there is a gender gap over differences in money management.

Canadian couples are aware that men and women view financial issues differently. Men and women have differing attitudes on which is most important -- retirement funds or education for the children -- and these issues keep them awake at night.

Seventy-five per cent of women in families are the main ones who teach children about money.

As the recession impacts careers, women are often finding themselves the sole breadwinners of the family. While they feel this is negatively impacting their relationship with their spouses, men are less inclined to have a problem with this issue.

Deception has also been found between partners. Men and women are not only hiding large expenditures from each other, they are also lying about how much debt they already have.

A vast number of couples are not sitting down for a financial chat before entering into a partnership. The person who is not controlling the money is more likely to hide debt from their spouse (55 per cent).

A large communication gap has also been found from the results of the survey. Couples are not discussing money before they enter into their partnership. These couples are 66 per cent more likely to need to see a counsellor about financial issues.

For those couples who think their finances are on the brink of disaster, 40 per cent believe that their spouses are not open to discussing money issues.

It has been found that couples are aware of the differences in worries about money management and are accepting of this.

Couples are aware of key issues over retirement. Nearly two out of three say they will not be able to retire when they wish to. Couples who are aware of this issue have reduced spending due to the recession. While all couples are worried about mortgage issues, few are concerned.

The survey also found that the majority of Canadian couples share equal responsibility for the household finances.

Lack of financial education is rampant through the generations. Less than half (47 per cent) say that they received a basic money chat when they grew up.

A large amount of Canadians are proceeding without a budget.

Children increase financial anxiety and, as a result, people are worried about retiring when they wish to. Couples with children are more likely to hide debt from each other.

The About.com financial section recommends that each partner should hold at least one credit card in their own name, in order to build a separate credit history. That way, if something happens to one partner, the other will already have a solo credit history established.

By Cara Henis

American Express launched the first all-purpose gift card that is fee-free after purchase.

Users may spend with their card anywhere that AmEx is accepted but, unlike other brands, the value of gift card never diminishes due to monthly service fees or card replacement costs. The card also never expires.

Visa, a main rival of AmEx, usually charges a $1.50 service charge per month after six months, in addition to charging replacement fees for lost or stolen cards. MasterCard also collects fees after the first six months and users must pay to replace lost or stolen cards, according to the Star. Both Visa and MasterCard products expire.

With gift cards forecasted to be the top holiday present this season, AmEx hopes to snag a larger share of the approximately $6 billion gift card market, while also revolutionizing the industry.

"This is going to force other companies in the gift card space to follow our lead," said Howard Grosfield, vice-president at American Express Canada, to the Toronto Star.

"We are setting a new standard among gift cards," said Grosfield, in a press release.

Shoppers may purchase the gift card at Shoppers Drug Marts nationwide for a cost between $4.95 and $6.95.

By Melanie Dixon

Canadians are more likely to turn to credit cards in times of emergency than citizens in 14 other countries of the world, according to a survey on household financial stability.

Twenty-eight per cent of Canadians said they would finance an emergency with a credit card, while 13 per cent would use a home equity credit line or second mortgage. While only 8 per cent of Germans would use a credit card, they tied with Canada with 13 per cent willing to apply for a home equity line or second mortgage. Luxembourg was next in line to Canada with 27 per cent being agreeable to using a credit card, and only 6 per cent of the Dutch were as agreeable.

The United States and the United Kingdom have a 20 per cent willingness to use credit.

The TNS Personal Risk Assessment and Risk Literacy Study was conducted between June and September 2009. The survey asked 14,600 people in 15 countries whether or not they could find $2,000 (or equivalent in their countries' currencies) in an emergency, whether for health care costs, car or home repairs, and exactly how they would find the money.

Rhonda Grunier, director of financial research at TNS, said in a release that while credit is extremely simple to obtain in Canada, it is a poor choice to take on additional debt. Canadians have been encouraged to save money into RRSPs, but are obviously reluctant to cash them in due to tax complications.

Canadians are confident in their ability to attain the funds quickly, with 68 per cent saying they could meet the deadline. Eighty-nine per cent of citizens from Luxembourg were at the top of the poll, believing they could get the money quickly.

Countries at a low confidence level were Mexico (41 per cent), the United Kingdom (44 per cent), the United States and Germany (both 46 per cent).

