Can This Possibly Be The Lowest Interest Rate Credit Card in Canada?

American Express Launches 8.99% Rate Interest Rate Card

First Published Date: September 20, 2016

American Express, or AmEx, is known for its upscale cards that usually target customers with heavy spending. The annual fee for some of its cards skyrocket to $700 or even $900. However, this time Amex seems to be targeting traditional consumers who carry a balance with its new low-rate American Express Essential Credit Card.

While you will find most credit cards charge 20 to 30 percent interest, the American Express Essential Credit Card charges only 8.99 percent interest with no annual fee. This low rate is not a promotional rate and is here to stay unless market conditions change.

A few other credit cards in Canada, such as BMO Preferred Rate, Scotiabank Value Visa, CIBC Select Visa, and RBC Visa Classic Low Rate also provide low-rate cards where the interest rate can run 12 to 17 percent, but they don’t come close to the new American Express offer.

Author/Copyright: Ahmed Dawn www.adawnjournal.com

Another card worth mentioning is the MBNA Trueline Credit Card. This no annual fee credit card charges interest rate based on your credit score and it can range from 5.99 to 14.99 percent. What I like about this card is that on the MBNA website it will tell you what your interest rate will be by doing a soft credit check that does not affect your credit score even before you start the application process.

As more players are offering more low-rate credit cards, consumers are the winners from the competition. And there definitely will be more credit card companies entering the arena of low-rate cards following the American Express Essential credit card in the future.

This Credit Card Sign-Up Trick Gets You More Bonus Points

How to Get More Credit Card Miles

First Published Date: July 2, 2016

If you are applying for rewards credit cards the traditional way, by calling the Credit Card Company or going on their website, you may be losing out big on additional bonus points or miles. Today, I will talk about how to maximize receiving points or miles when you apply for credit cards.

What you need to know is that there are 3rd party sites that are always offering better offers than credit card companies. To get the most out of your credit card applications, use these sites instead of the credit card companies’ own sites or call centers. Think of it like buying plane tickets. You are likely to get better deals from a 3rd party than the airlines selling tickets themselves.

Here is a real example to help me illustrate. The MBNA Best Western MasterCard was running a promotion recently with a sign-up bonus of 60,000 points. However, this promotion was only available through 3rd party websites. MBNA Canada’s own website was offering only 20,000 points. Even when customers called in to apply over the phone, their reps were unable to match the offer that existed on 3rd party sites.

Now the question is: how do you find these websites that offer better promotions? I will provide you with some sites here that are always offering various credit card deals and promotions such as additional miles, points, gift cards, and so on. These are:

Greedyrates.ca

Greatcanadianrebates.ca

However, don’t settle for anything until you do thorough research, as there can be better deals somewhere else. Here are some keywords you can use to search online – “Best credit card offers”, “credit card promotions”, etc.

A little research and effort can make a huge difference between travelling on points for free/paying very little or paying the ridiculous full cost. I choose not to pay and travel on points for free or at a ridiculous low cost.

Avoid These Common Credit Card Mistakes

Avoid These Common Credit Card Mistakes

First Published Date: July 31, 2016

Credit cards are a part of our daily living and they are good things, if you know how to manage them. Today, I will talk about how some common and simple mistakes can ruin your credit score. These small mistakes are so negligible that we often forget they can have a big impact on our finances. Learn these mistakes, avoid them, and make them a thing of the past.

Making Late Payments – This is the most common mistake we all make. A late payment can incur late payment charges and bump up your interest rate higher. It can also hurt your credit score, depending on how late it is. Use online tools like Google Calendar or anything that works for you to remind you 3 days ahead of the actual due date so you don’t get caught up making late payments.

Paying Only The Minimum – In Canada, by law, credit card companies now have to show how many years it will take to pay your full balance if you only make the minimum. Add some extra dollars with your minimum, whether it’s $20 or $50 a month, and you can shave off years and save lots interest costs on your credit card balance.  

Using a Credit Card for Cash Advances – Withdrawing cash using a credit card hurt you 2 ways. The first is you pay a high cash advance fee. This fee could run from $20 to $50, depending on your bank. The other bad thing is you start paying high interest the moment you take out cash advances. Never use credit card for cash advances. It’s the worst way to borrow money.

Paying Annual Fees – Many credit cards will try to hook you up offering reward points or cash back in exchange for annual fees. Just to cover these fees, you have to spend more than $20,000 or $30,000 annually. Read the fine print and figure out if it’s really worth it to spend that much money for reward points or cash back after covering annual fees. Use a no annual fee reward or cash back credit card instead; there are lots of them available in the market.

