# Peoples Group

Peoples Trust Company, operating as Peoples Group, is a Canadian financial services company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Peoples Group operates as a trust company and also maintains a chartered bank subsidiary, Peoples Bank of Canada. It is a subsidiary of the Alberta-based holding company Triple Five Group and maintains offices in Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Toronto.

## Services

Services provided by Peoples Group:
* Mortgage origination (CMHC and conventional lending for Multi-Family, Commercial, Construction, and Residential)
* Mortgage servicing
* Structured finance
* Deposit services Agents and Consumers (GICs, RRSPs, TFSAs, e-Savings)
* Acquiring ISOs and merchants
* Issuing prepaid and credit cards (BIN Sponsorship)
* Money Movement (EFT, Interac)

## Membership and affiliations

Peoples Group and its subsidiary Peoples Bank of Canada are separately members of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC). Peoples Group is a member of Canadian Lenders Association and Open Finance Network of Canada.

## History - key events

2022: Peoples Trust Company became first Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS) direct clearer in Canada since 1984.
2021: Peoples Payment Solutions offers access to real-time payments with Interac e-Transfer® for business.
Peoples Trust Company announces CDIC insurance eligibility for General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) prepaid cards.
Peoples Payment Solutions launches Interac e-Transfer Request Money via API.
2019: Peoples Group receives Letters Patent of Incorporation for Peoples Bank of Canada. A Notice of Approval from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), and the Minister of Finance (Canada) was received.
2014: Peoples Trust and InComm launch first MasterCard prepaid card for mobile payments in Canada.
2012: Peoples Trust launches it online banking platform
2008: Peoples Trust becomes a Visa Issuer, one of the first institutions in Canada to have both Visa & MasterCard products.
1987: Peoples Trust becomes one of the first Mortgage Backed Securities issuers in Canada
1985: Peoples Trust opens its doors offering lending and deposit services.

## Class Action Lawsuit

On May 13, 2019, the Ontario Superior Court awarded $16.8 million (CAD) (including $1.5 million in punitive damages) to plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit regarding fees and unused balances the company seized from consumers of its prepaid gift cards between 2012 and 2014. The settlement was approved by a judge in September 2020 and all eligible Ontarians are able to make a claim. The lawsuit covers activities until 2014 but the company continued to issue cards and collect fees that saw the card face value decrease progressively as Peoples Group continued to deduct monthly 'service' fees. So a user who bought a $100 card and didn't use it, would eventually see the balance decrease to $0.
Impacted cards as part of the lawsuit included: Vanilla Prepaid Visa or MasterCard, Give and Go Prepaid Visa, House Points, The Ideal Choice/Online Payment Card MasterCard, Shell Non-Reloadable MasterCard. Along with reloadable prepaid cards under the product names of: Nextwave Titanium+ Prepaid Visa, EPIC Prepaid MasterCard, Evolve Prepaid Visa, HorizonPlus Prepaid MasterCard, PTC Company US Dollar Prepaid MasterCard, Shell Prepaid Reloadable MasterCard and YesCard Prepaid Visa.