Canadian Amazon Visa card

Take it from someone who worked years in the credit card industry (in Customer Marketing no less, which is actually sales; marketing wasn't called that, but I digress).

A true cash reward is always the best option in a credit card plan. With points based systems, the redemption rates are astonishingly low (we love to save points, not spend them), and when you do cash in points, it usually comes with additional costs that will increase card usage. For instance you may have enough points to book a couple of free nights at a Marriott, but you need to pay $$ for the 5 other nights for the week (and airfare etc). And perhaps staying at a Wyndham property for the week would have been cheaper for the week than your 5 nights, but you have to use Marriott. Or perhaps you don't want to take a vacation so your points are "stranded" or worse, forfeited.

With a cash card, redemption is generally near 100% since they pay out on a regular trigger. A good redemption is one that you can actually use.

My personal strategy for for regular purchases is PC Mastercard (which is points based yes, but near to cash). Why? Because I will always buy groceries, and with careful use of the specials, you can double and sometimes triple dip in this program - we generally accumulate enough points per year to cover about a month's groceries or roughly 8% of our food budget. The points earned are for something essential that I am always going to buy (food), so to me it is a cash like benefit. We tend to use our points at major holidays so that entertaining family isn't painful; just an added benefit that the Christmas dinner shop for $250 is effectively payment free when checking out. And if I put the grocery money saved into the travel fund, I have enough in a year to pay for a full week at that Wyndham property IF I choose to take a vacation. I don't have to take a vacation to use the points, the money can be spent elsewhere.

This long ramble is just to point out that the banks and card issuers have whole departments of people dedicated to figuring out how to retain as much of YOUR money as possible. Having worked inside the system, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to use THEIR programs to maximize MY benefit. I see many posts on here that make me cringe because I see that my former colleagues are still very successful at creating a perception of value.

Here endeth the rant (with all respect to you Sean).
 
Take it from someone who worked years in the credit card industry (in Customer Marketing no less, which is actually sales; marketing wasn't called that, but I digress).

A true cash reward is always the best option in a credit card plan. With points based systems, the redemption rates are astonishingly low (we love to save points, not spend them), and when you do cash in points, it usually comes with additional costs that will increase card usage. For instance you may have enough points to book a couple of free nights at a Marriott, but you need to pay $$ for the 5 other nights for the week (and airfare etc). And perhaps staying at a Wyndham property for the week would have been cheaper for the week than your 5 nights, but you have to use Marriott. Or perhaps you don't want to take a vacation so your points are "stranded" or worse, forfeited.

With a cash card, redemption is generally near 100% since they pay out on a regular trigger. A good redemption is one that you can actually use.

My personal strategy for for regular purchases is PC Mastercard (which is points based yes, but near to cash). Why? Because I will always buy groceries, and with careful use of the specials, you can double and sometimes triple dip in this program - we generally accumulate enough points per year to cover about a month's groceries or roughly 8% of our food budget. The points earned are for something essential that I am always going to buy (food), so to me it is a cash like benefit. We tend to use our points at major holidays so that entertaining family isn't painful; just an added benefit that the Christmas dinner shop for $250 is effectively payment free when checking out. And if I put the grocery money saved into the travel fund, I have enough in a year to pay for a full week at that Wyndham property IF I choose to take a vacation. I don't have to take a vacation to use the points, the money can be spent elsewhere.

This long ramble is just to point out that the banks and card issuers have whole departments of people dedicated to figuring out how to retain as much of YOUR money as possible. Having worked inside the system, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to use THEIR programs to maximize MY benefit. I see many posts on here that make me cringe because I see that my former colleagues are still very successful at creating a perception of value.

Here endeth the rant (with all respect to you Sean).

And this is what I so dislike about the Roger's offerings compared to the Amazon card. If you're a customer, you can spend your credit in a timely manner on their products. Otherwise you wait until the end of the year and they hope you forget to call and tell them you want your money (many will). If, by chance, you do remember to call, they still get an interest free loan (of sorts) on that 2.5% for up to a year. No matter how it works out, they win.

The HomeTrust card is a little better, in that you don't have to pay that 2.5% forex up front, and you don't have to remember to call to get your credit. Still have to wait a year for whatever cash back rewards you do accumulate though, and there are some other annoying aspects of that card.

Between us, my husband and I have applied for both of the HomeTrust and Fido cards, but I will be watching carefully to see if any new (and better!) no-forex credit card options appear in the Canadian market.
 
Take it from someone who worked years in the credit card industry (in Customer Marketing no less, which is actually sales; marketing wasn't called that, but I digress).