Those Canadians not choosing to use a credit card would dip into their savings account at 52 per cent. Luxembourg (86 per cent) and Netherlands (89 per cent) would be willing to cash out their savings.

The most financially confident region of Canada is British Columbia (76 per cent), with least confident lagging behind in the Atlantic provinces (57 per cent). Thirty-one per cent of people in B.C. are also eager to use credit cards for an emergency.

Men in Canada are 75 per cent more financially confident than women at 62 per cent.

The other countries surveyed had negligible results with fewer than one in 10 willing to use a credit card to fund an emergency.

By Julie Sherrier

In a much-anticipated move, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a new code of conduct for credit and debit card issuers on Thursday.

While voluntary, the new code will be effective Jan. 1.

According to the Vancouver Sun, "The biggest change -- mandating Canada's federally registered banks to grant their customer a minimum 21-day, interest-free grace period on all new credit card purchases when a customer pays the outstanding balance in full -- won't take effect until next September."

Among other changes:

• Cardholders must agree to any credit limit increases first.
• Debt collection practices are reined in.
• Over-the-limit fees will not be allowed if they are caused by holds on the card.
• Merchants now have a choice to which payment vehicles they want to offer.
• Cardholders must be given 90 days notice of any fee changes
• Interchange fee amounts must be available online to merchants.

The code was developed in reaction to complaints by merchants who are have to pay high interchange rates. Once in effect, merchants will be able to shop around when making payments, says David Wilkins, senior vice president at the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors.

By Melanie Dixon

In a recent survey, deception is rampant in Canadian couples, but money is the issue, not infidelity.

The more committed the relationship, the more likely a partner will own up to an expenditure. Not surprisingly, couples in the most casual of living arrangements are least likely to own up to spending habits.

According to findings from a Torque Customer Strategy survey conducted on behalf of Credit Canada and Capital One Canada as part of the national financial literacy initiative, Credit Education Week 2009, Canadian couples are intentionally deceiving their partners about money and spending habits.Deception can easily be achieved through the use of secret credit cards.

There is little margin in the results between men and women. In the survey, 19 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women admitted to hiding debt from their spouses.

Thirty-one per cent of women have deceived their spouses over how much money they have spent on a purchase, while 27 per cent of men say they have lied about a purchase.

A partner is 55 per cent more likely to hide a debt from a spouse if he or she does not control the household money, leaving the one handling the purse strings to walk around with blinders on.

Couples who have a solid commitment seem to be least likely to hide debt. Only 19 per cent of married couples admitted to hiding debt, while 25 per cent of common-law couples admitted to it. Thirty-five per cent of couples living together but not married admitted that they have lied to their partners about how much money they have spent.

Sixty-six per cent of these couples entered their relationship openly disclosing their finances. However, this leaves a large number of spouses who are going to be in for a big surprise a few years down the road.

The main results of the survey indicate that people in relationships are hiding large expenditures from each other, as well as disguising the resultant debt load.

Full disclosure of finances is the key to success in a relationship. Without it, it's no wonder that many relationships are headed down the drain after the money has seeped through.

By Cara Henis

Worries regarding merchant fees and billing practices are prompting members of the Liberal caucus to call for more protection than would be provided by a voluntary code of conduct.

The caucus is pushing for government regulation that will give retailers more power to negotiate credit card fees and pick which debit card networks to use. It is also requesting legislation to end double-cycle billing and allow consumers to opt-out of credit card contracts if their interest is raised. Double-cycle billing occurs when interest is calculated on two full cycles of credit card balances, even if the customer has already paid off one of those balances.

The voluntary code, authored by Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, is an attempt to ease concerns sparked by the entry of Visa and MasterCard into the debit card market. Guidelines are expected to focus on routing, rate and fee disclosures, and the use of "dual purpose cards," which function both as debit and credit cards. According to reports spanning back to mid-October, the code is nearing completion. Yet some Liberal party members fear debit and credit card companies won't "volunteer" to comply.

"Without enforcement, a new code of conduct for debit and credit card companies is not a sufficient response," said Dan McTeague, Liberal consumer affairs critic, in a press release. "We need some concrete, enforceable measures that will deal with the issues of double-cycle billing, little transparency and high fees for merchants."

The Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce is also considering whether government regulation of the debit and credit is advisable. According to a report released in June, a decision will be issued in December.

