# Smart Cash Platinum Plus



## investnoob (Jun 29, 2009)

Anyone have this card?

http://www.mbna.com/canada/smartcash_cardList.html

Is there a catch? Because that looks to be a great deal...I'm debating wether or not to get it. Right now I have a non-rewards card with 10% interest rate, no annual fee. This has a higher interest rate, but I pay my balance off every month.

I'm thinking maybe they have a shorter grace period? 

Any thoughts you guys might have would be greatly appreciated.


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

investnoob said:


> Anyone have this card?
> 
> http://www.mbna.com/canada/smartcash_cardList.html
> 
> ...


Right now, it's among the best cash back credit cards in Canada. Last i heard though, people were having trouble getting their cash back. Not sure if that has been resolved. Here is my smart cash credit card review from a little while back.


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## investnoob (Jun 29, 2009)

Thanks FrugalTrader. Its strange that people are complaining that they have only been getting 1 rebate check.

I have a plain vanilla mbna card (my only credit card) with a low interest rate. I've never bothered getting a new one as I rarely use the one I have. But these cash back cards are really interesting. 

Conceviably I can charge all sorts of utilities to it - would a cable/hydro/gas bill be considered a retail purchase? Would I get the 1% cashback rebate for those?


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## anon (Oct 24, 2009)

MBNA did stop issuing cheques for 2-3 months, but as of a couple of weeks ago, things seem to be moving again and people are getting them. See the thread on RFD for details.

The grace period is the same as for other MBNA cards (ie, better than Amex, about same as VISA).

The extra cashback essentially comes from Memberworks, who runs the cashback program. I understand that MBNA itself kicks in 1% and Memberworks the other 2% on gas/grocery purchases. You _know_ they're not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, so you get the idea about what's going on. If you're comfortable with your spending info going to a 3rd party (and then who knows), it's a good card.

The other gotcha is that no-one has really been able to figure out exactly what the formula used to calculate rewards is. There's some form of rounding involved, and it generally doesn't amount to much, but I think we'd all prefer them to be more open about it. Every transaction I've seen has qualified for at least 1% back.

Switching from an existing MBNA card is super easy and doesn't show up on your credit report. If you're applying for a new card, do it through GreatCanadianRebates for another MBNA card and immediately switch to a Smart Cash card when you get it, for a $40 signup rebate. Coincidentally, I cash my $42 cheque from GCR today.

That said, I have the card, but it's a gas/grocery-only card for me. Costco purchases go on Amex and everything else on the TD Gold VISA.


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## spirit (May 9, 2009)

*Is anyone using only American Express*

Since Costco started the Amex progam my best friend has been using it for EVERYTHING including $5000 allowed for a new vehicle. They are not using thier MC or Visa's anymore. My DH does not want to limit ourselves to using only 1 card. Anyone else going over fully to AE?


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## anon (Oct 24, 2009)

spirit said:


> Anyone else going over fully to AE?


That would be difficult, given that many places don't accept AE. There was a great 2% cashback no-fee AE card available last year, but they've since closed it to new registrations. The Smart Cash card is as close as you're going go get to that right now.


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## Kim (Jan 10, 2011)

I signed up for this card in February and have been using it exclusively for all credit card purchases. When I called in today I was quoted as having 2700 points?? And have received 2 fifty dollar chqs. Does this sound right?

I also wanted to increase my credit limit as I was planning on cancelling my TD Visa that carries an annual fee but has a much higher limit ( Note to those who are worried I still have my oldest credit card and do not plan on cancelling it ). 

They explained that in order to do that, they had to do another credit check. I declined. I asked if in a few more months if they would voluntarily offer me a credit limit increase, they said no the laws have changed and you have to apply. 

So now I am not sure if I should cancel my TD visa with the annual fee. I guess it's not a big deal to have the smaller credit limit but I do from time to time put some large purchases through on my TD VISA to collect the 1% payback. I don't like having to juggle cards though, using 1 for some items and another for others. I like using 1 card and having my old one as a back up. What do you all think?


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## Maltese (Apr 22, 2009)

I learned about the MBNA Cash Back card last summer from a post on this site. I applied for it through www.greatcanadianrebates.com and received a $50 rebate once my card was approved. I've used it exclusively for almost a year and have gotten a lot of money back. As soon as the rebate totals at least $50 it's sent out automatically. To track your accumulated points sign up for on-line access.

I've had great success with this credit card and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Been using it since it came out, couple years I think. We have received a few hundred dollars from the cash back, maybe almost $500 now. We put the money on the mortgage or RRSP to save and earn even more money!!