A true cash reward is always the best option in a credit card plan. With points based systems, the redemption rates are astonishingly low (we love to save points, not spend them), and when you do cash in points, it usually comes with additional costs that will increase card usage. For instance you may have enough points to book a couple of free nights at a Marriott, but you need to pay $$ for the 5 other nights for the week (and airfare etc). And perhaps staying at a Wyndham property for the week would have been cheaper for the week than your 5 nights, but you have to use Marriott. Or perhaps you don't want to take a vacation so your points are "stranded" or worse, forfeited.

With a cash card, redemption is generally near 100% since they pay out on a regular trigger. A good redemption is one that you can actually use.

My personal strategy for for regular purchases is PC MasterCard (which is points based yes, but near to cash). Why? Because I will always buy groceries, and with careful use of the specials, you can double and sometimes triple dip in this program - we generally accumulate enough points per year to cover about a month's groceries or roughly 8% of our food budget. The points earned are for something essential that I am always going to buy (food), so to me it is a cash like benefit. We tend to use our points at major holidays so that entertaining family isn't painful; just an added benefit that the Christmas dinner shop for $250 is effectively payment free when checking out. And if I put the grocery money saved into the travel fund, I have enough in a year to pay for a full week at that Wyndham property IF I choose to take a vacation. I don't have to take a vacation to use the points, the money can be spent elsewhere.

This long ramble is just to point out that the banks and card issuers have whole departments of people dedicated to figuring out how to retain as much of YOUR money as possible. Having worked inside the system, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to use THEIR programs to maximize MY benefit. I see many posts on here that make me cringe because I see that my former colleagues are still very successful at creating a perception of value.

Here endeth the rant (with all respect to you Sean).
All true. However, if you use those points, it can be worth it. I use my Aeroplan points to visit my family and I like the perks, like free seat selection and zone 2 boarding on a Tango flight. That said, some flights I've looked at (like Orlando at spring break) are completely priced out of my points balance. What used to be a great way to get a "free" flight is not that any longer. In fact, sometimes, like a summer trip with seat sales, it isn't worth the price of my Visa annual fee versus how much I save on the flight, because I may be stuck with market fare for the flight when I could buy a cheap Tango flight (same one) for cheaper than it cost me to save the points. Okay, scratch the point I was trying to make, but I do like the free seat selection and the Zone 2 boarding. sigh.

Like others have said, I'm on the lookout for what else is out there. I do have to agree that a cashback card is probably the best, assuming they actually give you a decent cashback. The measely half a percent that Cap One is giving on their Amazon card is almost not even worth the bother.

Also, I'm interested to see what Air Canada will replace Aeroplan with and I wonder what new card Amazon might offer in the future to replace this one, too.
 
This doesn't have anything to do with the Amazon card specifically...but I think it's relevant to the overall conversation.

A few months ago, I created a whole thread on my experience with redeeming Air Miles. For me, it took persistence and a lot of effort. It took six weeks for me to find the flights I wanted at the lowest price point. It's a happy ending because we were able to get exactly what we wanted, but it wasn't always looking so promising.

IMO, if you don't have the time or energy to put in the effort to get what you're looking for, get the cash reward cards. 100%. No question about it. I looked three times a day for six weeks until the flights I wanted eventually opened up. I was diligent in making sure all my bonus miles posted. I signed up for the BMO AM World Elite and got the 3k bonus/free companion flight/first year free. It's turned out to have massive value for us. But for my siblings who don't have time to be consistent and comb through the (awful) Air Miles site, it's nothing more than a headache. @bankr63 is very correct...tons of those rewards points will likely go unused.

There are worthy options out there that aren't cash back. That being said...buyer beware.

Take it from someone who worked years in the credit card industry (in Customer Marketing no less, which is actually sales; marketing wasn't called that, but I digress).

A true cash reward is always the best option in a credit card plan. With points based systems, the redemption rates are astonishingly low (we love to save points, not spend them), and when you do cash in points, it usually comes with additional costs that will increase card usage. For instance you may have enough points to book a couple of free nights at a Marriott, but you need to pay $$ for the 5 other nights for the week (and airfare etc). And perhaps staying at a Wyndham property for the week would have been cheaper for the week than your 5 nights, but you have to use Marriott. Or perhaps you don't want to take a vacation so your points are "stranded" or worse, forfeited.

With a cash card, redemption is generally near 100% since they pay out on a regular trigger. A good redemption is one that you can actually use.