Yet proponents of an unregulated market say government intervention may indirectly harm consumers. They cite Australia's increased credit card fees, card benefit reduction and the introduction of surcharging as consequences of interchange fee regulation policy. An interchange fee is the amount a retailer must pay to a credit card processor for accepting the credit card. Surcharging occurs when a consumer is charged an extra fee when they purchase a product.

An April 2008 assessment of interchange regulation by the Reserve Bank of Australia paints a less-than-rosy picture.

"Lower interchange fees in the MasterCard and Visa credit card systems have resulted in a reduction in the value of reward points and higher annual fees, increasing the effective price of credit card transactions facing many consumers," according to the report. "Surcharging has also led to a significant rise in the effective price of some credit card transactions."

Australians pay approximately AU$480 million more in credit card fees each year because of the regulation, according to research by Charles River Associates, a consulting firm. The firm concluded that merchants have profited from government-capped interchange fees, but have not necessarily passed on the savings to consumers.

Yet such staunch regulation isn't likely in Canada -- at least in the meantime. Flaherty is expected to avoid talk of fee and rate caps and instead emphasize more transparent disclosure of fees.

By Cara Henis

The Bank of Canada will maintain its key interest rate at 0.25 per cent in order to prevent the dollar from becoming too strong.

Though the economy is showing signs of recovery, market volatility and the robustness of the Canadian dollar are slowing economic growth, bank officials said.

"The current strength in the dollar is expected, over time, to more than fully offset the favourable developments," according to a Bank of Canada press release.

By keeping key interest rates low, officials hope to circumvent the problems associated with excessively strong currency. The key interest rate is the amount banks charge one another when they borrow among themselves. Altering it has broad-reaching effects on consumer loan and mortgage rates, and the exchange rate.

The bank's decision is likely related to its trade relationship with the United States. About 80 per cent of Canada's exports are purchased by the United States, according to the Associated Press. If the cost of purchasing such products were to substantially increase, Canada could lose a major trading partner.

The record-low key interest rate has been in place since April 2009 and the bank plans to hold the rate steady until mid 2010.

By Melanie Dixon

Canadians without credit or debit cards or those who are concerned with making online shopping payments will soon be offered a safe alternative in the form of Ukash e-cash, an electronic payment system already available throughout the rest of the world.

Ukash is the fastest growing e-commerce payment solution offered globally. E-cash is made available for consumers through point-of-sale terminals, with the purchase of vouchers in set Canadian dollar amounts of $25, $50, $75, $100 and $150. It is offered through VendTek Systems Inc. under its brand Now Prepay.

Doug Buchanan, president of VendTek, said,"Ukash offers an electronic cash payment source and an important solution for people who are looking for an alternative to credit cards. We have been interested in an online payment product for our network and Ukash has an e-commerce payment solution that is an excellent fit with our network," in an article published by Ecommerce Journal.

Ukash offers a safe and anonymous alternative to making online payments to any business anywhere in the world, without using a credit or debit card. It is also a secure solution for the 70 million consumers in North America who currently do not qualify for a credit card or a bank account. Canadians will be able to buy these vouchers from independent convenience stores and gas stations.

Ukash will initially be introduced in Ontario at 4,000 point-of-sale terminals, then expanding throughout the rest of Canada to 15,000 outlets before the end of the year. Canada will be the first country in North American to adopt the new e-cash solution.

Ukash is currently available in the U.K., mainland Europe and South Africa, including an extension to Australia in August 2009 and South America in October 2009.

In 2007, Canadians placed nearly $12.8 billion worth of online shopping orders, presenting an opportunity for Ukash to tap into the market of consumers who currently have no method of paying for online orders, or are hesitant to do so due to online fraud concerns.

Mark Chirnside, chief executive officer of Ukash said, "North America is a territory with huge potential for the Ukash proposition. High rates of unbanked consumers at this time, largely due to poor credit history and immigrants unable to get bank accounts, means that there is a growing number of cash consumers who want to spend online. Canada is a key territory for the Ukash proposition and working with Now Prepay will give us the prominence needed to expand our availability across Canada before launching in other countries across the Americas."

Ukash has taken the opportunity to offer simple, anonymous and safe online cash payments to the 70 million unbanked consumers in North America without even a credit or debit card to their name. There will be a fee to purchase Ukash vouchers in Canada. Vouchers are currently available for purchase at over 300,000 vendors globally.

