High-interest lending takes off during COVID-19 pandemic

Terrified during the early days of the first COVID-19 lockdowns, 65-year-old Kathleen Zane took a leave of absence from her call centre job. She says she was unable to get a loan from her bank, which charges less than eight per cent annual interest. But she already had a high interest loan of $1,500 with Easy Financial, which she increased to nearly $5,000, still in an annual interest rate of 30 per cent. She says she was shocked to see how much interest she was being charged this summer. Anne Gaviola reports.

• Forget payday loans, this is Canada’s new generation of high-interest loans