My personal strategy for for regular purchases is PC Mastercard (which is points based yes, but near to cash). Why? Because I will always buy groceries, and with careful use of the specials, you can double and sometimes triple dip in this program - we generally accumulate enough points per year to cover about a month's groceries or roughly 8% of our food budget. The points earned are for something essential that I am always going to buy (food), so to me it is a cash like benefit. We tend to use our points at major holidays so that entertaining family isn't painful; just an added benefit that the Christmas dinner shop for $250 is effectively payment free when checking out. And if I put the grocery money saved into the travel fund, I have enough in a year to pay for a full week at that Wyndham property IF I choose to take a vacation. I don't have to take a vacation to use the points, the money can be spent elsewhere.

This long ramble is just to point out that the banks and card issuers have whole departments of people dedicated to figuring out how to retain as much of YOUR money as possible. Having worked inside the system, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to use THEIR programs to maximize MY benefit. I see many posts on here that make me cringe because I see that my former colleagues are still very successful at creating a perception of value.

Here endeth the rant (with all respect to you Sean).
 


And this is what I so dislike about the Roger's offerings compared to the Amazon card. If you're a customer, you can spend your credit in a timely manner on their products. Otherwise you wait until the end of the year and they hope you forget to call and tell them you want your money (many will). If, by chance, you do remember to call, they still get an interest free loan (of sorts) on that 2.5% for up to a year. No matter how it works out, they win.

I applied for my Rogers card on Jan 17, received notification of approval on Jan 18, and have received the cards in the mail today.

I registered the card online and found an option to AUTOMATICALLY apply the "cash-back" credits when they reach $20 for purchases. That option can be set up to apply to the "next" purchase only, or to all future purchases. It can also be set on the primary card and/or the secondary card. It gives the cardholder some control as to how the cash-back credits apply. I don't know if this is a new feature or just a hidden feature of the card. I will see what happens when I reach the $20 point.
 
This doesn't have anything to do with the Amazon card specifically...but I think it's relevant to the overall conversation.

A few months ago, I created a whole thread on my experience with redeeming Air Miles. For me, it took persistence and a lot of effort. It took six weeks for me to find the flights I wanted at the lowest price point. It's a happy ending because we were able to get exactly what we wanted, but it wasn't always looking so promising.

IMO, if you don't have the time or energy to put in the effort to get what you're looking for, get the cash reward cards. 100%. No question about it. I looked three times a day for six weeks until the flights I wanted eventually opened up. I was diligent in making sure all my bonus miles posted. I signed up for the BMO AM World Elite and got the 3k bonus/free companion flight/first year free. It's turned out to have massive value for us. But for my siblings who don't have time to be consistent and comb through the (awful) Air Miles site, it's nothing more than a headache. @bankr63 is very correct...tons of those rewards points will likely go unused.

There are worthy options out there that aren't cash back. That being said...buyer beware.
And this is part of my point.

The rewards have to be easy to use as well. For those who go to a 3rd party foreign exchange counter for a better rate and then carry the money back to their banks to pay their US cards, I have to think "really?" It may work for them but for most that is probably very inconvenient. I don't want to drive from the burbs downtown to get money to take to my bank, my gas cost and parking will probably outstrip the benefit. I don't want to sit on the phone for hours trying to redeem points with AirMiles. I want systems that allow me to make a couple of online clicks, or push a couple of buttons on the self-checkout at Loblaws to redeem, or better yet take no effort at all. I want simple and cost effective!
 
Somewhat on topic, but slightly off topic - because we are talking about credit cards here and finding ones that best suit us. Friends of ours have gone to Disney World for "free" on Airmiles. I investigated some of those "Airmiles" cards and they give you 1 airmiles for every $15 or $20 spent. I did a quick search online and found that Disney World tickets (I think it was 5 day tickets) are 4000 miles per ticket. For our family of 4, at 1 airmile for every $15 spent, we would need to run $240,000 through our card to gain the 16,000 points to make that happen. Well... If a card were to even give 1% cash back, by spending $240K, that would be $2400 in cash-back rewards. To buy the tickets straight out today is $1480US ($1850 Canadian). An Airmiles card doesn't make much sense to me.

We liked the Amazon card because it had no foreign exchange fee. The 1% cash back was a nice bonus, which ended up being a 3.5% bonus.

*sigh*. Well. The Amazon card is near the end. We've investigated which card will work best for our needs, and the Rogers card seems to be the one.
 