By Melanie Dixon

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has issued a statement about the final flourishes being written into the "voluntary code of conduct" that will govern Visa's and Mastercard's entry into Canada's profitable $168 billion debit card territory.

According to the Times&Transcript, the code of conduct will govern inflammatory issues such as priority routing of debit transactions over Visa and MasterCard's networks. The code will also address issues such as the use of "dual purpose cards" that will have both debit and credit functions, plus full rate and fee disclosures.

Unfortunately, since the code is voluntary, critics are crying that it will offer no protection for retail businesses or small business owners. Owners are concerned that fees will skyrocket after Visa and MasterCard debit cards are in full circulation, which will either cut into their profits, or be passed down to already cash-strapped consumers.

Currently Canada has an enviable low-cost debit system. This could be eroded by the new players on the block.

The Toronto Star reported that Flaherty will be issuing an announcement in the following weeks regarding measures to address concerns on the new credit card regulations.

The paper also reported that Flaherty is likely expected to steer clear of fee and rate caps, though the code should have a stricter fee schedule.

There is opposition from Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers Association of Canada. He says, "We would like a credit card to be a credit card, and a debit card to continue to be a debit card."

Businesses and consumers alike will be eagerly awaiting a workable solution to address these issues and concerns when the voluntary code of conduct is revealed.

By Cara Henis

Thousands of small business owners balked after receiving notification that they will be automatically enrolled in Visa's new debit program unless they opt out of the service. This is one of the latest moves by Visa and MasterCard as they attempt to launch their branded debit cards in Canada.

Business owners, many of whom are fearful of Visa and MasterCard's looming presence in Canada's debit card market, learned that the new microchip-enabled payment terminals they installed to keep up with the nationwide shift to the chip-and-PIN system also came preprogrammed with the ability to accept Visa debit cards -- cards that cost retailers a lot of money to accept.

"Some merchants felt what they were doing was simply upgrading their systems to accept (micro) chip (debit and credit cards) and they found out after the fact that they also enabled Visa debit," said Catherine Swift, the small business president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, to the Toronto Star. "And they weren't happy about that because Visa debit costs more to the merchant."

Right now, the non-profit member-owned association Interac is the main system that handles the majority of debit cards in Canada. Interac charges merchants a flat fee of six cents per transaction to process debit card payments. Visa Canada plans to charge 0.25 per cent of value of the transaction, plus 15 cents, a rate significantly higher than Interac. MasterCard Canada says it will charge a flat fee that will be cheaper than Interac's, according to the Star.

Yet the fees are not guaranteed and merchants fear costs will rise if Visa and MasterCard take over the debit card market. This could result in retailers passing the costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and services.

Business leaders found some solace in the recommendations made by a Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce report released in June, according to CBC news. Suggestions (but not mandates) included:

• The creation of a board to decide what, if any, legislative regulation needs to be enacted regarding debit and credit card payment systems
• The freedom for retailers to decline cards
• The requirement that debit card fees remain flat instead of based on the cost of the good or service

Yet the board will not decide whether any government regulation should take place until the end of December.

If the government decides to regulate the fees, this would mean that Visa and MasterCard would only be able to charge a flat fee per transaction. However, if they are allowed to continue with a fee percentage per transaction, they cannot stop Interac from changing their own fees to a percentage per transaction as well.

MasterCard and Visa are poised to compete for market control with the current debit card-payment system giant Interac. There are about 2.5 million MasterCard debit cards in Canada, but they are currently operating on the Interac payment network. Yet the cards are equipped to work on MasterCard's own debit network, according to the Star. As MasterCard unveils its payment processing services in Canada, the cards will switch over the MasterCard network and prices.

If merchants do not opt-out of Visa's debit program, then retailers must abide by Visa's pricing preferences whenever a Visa debit card is used. Some merchants have complained that they are being charged even though they have declined Visa's services though this may or may not be true, according to the Star.

Less than 1 per cent of merchants who received notification from Visa about their enrollment in the program have chosen to opt out, said Fern Glowinsky, Moneris' general counsel, a payment processing company, told the Star.