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## w0nger (Mar 15, 2010)

i use this card strictly for gas and groceries for the 3% cash back, currently still 5% during the promo period... everything else i still use my TD VISA Gold Elite, i find it has better perks and still a 1% cash back.


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## Kim (Jan 10, 2011)

But do you all still have the $5000 limit on your card? I like the card and plan on keeping it - I just would like to find a way to increase the limit without another credit check and am on the fence on whether to keep my old TD visa with the 1% cash back and annual fee.

I think that the MBNA card will pay 3% on gas and groceries on purchases up to a maximum of $600 - so there is $18 / month. After which point further purchases of gas / groc. are paid back 1%. So I guess I could do as the last poster does and use my MBNA for groc. and then use my TD VISA for everything else. The problem with the TD VISA is that I need to make at least $10 000 in purchases throughout the year just to cover the annual fee - otherwise it's a negative. I have always made money using this card in the past as I put some large business purchases through on it.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

I use Citbank Diver's edge, 2% credit on any car, new or used, and also applys to Family Members at same address.

To date, I would estimate that we have received over $5,000 back on the purchase of vehicles,a nd it is much more accepted than AMEX.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I use this card exclusively while my TD First Class collects dust. I'm tired of travel rewards cards and all their hoops. When people calculate the value of travel rewards, they seem to forget the deals you can get with cash. I like that MBNA shows temp authorizations immediately but I dislike that I can only download data in full statements


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## Andre112 (Apr 27, 2011)

Howard, I'm using the same card for the past 5 years.
It also applies to 1 lease payment per year, and lease buy out. It's great.
The rebates are good for 5 years from the time accumated.
I figured every 5 years, there's gonna be some kind of car purchase in my house hold. 
Just got a letter saying it's being taken over by CIBC. We are losing the price protection plan.


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## w0nger (Mar 15, 2010)

With the Select Service Chequings account at TD, there is no annual fee for the TD Gold Elite Visa card.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

One lease payment, great, you just saved me $512.


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## Kim (Jan 10, 2011)

I have the TD Gold Elite VISA and there is certainly a $99 / yr fee for me. I phoned to see if they would reduce / remove it and they said ONLY if you keep a minimum balance in your chq acct. Which means, extra stress of making sure I have a minimum amount of money for them to invest instead of me.

With the SMART Cash Platinum Plus do any of you have a credit limit over $5K? If so how did you get it?


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## w0nger (Mar 15, 2010)

Kim said:


> I have the TD Gold Elite VISA and there is certainly a $99 / yr fee for me. I phoned to see if they would reduce / remove it and they said ONLY if you keep a minimum balance in your chq acct. Which means, extra stress of making sure I have a minimum amount of money for them to invest instead of me.
> 
> With the SMART Cash Platinum Plus do any of you have a credit limit over $5K? If so how did you get it?


the annual fee will only be waived if you have a Select Service account with TD. 

I have both the TD Gold Elite and the Smart Cash Platinum. 10K limit on both, however, I only use the smart cash for gas and groceries as you get the 3% rebate (5% for now til my promotion period ends). I don't want to overspend on the Smart Cash cause it's only good for the first $600 you spend on the card, then everything is only 1%, the same as the gold elite... and I easily break $600 with gas and groceries per month.


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## balexis (Apr 4, 2009)

Kim said:


> With the SMART Cash Platinum Plus do any of you have a credit limit over $5K? If so how did you get it?


The first time I increased my limit was when I called in to cancel another MBNA card (Montreal Canadians promo card IIRC: I wanted the free T-Shirt . The representative offered to transfer the credit limit from the cancelled card to my SmartCash. And I think I did this once more: MBNA seem very flexible this way, you can play around with your limit on multiple cards.


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## Kim (Jan 10, 2011)

I phoned in last month to ask for an increase in my limit and they told me they would have to do yet another credit check......not really interested in that. And I am not interested in having 3 credit cards so I am going to close the TD Gold. Keeping my oldest credit card that I have had for the longest time as back up to the MBNA Smart Cash Plat. Plus.


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## Daryl-Manitoba (Sep 14, 2010)

Kim said:


> With the SMART Cash Platinum Plus do any of you have a credit limit over $5K? If so how did you get it?


I just signed up for my card last month and was given a $7,500 credit limit.


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## Kim (Jan 10, 2011)

Really? Well I'll be phoning to see what I did to only deserve the $5K limit. I am uber-hyper-vigilant about paying my credit cards on time - perhaps they can tell they are not going to be making any money off me. :


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## Struggs (May 5, 2011)

*Couple of Quick Questions*

I won't have an opportunity to call in to MBNA until tomorrow, so I was hoping one of you, who have the card, could answer a couple of quick questions for me.