Somewhat on topic, but slightly off topic - because we are talking about credit cards here and finding ones that best suit us. Friends of ours have gone to Disney World for "free" on Airmiles. I investigated some of those "Airmiles" cards and they give you 1 airmiles for every $15 or $20 spent. I did a quick search online and found that Disney World tickets (I think it was 5 day tickets) are 4000 miles per ticket. For our family of 4, at 1 airmile for every $15 spent, we would need to run $240,000 through our card to gain the 16,000 points to make that happen. Well... If a card were to even give 1% cash back, by spending $240K, that would be $2400 in cash-back rewards. To buy the tickets straight out today is $1480US ($1850 Canadian). An Airmiles card doesn't make much sense to me.

We liked the Amazon card because it had no foreign exchange fee. The 1% cash back was a nice bonus, which ended up being a 3.5% bonus.

*sigh*. Well. The Amazon card is near the end. We've investigated which card will work best for our needs, and the Rogers card seems to be the one.
Those of us who use Airmiles credit cards don't simply earn miles from just using the card, it's the bonus offers that are in stores that allow us to go to Disney for "free". We earned almost 20,000 AM last year and we sure as heck didn't spend anywhere near the 240K. When there are little slip-ups in the offers some of us have been known to push the envelope to the max!
 
I need to do a correction/clarification on a post above.

For the Rogers card, yesterday in haste I said that the cash-back rewards could be automatically applied to future purchases. I've read through the details in greater detail today and I see that those cash-back rewards can automatically be applied to ELIGIBLE purchases, which include mainly Rogers related purchases. In our case, we use Rogers for internet/phone so the cash-back rewards so the card works for us as a replacement for the Amazon card. The Amazon card was better, but because we are a Rogers customer, this one will work OK for us - or at least it is better than using our Scotia Mastercard that offers nothing to offset the 2.5% fee.
 
[snip]

A true cash reward is always the best option in a credit card plan. With points based systems, the redemption rates are astonishingly low (we love to save points, not spend them), and when you do cash in points, it usually comes with additional costs that will increase card usage. For instance you may have enough points to book a couple of free nights at a Marriott, but you need to pay $$ for the 5 other nights for the week (and airfare etc). And perhaps staying at a Wyndham property for the week would have been cheaper for the week than your 5 nights, but you have to use Marriott. Or perhaps you don't want to take a vacation so your points are "stranded" or worse, forfeited.

With a cash card, redemption is generally near 100% since they pay out on a regular trigger. A good redemption is one that you can actually use.
Slightly off-topic as well:

I certainly do see the argument that cashback cards are better for most people (particularly those who can't be bothered to spend time looking for a good redemption), but there can certainly be significant value in points for those who spend the time to use them (especially points that can easily be converted between loyalty programs). You can easily travel in Business class on airlines, stay at high-end hotels, etc. at fantastic rates. Granted, if those things don't interest you and/or you think they are a waste of money, then, most certainly, one should go with a cashback card. Additionally, your Marriott vs. Wyndham property comparison is a good example. Yes, you could probably stay at a Wyndham property for a full week rather than 3 nights or so at a JW Marriott or a St. Regis. But what if staying at a Wyndham is not what one wants, and he/she is happy paying up for added service/features/amenities/etc.?

I'm a big fan of American Express Membership Rewards. They can be converted to a number of airline partners or a number of hotel partners (for high-value redemptions if one desires), or used directly as a credit to you card statement if so desired.

[snip]
For those who go to a 3rd party foreign exchange counter for a better rate and then carry the money back to their banks to pay their US cards, I have to think "really?" It may work for them but for most that is probably very inconvenient. I don't want to drive from the burbs downtown to get money to take to my bank, my gas cost and parking will probably outstrip the benefit.
Again, I agree that it could be a significant inconvenience for some, but not for others. I personally don't use third-party forex counters, but if I did, all I would have to do is go down the elevator at work and walk less than half a block, then back to deposit the money in my bank account. Point is, everyone has different circumstances.

If that is still an inconvenience, for those that have discount brokerage accounts (that can hold both CAD and USD), and want to convert larger sums of CAD to USD or vice-versa, you can use Norbert's Gambit right from the comfort of your computer, at a fee of ~$20 plus a little bit on the bid/ask spread. Obviously the more you convert, the better your effective rate.
 