Toshiba is well respected for making some great consumer laptops and business notebooks, but you may not know that Toshiba makes one of the most popular universal USB docking stations for laptops ... the Toshiba Dynadock U. Last month, Toshiba introduced a new wireless version of the universal docking station: the Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U.

The Dynadock does not need to be connected to the notebook by a cable like traditional docking solutions. You simply connect peripheral devices to the dock and your laptop communicated wirelessly with the docking station via a wireless USB adapter. Devices including keyboards, mice, speakers, and even monitors can be connected via the Dynadock.

We took a closer look at this wireless USB docking station to find out if it makes a good replacement for the original "wired" Toshiba Dynadock U.

Features and Specs of the Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U:

• Wireless USB connection from your laptop to all your accessories
• Built-in HD digital video card supports an additional monitor up to 1680 x 1050 resolution
• Ability to view up to three displays simultaneously
• Built-in digital audio card supports 7.1 surround sound through S/PDIF port
• Six USB ports - including 2 front Sleep-and-Charge USB ports to supply power even if your PC is off; charge your cell phone, MP3 player, etc.
• Includes a Wireless USB dongle
• One touch undock/dock button
• Easy installation software
• Universal compatibility with all Windows-based PC brands
• Dimensions and weight: 1.8" x 3.1" x 8.75" ; 1.13 lb
• MSRP: $299 from the Toshiba website

Build and Design
Anyone familiar with Toshiba's original Dynadock U will instantly recognize the design of the new Dynadock Wireless U. In fact, the only things that have changed between the wired Dynadock and the wireless Dynadock are the addition of two antennae and a subtle color change from silver to bronze.

Like the original Dynadock U, the new wireless docking station includes six USB 2.0 ports, S/PDIF, Ethernet (10/100 LAN), DVI, mic, headphone and lock slot. Toshiba removed the VGA port from the back of the Dynadock Wireless U in order to make room for the wireless antennae and wireless switch, but they include a DVI-to-VGA adapter in case you need it for connecting older displays or projectors.

Of course, the biggest thing that sets this docking station apart from most is the inclusion of a wireless USB adapter that allows you to stay connected to all your peripherals without needing to plug in a bunch of cables to your laptop.

Setting up the Dynadock Wireless U is relatively simple thanks to the included installation DVD that comes with the docking station. Simply insert the disk into your computer's optical drive and follow the on-screen instructions. Next, plug-in the wireless USB adapter and you're ready to roll. You may be asked to temporarily connect a USB cable to establish the initial connection, but after that is done you'll never need the USB cable again. Your laptop will work wirelessly with your peripherals just as if they were connected via USB. Well ... almost.

Performance
Although it's nice to have a sleek, all-in-one wireless docking station, the main reason that people buy docking stations for their notebooks is to connect multiple external devices without needing to connect multiple cables. If those external devices don't work when connected to the docking station then there isn't much point in using the docking station.

The first thing we wanted to do when the Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U arrived was test its performance compared to using either the standard USB port built into your laptop or the old wired Dynadock docking station. In order to take a closer look at the performance we used HDTune to measure the data transfer rate of a generic SDHC USB card reader.

SDHC USB Card Reader using notebook USB port:

SDHC USB Card Reader using Toshiba Dynadock wired USB dock:

These two tests gave us a nice baseline for judging the performance of the Dynadock Wireless U docking station. As you can see above, the average data transfer rate (read speed) for the USB card reader is about 17MB/sec using the USB port in my laptop and about 15MB/sec when using the original wired version of the Toshiba Dynadock U. This is not the maximum possible speed for either the laptop's USB port or the Toshiba docking station, but it does provide a performance baseline for this particular USB card reader.

Next, we tested the data transfer speed of the new Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U at a distance of 12 inches (305mm) from the laptop's wireless USB adapter to find out how this docking station performs compared to a standard USB docking station.

SDHC USB Card Reader using Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U at a distance of 12 inches:

It's easy to see from the HDTune image above that the data transfer speed of USB devices is significantly reduced when connected to the Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U. However, since the speed and reliability of wireless USB decreases as the distance between the transmitter and receiver increases, we also wanted to test the performance of the wireless docking station as you walk away from the docking station. For this test, we started at a distance of six inches (152mm) and began walking away from the docking station to a maximum distance of 10 feet (3 meters).

