Brim Credit Card Updates

What’s Happening with Brim

Brim Financial announced created heavy buzz on the Canadian market when they announced new credit cards for Canadians with features such as no foreign transaction fee, Lounge Key membership, Boingo global Wi-Fi access, plus much more. It’s been more than two months since I applied for the Brim World Elite MasterCard and I haven’t heard from them since, so I decided to give them a call to find out what’s going on.

I spoke with two individuals at Brim and here is the summary of what they told me.

No Cards Have Been Issued Yet – Brim is still working on approving credit cards based on FIFO basis and they have not started issuing any credit cards yet. This is as of when I spoke with them about a week ago.

Lounge Key – I asked about lounge access and whether it’s just the annual membership they are offering or if it comes with membership + lounge entrances as well (like Scotia Passport Visa Infinite, which comes with Priority Pass membership + 6 entrances). I was told that they are offering only the Lounge Key (a lounge access program like Priority Pass) membership program, but no free entrances. You will have to pay each time you access a lounge, but you will be saving on the annual membership fee. The RBC WestJet World Elite MasterCard offers the same type of Lounge Key program.

Some Brim Cards Are Out There – There are some Brim credit cards in circulation, but they are given to the testers who are using these cards to test and make sure everything is working fine.

A few days later after talking to Brim, I received an alert from TransUnion on April 26, 2018 that Brim has made a credit inquiry. So it looks like they reached my application, but I have not heard anything from them yet about the status of my application.

What Will Happen to Canadian Tire Money?

Canadian Tire Triangle Rewards Program

Canadian Tire is digitalizing its rewards program to launch their new “Triangle Rewards Program”. With this facelift, Canadian Tire’s 60-year-old rewards program with 11 million members will be able to blend into the everchanging loyalty program environment on the Canadian market.

Today, I will answer some common questions you might have about Canadian Tire paper money and its new Triangle Rewards Program.

 What Will Happen to My Canadian Tire Paper Money?

Canadian Tire paper money isn’t going anywhere and will still exist. You will be able to earn and redeem Canadian Tire paper money at Canadian Tire stores. When you pay with a non-Canadian Tire credit card or pay in cash, you will be receiving paper money just like the traditional way.

Where Will I Be Able to Earn Triangle Rewards Points?

You will be able to earn Triangle points at Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Gas+, and participating Mark’s and Atmosphere locations.

Do I Need to Sign Up for the New Triangle Program?

If you have a Canadian Tire account or Canadian Tire Option Credit Cards, you don’t need to sign up and you will be a member of the Triangle Rewards Program automatically. If you don’t have either of those, you can sign up in-store or online when the Triangle Program launches.

I have a video on the Triangle Rewards Program coming soon. Also, there will be two new Triangle credit cards: the Triangle MasterCard and the Triangle World Elite Mastercard. I will do a video and write about these cards as well.

Rogers Platinum MasterCard and Fido MasterCard Devalue

Higher Returns Are Moving to Rogers World Elite MasterCard

Rogers Bank is devaluing its Rogers Platinum MasterCard and Fido MasterCard starting May 23, 2018. The higher rate of returns these cards were offering will be transferred over to a new Rogers World Elite MasterCard.

Previously, Rogers Platinum MasterCard had a 4% unlimited cash back rewards on foreign currency purchases and a 1.75% return on everything else in Canadian dollars. Fido MasterCard had 4% unlimited cash back rewards on foreign currency purchases and a 1.50% return on everything else. The new cash back rate for both of these two cards will be 3% unlimited cash back rewards on foreign currency purchase, 2% on Rogers products and services, and a 1.25% return on everything else.

The $20 Annual Fee will be eliminated from the Rogers card. Fido card has no Annual Fee.

The new Rogers World Elite MasterCard will have a 4% return on foreign transactions (which offsets 2.5% foreign currency fees), a 2% return on Rogers products, and 1.75% returns on everything else. So it looks like Rogers is shifting these returns from its regular credit cards to the new higher-end World Elite Series card that still will have no annual fee, but a higher income requirement to qualify for ($80K personal and $150K household).

Rogers is throwing in some insurance benefits such trip cancellation, trip interruption, and travel medical as well. The only other free World Elite Card available for Canadians is the PC World Elite MasterCard, but it does not provide trip cancellation and trip interruption insurances.

The Canadian credit card market is heating up with several other premium travel credit cards such as the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite and the Brim World Elite MasterCard. There will definitely be more cards coming on the horizon to compete and that’s good news for consumers.

Rogers World Elite MasterCard Coming Soon

Rogers World Elite MasterCard & How It Compares with PC World Elite MasterCard

Rogers recently notified its Rogers Platinum MasterCard customers to upgrade to a new Rogers World Elite MasterCard before May 14, 2018. Rogers is devaluing its Rogers Platinum MasterCard and Fido Mastercard and moving some of the benefits to the new Rogers World Elite MasterCard.

For example, the 4% return on foreign transactions (which offsets 2.5% foreign currency fees), 2% return on Rogers products, and 1.75% (or 1.50 on Fido) returns on everything else are no longer available on Rogers Platinum MasterCard and Fido Mastercard. Rather, these high returns will be shifting to the Rogers World Elite MasterCard.

Also, Rogers World Elite MasterCard will be offering some insurance benefits that are rare for a no annual fee credit card. These benefits include Emergency Travel Medical, Trip Interruption, and Trip Cancellation insurance.

Another free World Elite series MasterCard available is the PC World Elite MasterCard, which offers some of the same insurances like Rogers WE but does not offer Trip Interruption & Trip Cancellation insurance + foreign transaction fee offsetting return. Even a premium credit card that charges a $150 annual fee like American Express Gold Rewards Credit card does not offer these benefits.

With all these value-added features for free, the Rogers World Elite MasterCard will definitely step-up competition on the Canadian credit card market and consumers are the ones who will benefit from it. I have been providing video updates on my channel about credit cards and rewards, so please subscribe to stay updated.

Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card

Scotia’s New Travel Credit Card Miles Ahead of Competitors

Previously, if you were on the lookout for travel credit cards issued by major Canadian banks that do not charge foreign currency transaction fees and offer free lounge access, you were out of luck. You could find cards that offer free lounge access, such as the BMO World Elite MasterCard, but getting one with both free lounge access and zero foreign currency fees was out of the question.

However, it all changed when Scotia Bank launched its Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card offering both free lounge access and zero foreign currency fees. Better yet, this card even has a lower annual fee ($140) than BMO World Elite MC ($150) and giving more free lounge entrances (6 vs BMO’s 4) via the Priority Pass program.

Scotiabank placed itself as a leader and miles ahead of other major banks by offering a zero foreign currency conversion fee with no conversion mark-up and 6 free lounge visits. Canadians have long been waiting for this type of card. Since Chase Bank pulled out its 2 zero foreign currency credit cards from Canada, the vacuum in this segment of the credit card market grew and Scotia realized faster than other banks that there was a great opportunity there.

Of course, the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card is not a perfect travel credit card and it has its flaws. For example, it does not offer accelerated points for travel spending and all the travel insurances this card offers are not usable because the 3rd party provider makes it difficult to fulfill claims based on countless Internet reviews, ratings, and complaints.

But still, Scotia took a step in the right direction by offering the first no foreign currency fees credit card issued by one of the major Canadian banks and by lighting the path for other big Canadian banks.