Slightly off-topic as well:

I certainly do see the argument that cashback cards are better for most people (particularly those who can't be bothered to spend time looking for a good redemption), but there can certainly be significant value in points for those who spend the time to use them (especially points that can easily be converted between loyalty programs). You can easily travel in Business class on airlines, stay at high-end hotels, etc. at fantastic rates. Granted, if those things don't interest you and/or you think they are a waste of money, then, most certainly, one should go with a cashback card. Additionally, your Marriott vs. Wyndham property comparison is a good example. Yes, you could probably stay at a Wyndham property for a full week rather than 3 nights or so at a JW Marriott or a St. Regis. But what if staying at a Wyndham is not what one wants, and he/she is happy paying up for added service/features/amenities/etc.?

I'm a big fan of American Express Membership Rewards. They can be converted to a number of airline partners or a number of hotel partners (for high-value redemptions if one desires), or used directly as a credit to you card statement if so desired.


Again, I agree that it could be a significant inconvenience for some, but not for others. I personally don't use third-party forex counters, but if I did, all I would have to do is go down the elevator at work and walk less than half a block, then back to deposit the money in my bank account. Point is, everyone has different circumstances.

If that is still an inconvenience, for those that have discount brokerage accounts (that can hold both CAD and USD), and want to convert larger sums of CAD to USD or vice-versa, you can use Norbert's Gambit right from the comfort of your computer, at a fee of ~$20 plus a little bit on the bid/ask spread. Obviously the more you convert, the better your effective rate.
I agree with your points. I think though, that for the masses here, we are looking for the 80% solution (works for 80% of the people or 80% of the time) rather than the 20% solutions. And for the solutions (cards) that work effortlessly. Statistically, rewards are a 20% or less solution, because that is the percentage (13% is the average I found in the US in a quick search) that ever get redeemed, and they are often difficult to redeem or come with strings. Cash back cards are a generally easier to use and have near full redemption. The Rogers/Fido cards are probably about a 50-60% solution in Ontario. Great if you have Rogers as a service provider, so-so if you can only do the annual cash in. All of these solutions work for some people, and yours work well for you. My PC Card that I use for domestic spending that I used in my personal example works well for me, but again, not quite as well if you are a regular Metro/Sobeys shopper.

Mostly I'm ranting from the bully pulpit because I want people to "get" what the card companies are doing to you here. Having been an insider, I see suggested ideas here that play right into the issuers' targeted marketing. As a matter of fact, I ran across a great research paper that covers how beneficial the Marriott program is to Marriott because redemptions almost always come attached to additional spend at their own hotels (with some mind boggling math equations for yield attached).

What worked in the Amazon Visa case was that it worked well for everyone (it was an 80% solution), and Chase probably dumped it for just that reason - too popular and costly. What is left are a couple of 60% or less solutions. Pick what works, but don't give up too much to the issuers and sponsors in return. Keep it in your pocket to spend on your vacation, not for their executives to spend on theirs.
 
Is that research paper you mentioned in the public domain or was it something you saw in the course of your job and therefore, not free to be shared? It sounds interesting, and if its something out there on the web, I wouldn't mind the link.

I agree that everyone's lifestyle and spending needs are different and banks offer products that best suit their bottom line, whether that's a reward that has to be spent back with the company or an annual fee. They're in the business to make money. The hope is that we will get a little something extra back on things we are purchasing anyway, not going out of our way to purchase to pay the rewards collection game.
 
@bankr63 - Thanks for the great posts.

Actually - thanks to everyone for the great posts. This has been a very informative thread.

Our household is not a big user of credit cards. People will argue that we should do all purchases on the credit card to get "points", but I've always been of the mindset that the points are not free, and that we would end up spending more in the end to chase those points than they are actually worth. The Amazon card was great for trips to the USA to save the 2.5 Foreign Exchange fee, and the 1% cash back was a bonus. As far as Chase Bank were concerned - we likely were "deadbeats", because we never paid a penny of interest to them the entire time we had the card.
 
@bankr63 - Thanks for the great posts.

Actually - thanks to everyone for the great posts. This has been a very informative thread.

Our household is not a big user of credit cards. People will argue that we should do all purchases on the credit card to get "points", but I've always been of the mindset that the points are not free, and that we would end up spending more in the end to chase those points than they are actually worth. The Amazon card was great for trips to the USA to save the 2.5 Foreign Exchange fee, and the 1% cash back was a bonus. As far as Chase Bank were concerned - we likely were "deadbeats", because we never paid a penny of interest to them the entire time we had the card.
Not 'deadbeats'. The issuer gets a percentage of the purchase from the acquirer/merchant. They're just happy to have your business.
 