SDHC USB Card Reader using Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U walking from a distance of 6 inches to 10 feet:

As you can see in the HDTune image above, the performance of the wireless USB signal drops dramatically after we moved the notebook out to a distance of 10 feet. At 10 feet away the signal suffered a sudden drop almost low enough to disconnect the docking station, and then the signal leveled off and continued the data transfer.

This is why Toshiba recommends that users keep the wireless USB adapter at a distance of less than two feet away from the docking station's receiver if you plan to use the Dynadock Wireless U with an external display. The data transfer rate at longer distances is just too low to allow for trouble-free use of video.

In short, the HDTune results suggest that you'll have to sacrifice speed if you want to get rid of all those USB cords connected to your laptop.

Conclusion
Toshiba's original Dynadock U is a fantastic universal docking station, but is the Dynadock Wireless U a worthy successor? The answer is ... yes and no. The Dynadock Wireless U offers the same easy setup and simplistic docking station design that made the original Dynadock U so popular. Unfortunately, the limited transfer speed and range of wireless USB significantly limits the practical use of this docking station.

The Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U keeps your desk clean with fewer wires but you'll notice slower performance compared to a wired docking station. Likewise, although it's convenient to connect wirelessly to a docking station, you shouldn't expect to walk around your office building and stay connected to the dock.

Bottom line, the Toshiba Dynadock Wireless U is a good product for people who hate USB cables but you'll get much better performance with a traditional wired docking station.

Pros:

• Clean, wireless docking solution
• Easy to setup
• Includes wireless USB adapter

Cons:

• Slower as distance increases
• Pricey compared to wired docks
• Limited range of wireless video

Dell spent most of 2009 making their laptops as thin and light as possible. Dell even went as far as adding a "z" to the names of the thinnest and lightest notebooks that offer the best battery life in each category. To that end, the Inspiron 14z offers consumers a laptop that promises "66% better battery life" for a modest price increase. Is the Inspiron 14z as impressive as it sounds? Keep reading to find out.

Dell Inspiron 14z (Cherry Red) Specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CULV SU7300 (1.3GHz, 800MHz, 3MB)
• OS: Windows 7 Premium (64-bit)
• Memory: 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
• Storage: 250GB 5400rpm HDD
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD
• Display: 14.0” HD (1366x768) WLED Display and webcam
• Optical Drive: 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD/-RW/R) with Dual-Layer
• Wireless: Intel Wireless 5100n
• Battery: 6-cell Lithium Ion battery (48.8 WHr)
• Dimensions: 1.0"-1.5" x 13.3" x 9.4" (H x W x D)
• Weight: 4 lbs, 9.9 oz
• Retail Price as configured: $839

Build and Design
The design of the Inspiron 14z looks virtually identical to the Inspiron 14. The chief differences here are that the Inspiron 14z uses an Intel CULV processor, 6-cell battery and WLED display ... all of which are intended to extend battery life. At first glance, the Inspiron 14z looks like an average budget notebook with a 14-inch display. The plastic construction, average screen resolution, and lack of a backlit keyboard certainly don't give this laptop the same premium look and feel as the Dell Studio 14z.

The Inspiron 14z feels pretty durable despite the fact that the notebook chassis is constructed from relatively thin plastics. The only areas that suffered from flex were just above the keyboard next to the battery and the back of the display lid. If you press on the lid with your fingers you will create screen distortions, and you'll hear some minor plastic creaking if you press down next to the battery. There is some minimal flex on the top of the right palmrest next to the optical drive, but you have to press pretty hard to make that happen.

When closed the Inspiron 14z looks thin compared to budget laptops from several years ago, but the weight of the 6-cell battery makes this system a bit too heavy to quality for the "thin and light" category today. The "Cherry Red" screen lid gives the Inspiron a nice candy-covered look, but Dell charges a $40 premium for the privilege of selecting red instead of black. Usually I don't complain about that type of surcharge from the Dell Design Studio which offers your choice of more than 100 different designs by various artisits, but charging $40 to stick a chuck of red plastic on a notebook is a little excessive.

The bottom of the notebook features the battery and access plates for the hard drive and RAM. There isn't much to talk about here other than to briefly mention the location of the two speakers on the bottom of the front edge (more on that later).