What Rewards Canada Is Not Telling You About Its Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Don’t Get Burned Trusting These Ratings

First Published Date : January 25, 2016

Canada’s travel rewards website Rewards Canada just came up with its annual ranking of best credit cards. This is one of many sites that do annual ranking for travel and other rewards credit cards. The site is pretty upfront about its ratings and telling all sorts of good things about the cards it is recommending. However, it is not telling you a lot of important information you need to know before booking your trip with one of these cards.

For example, if you follow Rewards Canada blindly and book your trip with its number one recommendation travel card (American Express Gold) and you need to cancel your trip due to illness, you will get burned heavily before your sun-filled trip to the Caribbean begins because the number one card does not come with trip cancellation insurance. What may interest you is the fact that many other travel cards that charge a lower annual fee than Amex Gold offer full travel insurance including trip cancellation.

These rating sites are hiding a vital piece of information from consumers that you should have before making any selections. What’s more? They are also not disclosing if there is any financial compensation going on behind the scenes to put certain cards on the top of the list. However, you can rest assured that they are heavily compensated when you apply for any of these cards by clicking on the Rewards Canada website.

These sites are affiliated with all these credit cards they are recommending. If you hover your cursor on the link underneath the card picture, you will see an affiliate ID or tracking code. That’s how credit card companies keep track of their accounts (how many people are signing up) and pay them. The more good things you hear about these cards, the more people will sign up and more compensation is generated for these sites. So for obvious reasons, you are not going to hear anything that prohibits you from signing up for these top cards.

Here are some facts I have here today for you, which you will not find anywhere on any sites that are rating these cards for obvious reasons.

American Express Gold – A travel card that charges a $150 annual fee and does not offer trip cancellation insurance. You may lose all your money if you have to cancel your trip for valid covered medical reasons. Neither American Express nor Rewards Canada will tell you that it’s risky behaviour booking a trip without trip cancellation insurance.

Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard – Insurances provided by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, an American insurer. There are numerous complaints and bad reviews online about these providers when it actually comes to processing claims. All the insurance benefits this card provides look very good on paper, but would mean nothing if they are unable to properly process your claims.

ScotiaBank Gold American Express Card – Same insurance provider as Capital One card above. Also, does not support contactless payment. What this means is that you have to punch in your PIN every time you make a purchase and no tapping. I doubt there is any other card in Canada that, instead of going forward, is going back in time and offering no contactless option.

(Update: July 1, 16 ScotiaBank Gold Amex now provides contactless payment feature)

When choosing your credit cards, do not rely on any single site, and look for if these sites are affiliated with the credit cards they are recommending. There are independent sites that do not offer affiliated links and the opinions you will find on these sites are likely to be unbiased. Also, go through the credit card company’s own sites and look for all the information they are providing. Spend some time researching your dream cards and make educated decisions based on information from various sources.

A Dawn Journal and my YouTube Channel are not compensated by or affiliated with any credit card companies. All credit card articles are 100% unbiased and honest.

Should You Use a Credit Card or Debit Card?

Credit or Debit?

First Published Date: February 15, 2016

Common question we hear these days is which is a better option to pay for your purchases, a credit or debit card? You will even see ads running on TV warning consumers not to use credit cards and stick to debit cards when you shop.

Strikingly enough, the answer depends on what type of person you are when it comes to managing debts. Debit transactions come out of your own bank account based on your available balances, so you are not piling up debts. On the other hand, credit transactions are a short-term interest free loan or long-term high interest loan from your credit card companies.

If you have difficulty managing finances and are unable to pay off credit card balances in full each month, a debit card is definitely your answer when shopping because you can’t buy more than you can afford. If you are excellent in managing money and always pay off balances in full, definitely stay away from debit cards and always use credit cards.

Credit cards offer unsurpassed security, protection, guarantee, warranty, rewards, and much more that debit cards will not be able to offer. However, at the end of the day, all these features offered by credit cards will not make sense if you keep balances on them and pay skyrocketing interest month after month.

From my own personal experience, I will not put a single dollar purchase on my debit card, as it translates into me losing the opportunity to earn free miles or points towards my next travel. Used diligently, credit cards can be your friends towards earning free or partial travel that debit cards can never offer.

In my next book “Credit Card Hacks: What Credit Card Companies Don’t Want You to Know” I will discuss that and many other tips in detail. I am expecting to get this book out in 2016.