Brim World Elite Increases Annual Fee Even Before Issuing Credit Cards

Brim World Elite MasterCard Annual Fee Goes Up

Brim credit cards created heavy buzz and brought a breath of fresh air on the Canadian credit card market because of its unheard of features such as no foreign transaction fee, Lounge Key membership, Boingo global Wi-Fi access, plus much more in Canada.

However, the anticipation and love are gone because Brim World Elite MasterCard has increased its annual fee from $120 to $199 even before reaching its customers.

There is no justification to pay $199 when you can pay $140 (Scotia Passport Visa Infinite) or $150 (BMO World Elite MasterCard) and get a lot more.

For example, Brim WE MasterCard provides only LoungeKey lounge membership, not free passes. The 2 other competitors’ credit cards provide 6 and 4 free lounge passes. Their insurance benefits are comparable or even better then Brim’s WE MasterCard. Scotia Passport Visa Infinite also provides zero foreign currency transaction fees.

The only thing the Scotia and BMO credit cards (those mentioned above) are missing is the Boingo global Wi-Fi access. However, that does not justify the higher annual fee. You can get the same Boingo global Wi-Fi access by just having the free version of Brim credit card.

I called up Brim to hear their version of the story behind the annual fee increase. The rep was friendly but failed to provide strong reasons justifying the increase. You can listen in the conversation here in the video:

What's the Justification Behind Skyrocketing Annual Fee

I don’t see any point in keeping my Brim WE MasterCard beyond its first year. I will switch to the regular free version and still will have access to free Boingo global Wi-Fi. For free lounge access, I am happy with my Scotia Passport Visa Infinite and BMO World Elite MasterCard. Also, Scotia Passport offers no zero foreign transaction fee as well.