Screen and Speakers
The 14-inch high-definition (1366 x 768) panel on the Dell Inspiron 14z isn't quite as nice as the vibrant 1600 x 900 screen used on our review unit of the Studio 14z. The colors on this screen are generally good but contrast wasn't as impressive. The WLED backlighting in our review unit is pretty even and offers a range of brightness settings. Yes, it is a 16:9 screen ratio, but that's the new standard ... we all have to live with it. Horizontal viewing angles are extremely good, so you won't have any trouble sharing a movie with the person sitting next to you on a plane. Vertical viewing angles are average or below average with colors quickly washing out when viewed from above and colors begining to distort and invert as you move the screen back.

I was pretty impressed with the stereo speakers on the Dell Studio 14z, but I can't say much in favor of the speakers on the Inspiron 14z. The stereo speakers produce average sound quality and are located beneath the front edge of the notebook palmrests firing downward at your lap. I usually call this type of audio "crotch speakers" because the speakers aren't pointed up toward the user. If you're using the Inspiron 14z on a desk then the audio from the speakers "bounces" off the hard desk surface and it sounds okay, but if you're using this PC as a "laptop" then the sound is going to be muffled.

Bottom line, the speakers aren't horrible ... but the location isn't helping matters. You'll probably want to use a good set of headphones with this notebook, and the headphone jack produces clear, distortion-free sound.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on our review unit has full-sized keys with acceptable key spacing and an excellent depth to the key throw. Each key has a textured black finish and a relatively flat surface. The keyboard is extremely firm so you won't have to worry about keyboard flex while typing. There is a hint of flex in the keys on the right side of the keyboard directly above the optical drive, but you have to press down very hard to create flex in this area. My only minor aggravation is that the keyboard isn't available with optional backlighting ... making it harder to type in a dark classroom or dorm room.

The multi-touch, gesture-based touchpad is pretty average for a 14-inch notebook and the dual touchpad buttons have deep feedback with quiet clicks. The touchpad itself is an Synaptics model that uses Dell proprietary touchpad drivers, though I found the standard Synaptics drivers work as well. The touchpad was reasonably responsive with good sensitivity and very little lag. Touchpad accuracy was a bit off at times, but that may be correctable by tweaking the drivers.

With the release of a new operating system, one of the first questions that pops into your head--besides how much it is going to cost you--is if it will increase the performance of your machine. Newer operating systems are usually more optimized, designed to start quicker, load programs faster, and increase performance with better drivers. With that question in mind, we took two identical Lenovo ThinkPad T400s loaded with Windows Vista or Windows 7 and compared every facet relating to performance.

To make this article relevant to consumers, we picked two identical systems with factory images (operating system installatons). One included the latest configuration of Windows Vista Business and the other Windows 7 Professional. They were both manufactured on 9/10/09 and are only four serial numbers apart. These systems match even down to the most basic internal hardware. To compare the system performance of both machines, we created a level playing field by removing the same bloatware from each machine including AV software and gave each laptop the same custom power profile in the Lenovo power manager.

The Lenovo ThinkPad T400s configurations included the following hardware:

• Windows Vista Business SP2 32-bit or Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
• Graphics: Intel X4500M Integrated
• Screen: 1440 x 900 WXGA+ LED Backlit (Matte finish)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)
• Memory: 4GB DDR3 RAM (2GB x 2)
• 128GB Toshiba SSD
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
• Wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0
• Battery: 6-cell 11.1 44Wh

General Performance
In the first section of the performance review, we compare daily activities of each system. This includes tasks such as boot times, shutdown time, sleep time, and wake from sleep time. These are activities the user has to sit through multiple times a day, meaning that a few seconds here or there really adds up over time. Both systems were set to automatically log in, without a password prompt to delay the process. The timer was started either when the power button was pressed, or the appropriate button inside the operating system was clicked. For the power-on sequence the timer was stopped when the system was at the desktop, idle and waiting.

Measuring the boot times side by side was pretty interesting, since our Windows 7 system turned on almost 30% faster than the Vista machine. We expected both machines were going to be quick with their relatively clean installs and SSDs, but coming in under 30 seconds was impressive for the Windows 7 system.

Startup Time

Shutdown time was equally impressive, with the Windows 7 configuration completely powered down in half the time over Vista. Timers in this case were stopped when the activity LEDs were off.

Shutdown Time

Sleep and wake times are important for users who want to quickly power down their machine--say at the end of a class or meeting--but might not want to lose what they were working on. In this test as well, the Windows 7 system had another clear advantage over the Vista configuration.

