DLC offers branded credit cards

Some say it’s a bad idea, other say it makes perfect sense. But last week, Dominion Lending partnered with Visa to become the country’s first mortgage company to launch its own branded credit card program.

Some say it’s a bad idea, other say it makes perfect sense. But last week, Dominion Lending partnered with Visa to become the country’s first mortgage company to launch its own branded credit card program.

“We’ve been focusing on the creation of this program for the past 18 months, and we’re extremely excited about being able to further bundle our services,” said Gary Mauris, president of DLC. “This will help our mortgage professionals meet the needs of Canadian borrowers from coast-to-coast.”

Broker News TV: Brokers offering credit cards

DLC had earlier said the credit cards will be a high-value marketing tool to offer clients and will also serve as an additional revenue stream for brokers. The company, however, has not released any details about broker remuneration.

 While some mortgage brokers say that offering branded credit cards to clients is a perfect tie-in to the business, other mortgage professionals maintain that that it send the wrong signal to clients.

“The big banks push the government to make it harder for people to refinance their house and we argue that the banks are the problem with their easy credit cards and the rules should actually be changed on credit cards and not mortgages,” said Paul Mangion, a broker with The Mortgage Centre in Mississauga, Ont. “Why create a network of agents that most people try to avoid when they walk into a store?”

There are six different cards available:

  1. Student Visa
  2. Classic Visa
  3. No-Fee Gold
  4. Low-Rate Gold
  5. Travel Gold
  6. Platinum

“Every time that client pulls out this card from the wallet, he or she will see that DLC label,” said Mauris.