# Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card



## gibor365

Anyone signed for Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card preview? I did.

"


> You get 2% Money-Back Rewards on your purchases in select 2% Money-Back Categories, and 1% Money-Back Rewards on all other purchases.


Not sure which categories I can choose and how to do it..... but if I can choose food/booze and travel, it would be great 
https://www.tangerine.ca/en/spending/creditcard/index.html


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## Young&Ambitious

I did as well. I'm interested to see what the money-back categories are.


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## m3s

Young&Ambitious said:


> I did as well. I'm interested to see what the money-back categories are.


According to RFD you can chose 3 of the following categories:

- Groceries
- Gas
- Restaurants
- Hotels/motels
- Drug stores
- Home improvement
- Entertainment
- Parking/public transit
- Furniture
- Recurring bills

I'm interested in this to replace my MBNA Smart Cash. This card has more flexibility for cash back and no caps plus it would be 1 less web site for me to log into as I already use Tangerine. The MBNA website and service is known to be glitchy and the transition to TD has not improved it much if any. Plus with this card I could get cash back on an additional category, likely hotels or recurring bills if the above list is true.

Now If only they threw in a 0% currency exchange fee to kill the Amazon card


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## gibor365

> - Groceries
> - Gas
> - Restaurants
> - Hotels/motels
> - Drug stores
> - Home improvement
> - Entertainment
> - Parking/public transit
> - Furniture
> - Recurring bills


Good list .... also spouses can order 2 different cards and have 4 categories 
However, it's a bit confusing.... As usual on X-mas we're going to Cuba, packages may cost up to 10K, it's nice to get back $200, but to which category AI packages are related? Hotels/motels? or maybe Entertainment?

What about just flight tickets?

P.S. What is next?! Discount brokerage with no-fee ETFs trades?! Would be nice


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## m3s

I don't think flights would fit any of those categories. I use a travel reward card for flights and anything other than gas/groceries. Just booked my annual winter getaway with the rewards. Not sure if AI would fit in entertainment.. you'd have to google their merchant code


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## OurBigFatWallet

This could get complicated based on merchant codes. As mentioned above I can't tell where something as simple as flights would fit in. Or clothing. Or car repairs.


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## gibor365

> I don't think flights would fit any of those categories


 we have dividend word CIBC MC, they actually have categories for all spendings, however, usually they are incorrect


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## Ag Driver

Deleted


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## humble_pie

there is, or at least there was recently, a World Elite Mastercard promotional no-fee offer, good for one year, of 1.75% cashback on every single purchase. No codes or merchant restrictions.

after the introductory promotional year, the WE card has a hefty fee. Many people joined the promotion but intend to jump off once the first no-fee year expires.

i joined. I intend to jump off. I confess. I read about it here in cmf. Such a thing would never have even occurred to me before i joined a financial forum & found out what the truly smart people are doing.

(signed)
hayseed_pie


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## m3s

Word on the street is that MC has better exchange rates than Visa, so the Tangerine MC @ 1.5% fee may be comparable to the Amazon Visa with no-fee-but-worse-rates?

In my real world debit card experiment, Tangerine destroyed TD's "preferred rates" on cash withdrawals. Next time in the US I will compare Visa and MC


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## PrairieGal

I wonder what the "Recurring Bills" is? If I could get 2% on utilities, Shaw Cable, Property taxes, etc. that would be fantastic!


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## Butters

thanks OP for post, something worth looking into

im like AG driver, i use SmartCash, but perhaps i can get more out of this card using recurring bills and gas (and Grocery which i already have) with no limit (although i currently dont spend enough to reach them)


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## m3s

PrairieGal said:


> I wonder what the "Recurring Bills" is? If I could get 2% on utilities, Shaw Cable, Property taxes, etc. that would be fantastic!


Any pre-authorized payments. For me that would only be internet and cell bills, 2% would be like $25/year.. I do pay home/car/motorbike ins with a reward card, but I wouldn't want to give them pre-authorization.

I can't pay my property tax, vehicle reg, or hydro with a credit card. That's probably a good thing with the ever increasing hidden merchant fees in Canada. Not sure I would want them to be pre-authorized either.


