Ottawa [cup] _ National
Money Mart, a private com-
pany providing banking ser-
vices for a fee, is cashing in
on students who can’t afford
to open accounts with com-
mercial banks or credit
unions.

Students and other low
income earners often can’t
wait for a cheque to clear

when opening a new account

or simply don’t have enough
identification to cash che-
ques, says Debbie Hughes-
Geoffrian, thé National Anti-
Poverty Organizations liai-
son.

“(The Money Marts are) a
bad solution to a real pro-
blem,’’ Hughes-Geoffrian
said. She said they are
providing a service banks
should, but refuse to offer.

“We have to get the
banking system to start look-

 

ing at the way they do
business. and start doing
with some sort of. con-
science. Right now they
have none,”’ she said.

Money Mart, a Victoria-
based company begun in
1982, has 30 offices across
Canada and eight in the
United States. The company

 

“a bad solution

to a real problem.”

 

is more than happy to do
business with those who
need immediate cash - for a
price. Chargin six per cent
for new customers and three
per cent for regular cus-
tomers, Money Marts will
cash cheques with little or

Book burning

Ottawa [CUP] In retaliation
to the flourishing used book
trade on campuses across
the country, McGraw-Hill
Ryerson Limited announced
it will be revising its texts
more frequently, increasing
obsolescence and raising
textbook prices.

Lloyd Scheirer, president
of McGraw-Hill, denied the
move was calculated to take
advantage of the captive
student market.

“| don’t feel as though |
am gouging the students;
what we’re doing is revising
more often to remain com-
petitive in the market
place,’’ Scheirer said.

“Of course, we’re not
taking advantage of  stu-
dents; they’re our custom-
ers. | was once a student
myself.’’

Scheirer admitted the de-
cision to revise more fre-
quently was a financial one.
“It’s partly true we’ re losing
revenue to used book deal-
ers - all publishers do. It’s a
matter of being up to date,
and not because the books
are obsolete.”’

Linda Jenkins, marketing.

assistant for McGraw-Hill’s
College Division, said the
rate books are revised de-
pends upon how quickly the
material changes and how
easy it is to get authors to
revise their material.

Most revisions are a-
mendments, or adaptations

of American books for a
Canadian audience, Jenkins
said. Unless a book is quick-
ly out-dated, most books are
revised every three years.

Jenkins said it would be
difficult to consider more
frequent revisions because
of the amount of time need-
ed to contact authors, review
content and rewrite
material.

McGraw-Hill Ryerson
Limited, 70 per cent owned

by its American parent
McGraw-Hill Inc., had a
1984, net profit of $3.5

million, down from $3.6

  

million the privious year.
This year’s first quarter,
though, slowed a 17.5 per
cent rise in sales which
totaled $4.9 million. This
resulted in first quarter pro-
fits of $101,000 as opposed
to a loss of $11,000 for the
same period in 198

no ID required. Some bran-
ches will cash personal. che-
ques for 10 per cent. ~

The Canadian Banking
Association says 96 per cent
of Canadian adults have
bank accounts, but a survey
conducted by Canadian
Facts this spring shows only
76 per cent of Canadian
university students have
accounts with a bank.

Irving Whynot, a_ public
relations officer for the
banking association, denies
that commercial banks show
any bias against students as
a group. He says that it is
up to each individual bank to
set policty for cashing che-
ques and that each customer
is an individual case.

Whynot also says that
banks face considerable los-
ses from returned cheques.

Money Mart describes it-

   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
 
  
   
    
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
      
   

based on convenience for
customers. It offers : profes-
sional cheque cashing, a
money wire service and
photo ID. The company’s
typical customer is an 18 to
34-year-old male.

Money Mart’s head office
in Victoria refused to answer
any questions about the
company, saying that it
would only reply to ques-
tions submitted in writing.

September 19, 1985 PAGE 5

Bank taps students for big bucks

“self as a service industry

In Ontario the Task Force
on Financial Institutions will
be making recommendations
on how to make banking
more accessible in its fall
report to the provincial
government.

Cindy Dymond, a re-
searcher for the task force,
says there is a need for
change as banking is an
essential service on which
many low-income people
rely