Are supplementary cards (i.e. for a spouse) available with this card?

Do your accumulated points carry forward from month to month until you reach the $50 cheque point?

I've seen these points touched on various forums and blogs, but not definitively. So I thought I would post here where I feel most comfortable (long time, non-registered lurker).

Thanks!


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## lmcfaden (Apr 4, 2011)

Our present limit is 18K, which carried over when CAA moved from MBNA.

Supplementary cards are available for spouses etc...

Points do accumulate and carry forward, when the points value reaches $50.00 (5000 pts I believe) at the end of a billing period a cheque is mailed to you.

To date, $150.00 in the bank, and $50.00 in the mail, and looks like $50.00 by the end of the next bill cycle....practically everything goes on this card, and paid off ASAP.


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## canehdianman (Apr 7, 2009)

Kim said:


> With the SMART Cash Platinum Plus do any of you have a credit limit over $5K? If so how did you get it?


I was given a credit limit of $20,000 as soon as I applied.

Also, I've received $200 in cash back already.


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## celishave (May 8, 2010)

This definitely is the best card out there in terms of cash back. I have a Scotia Momentum card and it's fairly close. 1% on everything except for gas, grocery or recurring bill payments which pay 2% back. There is an annual fee but if you ask them to waive it, they will. I probably will switch to the mbna at some point though.


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## esquif (Apr 25, 2009)

My Girlfriend applied for that card a few ago. It was the first time she ask for a credit card. Even if she has a nice government job, MBNA refuse it. They could have give a lower credit limit, they could have check with is employer, Nothing, they just refuse. I know, she is in her late twenties and never really use credit. The question for her now is how and where to start to build her own credit?


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

esquif said:


> never really use credit.


^ that was the most likely reason for the refusal.


> The question for her now is how and where to start to build her own credit?


Start with the bank where she does most of her banking - chequing, savings accounts, etc.
They will surely issue a credit card, albeit with a lower limit like $1,000 or so.
Build from there.


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## Struggs (May 5, 2011)

Hey all, 

An update: I called MBNA today and found out I have been approved for the MBNA's Smart Cash Platinum Plus card, to take advantage of their favourable rewards program. However, it turns out they are holding shipment of all cards as a result of the Canada Post lockout....

I was concerned that this would jeopardize the 5% cash back for promotional period (6 months), but I was informed that the promotional period does not begin until the card is activated.  Which makes sense.

I spoke with a friendly service representative named Shawn just minutes ago, who stated he was located in Ottawa. Informative and helpful. 

For those who have the card, how has your experience dealing with MBNA's customer service been?


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## balexis (Apr 4, 2009)

My experience has been OK with MBNA. I contested an erroneous charge once and they handled it professionnaly. A few months back though, I phoned in to complain about the grace period going from 21 to 14 days. The rep did not understand my complaint and offered to waive interest fees if I paid late the first month


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

This is my main card now and my TD Visa has barely been used since.

They've frozen my card a few times from traveling but I guess their fraud department is very diligent. I was unable to pay the bill because they locked me out and I didn't have a phone or internet at the time. I got a interest fee and they immediately refunded it when I paid my bill before I even called in to get it reversed. I usually pay my bill in full on time.

Have 3 $50 cheques sitting on my desk and should have another in the mail. Way better than airmiles imo


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## Sustainable PF (Nov 5, 2010)

FrugalTrader said:


> Right now, it's among the best cash back credit cards in Canada. Last i heard though, people were having trouble getting their cash back. Not sure if that has been resolved. Here is my smart cash credit card review from a little while back.


Our cashback rolls in pretty quickly (and regularly!)

Here is the review I did on the card: My Journey to the Best Canadian Rewards Credit Card


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## Sustainable PF (Nov 5, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> They've frozen my card a few times from traveling but I guess their fraud department is very diligent. I was unable to pay the bill because they locked me out and I didn't have a phone or internet at the time. I got a interest fee and they immediately refunded it when I paid my bill before I even called in to get it reversed. I usually pay my bill in full on time.
> 
> Have 3 $50 cheques sitting on my desk and should have another in the mail. Way better than airmiles imo


Our home was broken into, the cards taken and then actually used for cash withdrawal. MBNA dealt with it promptly and gave us no hassle with removing the fraudulent withdrawals.

We are considering getting a 2nd card now however. I'm pretty sure the Capital One Aspire World MasterCard air miles can be converted to cash back @ 1.5%. We'd likely us this card for all non grocery / gas purchases and MBNA for the 3% purchases.


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