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## Joe Black

*Pre-Authorized Payments*

Regarding "recurring bills", is it common for institutions that allow you to use pre-authorized payments via bank accounts to also accept credit cards? If I'm getting 2% cash back, that must be coming out of someone's pocket, I'm assuming it is whoever I am paying the bill to, so I can't see why the would let me (unless there's some law that says if you offer pre-authorized payments you can't discriminate over the type of account being drawn from).

Also, if I switched from my bank to the Tangerine credit card, could this affect my credit rating? I.e., would my mortgage lender say "Oh oh, he's making payments with a credit card, he must be at the end of his rope!".


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## agent99

Had a quick look at it vs Amazon VISA that offers 2% on Amazon.ca purchases and 1% on everything else. It does not charge a fee for FX (2.5% on many cards and 1.5% on Tangerine)

I figured that if we chose 2 categories (don't really want another savings account) annual amount for those categories would be about $10k (Groceries and one other). Difference of 1% on that amount comes to $100. Hardly worth the effort and it would probably be less because somehow I doubt we would get the 2% when buying in US when snowbirding.


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## gibor365

We already have HISA in Tangerine, so we can select 3 categories.... Still not sure if one of the categories can be selected flights and AI resorts as we spend every year more than 20K on travel , another huge spending on sport and recreation (figure skating for girls and hockey for boys )


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## leeder

I'm certainly interested in the card, but I feel I already have too many credit cards (I currently have three... PC Mastercard, TD cash back visa, and Amazon visa). For those who are applying for the card, I'm curious as to how many credit cards you own currently.


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## Joe Black

leeder said:


> I'm certainly interested in the card, but I feel I already have too many credit cards (I currently have three... PC Mastercard, TD cash back visa, and Amazon visa). For those who are applying for the card, I'm curious as to how many credit cards you own currently.


PC Mastercard
Canadian Tire Mastercard
Petro-Points Mastercard
CIBC Dividend 1 Mastercard (1% cash back)

I tend to use the cards for specific purposes - Petro-Points just for gas at Petro-Canada stations, Canadian Tire for purchases at their stores, gas pumps, and is also my "online" card because it has the lowest limit, and Dividend 1 for just about everything else.


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## gibor365

> I'm curious as to how many credit cards you own currently.


I have:
- Amazon Visa (now my major card)
- Amex airmiles (use very rare, when Visa is not accepted)
- TD Rebate (don't use , need to cancel)
- TD Gold Select (used only for renting cars abroad (CDW), this year used my wife MC with same feature, also may cancel)
- PC MC (my wife using it in RCSS)
- My wife also has Word Dividend MC with up to 2% rebate and CDW


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## cashinstinct

I once had around 7-8 cards because of first-year-free-big-bonus promotions. Decided to simplify in the last couple of years.

I have:
- Capital One Aspire Travel World Mastercard 2% (my personal card, annual fee $120 but I get $100 in points annually)
- MBNA Smartcash Mastercard (card for joint-account expenses, free card)
- TD Visa (for credit card history, I keep it for now, and to have a Visa, free card)
- Amex Personal Gold (for first year bonus, will cancel soon)

I am thinking about the Scotia Momemtum Visa Infinite (4% on gas-grocery) for joint-account expenses, instead of the MBNA Smartcash.

Since I have a 2% card with Capital One for all categories, I don't see a need in my situation for the Tangerine Money-Card Credit Card. My wife signed up for it, because her personal card has awful rewards.


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## m3s

Just got the link today. I took gas, groceries and home improvement. I'll relegate the MBNA Smart Cash to the dresser when this arrives. I carry 3 cards: TD Visa for travel rewards, MC for cash back/Costco, and Chase amazon for foreign currencies.










Recurring bills might be higher on average though as I don't have any home improvements planned.. but figured 1 project would be expensive enough. It might be better to use the Visa for home improvements for the extended warranty anyways.


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## My Own Advisor

Smart work m3s. 

It would be nice if a CC came out that was:

3% cash back on everything, no annual fees, and $0 additional foreign currency charges.

That would blow most of the CC competition away.


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## mrPPincer

I put my name on the list for the preview today.
Currently using a Canadian Tire Mastercard which has cashback of about 0.25% on the few purchases I make with it.

I've always preferred to pay cash because I don't like to see the vendors get dinged & the money go out of the community & south of the border.
But I might make a change & start paying for gas, some groceries at the big box stores, & whatever recurring bills I can with the card.