Sleep

Wake

For standard system activities, Windows 7 easily takes the lead. Clocking in with consistently faster times over and over again, there is no question in our minds that at least some areas have been optimized compared to Vista.

Battery Life
Our next test is battery life, which plays a major role in day-to-day use and also gives us an indication of how stressful background activities are on a notebook. In this test we installed FireFox on both systems with the ReloadEvery plug-in set to refresh the same webpage on each system every minute. This was to duplicate slow but steady usage which might be duplicated inside a classroom or reducing the boredom in a lengthy meeting. For this test both systems were configured with the same power profile inside the Lenovo Power Manager. The primary settings included the processor set to adaptive mode, screen brightness to 10/15, and all idle timers disabled. Inside BatteryMon, both systems reported a battery capacity within .6kWh of each other.

Out of all the tests we ran, I think this was the most interesting. I say that because of the sheer fact each system shutdown after 5 hours and 56 minutes, within 15 seconds of each other. Technically one system shut down with 5:56 on the counter while one showed 5:57, but for us it was close enough to be called equal. Both systems stayed at about 6.5 watts of power consumption during the test, without many background tasks coming up to stress the notebooks.

Software Performance
Application performance was a toss up with some software taking longer to load in the Vista environment and another taking longer inside Windows 7. We used AppTimer to measure the length of times GIMP and iTunes took to start up on each computer. After running the test multiple times on each system to find the average, we found that iTunes takes a bit less time to load in Vista and GIMP takes less time in Windows 7.

iTunes load time

GIMP load time

Video Playback Performance
Video playback and its stress to the processor was another area we checked, and in this scenario we used the latest CCCP codec pack with Media Player Classic HomeCinema, with Divx 7 installed x264 decoding. The test file was the 1080P trailer for the movie Up!. CPU utilization seemed to be better in Windows 7 (if only slightly), as shown by a more stable readout in the Task Manager. In Windows 7 if you go with Windows Media Player 11, which supports hardware decoding with the Intel X4500 chipset, the performance difference is huge. Instead of 15-25% CPU utilization, it is between 0-4% on average.

Vista

Windows 7

Windows 7 using WMP11

Synthetic Benchmark Performance
The last half of our performance comparison guide covers synthetic benchmarks, including wPrime, PCMark05, PCMark Vantage, and 3DMark06. Both systems had all available Windows Updates installed and we used a non-Aero basic theme during each test. The results we found were very surprising. After the pretty significant advantages Windows 7 showed in day-to-day performance in prior tests. The only area where Windows 7 performed equal to or better than Vista was in 3D performance ... which had marginal gains at best.

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

PCMArk Vantage also measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

Wprime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

HDTune Windows Vista:

HDTune Windows 7:

While most of the synthetic benchmarks might have the disadvantage of not being optimized or designed to run inside Windows 7, wPrime shouldn't have those problems. Even it ran slower inside Windows 7. To simulate gaming performance on each system, we used Real-time HDR IBL (rthdribl) in its default startup mode running at 640x480 on the desktop, with FRAPS recording the average framerate. In this test Windows 7 showed a small lead in framerate over Vista. The increase would probably be more significant with a better graphics card.

rthdribl FPS (higher scores mean better performance):

Conclusion
After testing all aspects relating to performance between two identical system equipped with Windows Vista and Windows 7, we found each version of Windows performed differently under certain circumstances. In day-to-day operation Windows 7 easily beats Vista with a quicker boot times, shutdown times, sleep times, and wake times. In some of those tests it was almost 50% faster, a huge lead when you consider how many of those cycles the computer will go through in its lifetime. Video performance is improved in Windows 7 if the user switches to Windows Media Player, where it now natively supports hardware-decoding with the Intel X4500 chipset. Battery life was unchanged with each system getting nearly the exact result in our side-by-side test.

The main area that seems to suggest a disadvantage for Windows 7 is overall system performance when tested with synthetic benchmarks. It is too early to tell if this is non-optimized benchmark software or driver related hiccups inside Windows 7. What we do know so far is 3D performance seems to be improved by a small margin; a plus for gamers. As more and more Windows 7 systems come in for review we will see a better picture of how it performs in our tests, but we can easily say for the average user, Windows 7 will feel much faster in day-to-day activities.