Money Mart Review: 7 Honest Facts Before You Walk In

Nearly every money mart review reviews the payday loan. That is a mistake, because the payday loan is the most regulated and most predictable thing in the building. Money Mart is a store, and the products beside the loan — cheque cashing, currency exchange, prepaid cards, money transfers, instalment loans — are where the price cap does not reach and where regulars spend the most.

Quick answer

Money Mart, operated by Momentum Financial Services Group, publishes 420+ branches in North America, 1,500+ employees and 1 million customers served last year. Its payday loan costs $14 per $100 — the federal maximum, identical to every licensed competitor. The genuinely useful findings in this money mart review are that the branch network has become a real differentiator, and that the cost cap protecting the loan does not extend to the other products on the shelf.

1. The loan is the least interesting thing about the company

Since January 1, 2025, the federal Criminal Interest Rate Regulations cap a licensed payday loan at 14% of the advance. Money Mart's disclosures reflect it: $500 for 14 days costs $70, repaid at $570, an APR of 365%.

There is no negotiating that number and no competitor undercutting it. So on the loan alone, a review can only tell you the company charges the legal maximum, which is what the market charges. Everything distinctive is elsewhere.

2. The branch network is what this money mart review rates highest

For years, having stores was the old-fashioned thing about Money Mart. In 2026 that inverted.

In March 2026, Attain Finance — the parent of the competing Cash Money brand — announced it had completed a repositioning of its Canadian business in which its payday operation went online only, with the retail estate redirected to its near-prime LendDirect brand. The in-person payday counter is disappearing.

If you have no bank account, unreliable internet, a language preference better served face to face, or you simply want to hand over paperwork and ask questions, a branch is not nostalgia — it is access. That is a real, current, and under-reported advantage.

3. The cap protects the loan. It does not protect the store.

This is the finding that should change how you use the place.

Product	Covered by the 14% payday cap?	What governs the price
Payday cash advance	Yes — $14 per $100 max	Federal regulations + provincial rules
Instalment loan	No — but capped at 35% APR	Criminal interest rate
Cheque cashing	No	Provincial rules where they exist; otherwise posted fees
Currency exchange	No	The spread plus any fee
Prepaid card	No	Card fee schedule
Money transfer	No	Transfer fee plus exchange spread

A borrower who reads "$14 per $100, capped by law" and generalises that reassurance to the whole counter has misunderstood the protection. The cap is attached to one product.

Cheque cashing is the product nobody reviews and the one that most rewards attention. It is typically priced as a percentage of the cheque's face value plus a flat item fee, so the cost scales with your paycheque. Ask for the total in dollars, on your actual cheque, before you hand it over — and compare it against opening a no-fee or newcomer-friendly bank account, which usually ends the expense permanently.

4. The upsell path this money mart review flags as the real risk

A store selling one product sells you that product. A store selling six can move you between them — and the direction of travel is rarely toward the cheaper shelf.

The pattern to watch: you arrive for a $400 payday advance, and leave with an instalment loan of several thousand dollars over 18 to 24 months because the monthly payment sounds smaller. At 35% APR, a $5,000 loan over 60 months costs roughly $177 a month and about $5,648 in interest — more interest than principal. The payment feels lighter; the total is far heavier.

Decide before you walk in which product you are there for, and treat any suggestion to switch categories as a separate decision to make at home.

What to bring and what to ask before you go

A branch visit rewards preparation in a way an online form does not, because you can ask questions and walk out. Take this list with you.

Bring: government photo ID, proof of income covering your most recent pay period, a recent bank statement or void cheque, and your own written note of the exact amount you need and the date you are next paid.

Ask, and get the answer in writing:

1. "What is the total cost of borrowing in dollars, and what is the total I repay?"
2. "What is the exact due date?" — then check it falls on or after your pay date.
3. "What is the fee if a payment is dishonoured, and what interest applies after that?"
4. "Can I repay early, and does that reduce the cost?"
5. "What is your licence number in this province?"
6. "Is there any charge for this service that is not in the cost of borrowing?"

That last question is the one this money mart review would put first, because it is the question the cap does not answer for you. The 14% ceiling applies to the loan. It does not apply to cheque cashing, currency exchange, prepaid cards or money transfers, so a visit that combines a loan with another service can cost meaningfully more than the loan disclosure suggests.

Walk out if: the cost of borrowing exceeds $14 per $100, the due date precedes your pay date, or anyone declines to put the figures in writing before you sign. You are entitled to leave and think about it, and a legitimate lender will not object.

5. What the record shows

Money Mart's Canadian history includes the Ontario class action Smith v. National Money Mart, which alleged charges exceeding the criminal interest rate under section 347 of the Criminal Code. The parties settled in June 2009 and Justice Perell approved the settlement in March 2010: $27.5 million paid to the class plus $56,388,071 of class members' debt forgiven, covering Ontario loans from August 1997 to December 2009.

That litigation predates today's framework and does not describe current conduct. It is included because a review that reports only the marketing is not a review. Weigh it as history, not as a present-day allegation.

6. Your rights are the same here as anywhere

Walking into a branch does not change the statutory protections: $14 per $100 maximum, a loan of no more than 50% of net income in Ontario, two business days to cancel in Ontario and B.C. (a 48-hour clock in Manitoba), no rollovers, one payday loan at a time, and a mandatory extended payment plan on a third loan within 63 days in Ontario.

Default costs sit outside the 14% cap: in Ontario a $20 maximum dishonoured payment fee and 2.5% per month, non-compounding, on outstanding principal — plus your bank's NSF charge, capped at $10 federally since March 12, 2026.

7. How to use this money mart review

1. Verify the licence for your province on the day you apply, using your provincial register.
2. Get every fee in dollars in writing — for the loan and for any other service at the counter.
3. Check the due date lands on or after your pay date, not before it.
4. Ask what the same money costs as an instalment loan — then leave and decide at home.
5. Solve the cheque-cashing problem structurally by opening an account, rather than paying for it every payday.

The bottom line

The fair conclusion of this money mart review is that the company does what it says: it is a large, long-established, licensed cash-services retailer charging the legal maximum on a heavily regulated loan, with a branch network that is becoming scarcer and therefore more valuable to people who need one.

The risk is not that the payday loan is mispriced — it cannot be. The risk is treating a capped product as a guarantee about an uncapped counter, and letting a small timing problem become a long instalment contract.

This article is general information, not financial advice, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Money Mart or Momentum Financial Services Group. Confirm all fees, rates and licences directly with the company before transacting.