Thanks to all that have contributed to this thread.... so sad to see the Chase Amazon Card go by the wayside as it was an awesome card for us but it has really helped to have feedback from all who have added to this thread. We wound up with going with one of the options but if the Chase card had of kept going we would have stuck with that....

Thanks again to all...
 
I got an email today about the "new" Marriott card, which is just the SPG Amex card. It has an annual fee and it is not forex exempt. No thanks. I rarely use AMEX.

I applied for the Home Trust a while ago but have not heard anything from them. If I am declined, I will just get the Rogers since I have my cell phone with them.
 
I’m so confused. We aren’t with Rogers so that doesn’t seem like a good option. Hometrust visa? I have no idea.
 
I applied for the Home Trust a while ago but have not heard anything from them. If I am declined, I will just get the Rogers since I have my cell phone with them.

I applied for the HomeTrust Visa on January 18 and just TODAY got an email notifying me that my application was "received" (no kidding, I submitted it online), and that I will receive a response in the next 3-4 weeks. So total 5-6 weeks estimated processing time, plus however long it takes to actually receive the card. I guess they're getting a lot of applications?

I also had my husband apply for the Fido card; he submitted the application on January 24 and was notified of approval on January 26. We don't have the cards yet, but they should come by the end of next week.

So if anyone is in a hurry, Rogers is definitely the way to go!
 
I applied for the HomeTrust Visa on January 18 and just TODAY got an email notifying me that my application was "received" (no kidding, I submitted it online), and that I will receive a response in the next 3-4 weeks. So total 5-6 weeks estimated processing time, plus however long it takes to actually receive the card. I guess they're getting a lot of applications?

I also had my husband apply for the Fido card; he submitted the application on January 24 and was notified of approval on January 26. We don't have the cards yet, but they should come by the end of next week.

So if anyone is in a hurry, Rogers is definitely the way to go!

Same here! I applied on the 16th and got the same email today. Just put my Disneyland and Disneyworld tickets on my Marriott card so I won't need a no forex card until we're in California in August. Hopefully the card will be here by then, LOL.
 
I’m so confused. We aren’t with Rogers so that doesn’t seem like a good option. Hometrust visa? I have no idea.

Each has it's pros and cons:

Rogers/Fido: The only differences that I'm aware of between these two cards are that Rogers card carries an annual fee (can be waived for Rogers customers) but offers a slightly higher (0.25%) cash-back rate on domestic currency transactions. Note that cash-back rate for foreign currency transactions are the same for both cards. So if you're not a Roger's customer, likely the Fido card would be the better choice between the two. The only time this might not be true is if you will run more than $11,600/year CAD through the card (that's the break-even point between the current annual fee and the higher cash-back rate), and you're okay with paying the $29 annual fee upfront and then waiting for your cash-back return at the end of the year.

Comparing the Fido and HomeTrust cards for a non-Rogers customer:
  • Neither card carries an annual fee.
  • Fido cash-back rate is 1.5%, HomeTrust cash-back rate is 1%.
  • $25 "welcome bonus" on the Fido card when you make a purchase in the first three months.
  • Fido is a Mastercard, Hometrust is a Visa. At least one source has suggested that Visa's forex spot rate is a little higher, on average, than Mastercard's.
  • On foreign transactions, Fido will charge you the 2.5% fee up front, and then credit it back later as part of your "cash back" reward. HomeTrust just doesn't charge the forex markup at all. (IMO this is the biggest disadvantage of the Fido card.)
    • Corollary: if you use the Fido card and return whatever you bought, you will be out the forex charge on BOTH transactions, and will NOT receive the 4% cash back. (Or that's my understanding, anyway.)
  • Both cards will only credit cash-back rewards once per year. HomeTrust does this automatically. On the Fido card you have to "opt-in", but it's not clear whether that has to be done every year, or only once.
  • HomeTrust card includes roadside assistance and Visa rental car insurance.
  • Rogers is the more recognizable brand, therefore may be considered "more trustworthy" by some.
  • Processing time for HomeTrust applications is considerably longer, and there have been some reports of applicants with good credit being declined.
  • There are a number of other minor annoyances around the HomeTrust card, including an apparent limit of 10 forex transactions per day, and an inability (for now) to change the pre-set PIN.
If you're not sure, and you're not overly bothered by the idea of paying 2.5% forex up front and having that credited back up to a year later, you're probably better off just going with the Fido card. Or you can do what I did and apply for both. We'll use the HomeTrust Visa for large forex payments, particularly early in the year, anything that could be returned (eg. cruise deposits), and for overseas car rentals. Otherwise Fido for the higher return and reduced limitations.
 

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