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.

CIBC Got This Right! (After Publishing CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite)

CIBC Reached Out to Me

Recently, I published my experience obtaining a CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite credit card that took almost a month. The experience was mainly negative. You can read about by clicking the links provided below.

But what happened after these posts went online went beyond my expectations. CIBC actually reached out to me and made things right by doing a few things. That’s what I will talk about today.

In this age of Internet and social media, it’s hard to ignore when something is up and people are talking about it. That’s what makes the difference when companies are paying attention or not. Here are the things that CIBC got and did right.

Keeping an Eye Open – CIBC was keeping an eye on the Internet and social media. That’s what everyone should do if they care about their reputation and customers’ feedback.

Reaching Out – Not only were they keeping an eye open, but CIBC also reached out. By contacting me, CIBC shows that they are willing to exchange ideas to make things right and makes things better.

Taking Responsibility and Making Customers Happy – CIBC took responsibility for what happened and acknowledged that they are aware of the issue and will work to improve it. Better yet, they offered me 5000 bonus miles, which was beyond my expectations.

CIBC did not have to do any of these things, but in doing so they proved that they are willing to go that extra mile to keep their customers happy and make everything right. That’s how other big banks and credit card companies should act, but that regrettably does not happen most of the time.

I mentioned before that CIBC customer service is not available 24 hours and if you get stranded in foreign countries or anywhere after hours, there is no help. CIBC corrected me, mentioning that you can call their 24-hour emergency line for any reason. Their regular customer service is the one that’s not open 24 hours.

NB – This is not a paid or affiliated post. All articles or videos on AhmedDawn.com or YouTube.com/ADawn channel are non-affiliated, unbiased, and honest.

New Brim Credit Cards Bring New Perspectives

Brim Credit Cards Canada

Brim Financial is launching new credit cards on the Canadian market that will change the credit card game. These cards have features and flexibilities never seen before in Canada. Today, I will touch base on some of the features. Please visit my video on this as well to learn more.

Rewards Structure – There are no limits on how or when you can redeem. Also, there are no specific categories to earn accelerated points. If you shop more at the same stores, the earn rate increases.

Installment Payment Options – Brim will offer the ability to set up install payments towards a purchase that can be paid in installments at a set lower interest rate (they call it one time installment fee) without affecting the rest of the credit limit. 

Free Boingo Global Wi-Fi – Access to 1 million Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe. A neat perk that would come in handy when you travel.

0% Foreign Transaction Fee – This is one of the most sought after features on Canadian credit cards. Especially since the Marriott Rewards & Amazon credit cards offered by Chase (that provided no foreign currency fee) are no longer available in Canada.

Travel Insurances Provided by Reputable Canadian Provider – Another feature, which is my favourite, is that the Brim World Elite MasterCard offers full travel insurances (Trip Cancellation, Hotel/Motel Burglary, Travel Medical, etc.) by a reputable Canadian insurance provider. This is unlike Scotia Amex Gold and many other Canadian travel cards serviced by the same insurance company where the provider has bad ratings when it comes to fulfill claims.

Lounge Access – Brim’s higher-end cards will provide lounge access through Lounge Key. However, it is not clear how many visits will be included or it’s just the membership they will offer.

And packed with much more features (including real-time payment clearing to open up available credit limit without waiting 2-3 days), it may sound like that these new Brim Credit Cards are too good to be true. We will need to wait and see when the cards come out.

Brim’s website (https://brimfinancial.com) is accepting applications, so when I applied it told me that they will contact me once they start processing my application. I do have a video on Brim and here is the link you can follow to watch: