Brim Credit Cards Discontinue No Foreign Transaction Fee

Brim Credit Cards Start Charging 1.5% Foreign Exchange Fee

I was one of the very first people to receive a Brim Credit Card when it launched. I cancelled my Brim World Elite Mastercard after the annual fee jumped to $199 (Brim now reduced it to $89). I saw no value in keeping it and switched to the free version of the Brim Credit Card just to have a MasterCard that does not charge any FX fee.

Fast forward to today, received a notice from Brim that starting May 18, 2024 all Brim credit cards will start charging a 1.5% foreign exchange fee (from 0%). This means there will be 2 less credit cards in Canada that charge zero foreign currency transaction fees.

My primary no foreign currency fee card is my Scotia Passport Visa Infinite, which is a VISA card. I always travel with a backup MasterCard, in case one card malfunctions or VISA’s network is down. This is where the free Brim Credit Card comes in as my backup card.

However, it is time to abandon this card. Both their free and World Elite Brim Credit Cards provide no value. No lounge access, no annual travel credit, no nothing. This is one of the reasons Brim was forced to reduce the annual fee from $199 to $89, as no one wanted to pay $199 for nothing.

The only other no foreign currency fee MasterCard in Canada available as an Amazon Prime member is the no annual fee Amazon Rewards Mastercard. Amazon Prime members earn 2.5% in Amazon points in any foreign currency purchase made with the Amazon.ca Mastercard, effectively offsetting the foreign transaction fee. Non-Prime members earn 1.5% in Amazon points in any foreign currency purchase.

Canada recently lost one of the best zero foreign currency fee MasterCards, which was the HSBC World Elite MasterCard. And now another free zero foreign currency fee card, MasterCard Brim, is gone.