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## gibor365

I talked some time ago with Tangerine CC rep and he said that AI vacations and flights are not qualified , so I much less interested in this card now 
All those categories are tricky, he mentioned that if you buy groceries in Costco , it belong not to groceries category .....


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## mrPPincer

^No Costco around here. I assume the same would apply to Walmart, but I don't buy groceries at walmart..just seems wrong somehow :distrust:


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## gibor365

mrPPincer said:


> ^No Costco around here. I assume the same would apply to Walmart, but I don't buy groceries at walmart..just seems wrong somehow :distrust:


My wife buys at RCSS and she uses PC Mastercard to get points,
I buy or RCSS or Highland Farm or Yummy Market (huge supermarket with really yummy Russian food) and using Amazon Visa


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## m3s

mrPPincer said:


> ^No Costco around here. I assume the same would apply to Walmart, but I don't buy groceries at walmart..just seems wrong somehow :distrust:


It depends on merchant codes. Costco doesn't apply to any category (Costco only accepts MC is a reason I even carry an MC card, and Costco used to only accept AMEX afaik)

Walmart merchant code depends.. I read the Walmart supercenters are considered grocery stores. If so, _anything_ bought at those Walmart would be considered groceries!

I'm scared of the people of Walmart so I only go there if I can't find something local or online first..


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## Hiitsme

Curious...why doesn't anyone seem to be using this one:

http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,86,00.html

4% on gas and groceries, 2% on recurring items, 1% for other stuff.

(edit, Costco, No Frills and the Asian supermarkets don't accept Visa I know)


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## 0xCC

Hiitsme said:


> Curious...why doesn't anyone seem to be using this one:
> 
> http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,86,00.html
> 
> 4% on gas and groceries, 2% on recurring items, 1% for other stuff.
> 
> (edit, Costco, No Frills and the Asian supermarkets don't accept Visa I know)


Maybe this...


> Rates & Fees
> 
> Minimum Credit Limit: $5,000
> Grace Period: Interest free at least 21 days
> *Annual Fee:
> Primary Card Holder: $99
> Supplementary Card Holder: $30
> *


I know that I would have a hard time spending $10,000 on groceries and gas in a year to make up for that $99 fee.

EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking the Tangerine card was 3% cash back instead of 2%. So the gas+groceries spending as to get to $5000 to break even (with one card holder), not $10,000. I think I would get close to that in a year but just barely.


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## Hiitsme

0xCC said:


> Maybe this...
> 
> 
> I know that I would have a hard time spending $10,000 on groceries and gas in a year to make up for that $99 fee.
> 
> EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking the Tangerine card was 3% cash back instead of 2%. So the gas+groceries spending as to get to $5000 to break even (with one card holder), not $10,000. I think I would get close to that in a year but just barely.


Between groceries and drugstore we average around $800 a month (family of 4), so that alone is around $400. Gas is another $150 or in cashback a year. We're headed for north of $700 this past year so I have no problem justifying the card fees (plus the card was free for the first year on a promo offer at the time).


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## m3s

0xCC said:


> I know that I would have a hard time spending $10,000 on groceries and gas in a year to make up for that $99 fee.
> 
> EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking the Tangerine card was 3% cash back instead of 2%. So the gas+groceries spending as to get to $5000 to break even (with one card holder), not $10,000. I think I would get close to that in a year but just barely.


One thing nice about Quicken is I can easily pull up my total gas+groceries expenses in the trailing 12 months - $4949.88. However last calendar year = $5725.93 (spent half that year in Europe so that's not a good number to go by)

I wonder how much those annual fee reward cards influence people's spending habits.. Throw in the merchant fees and..


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## Hiitsme

m3s said:


> One thing nice about Quicken is I can easily pull up my total gas+groceries expenses in the trailing 12 months - $4949.88. However last calendar year = $5725.93 (spent half that year in Europe so that's not a good number to go by)
> 
> I wonder how much those annual fee reward cards influence people's spending habits.. Throw in the merchant fees and..


That's the danger. But when you commit to pay it off Monthly it tends to keep you honest.


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## 0xCC

Here's a thought, I suspect there is some sort of protection against this but I'll put it out there anyway.

At the grocery store I use frequently there are gift cards available for everything from restaurants to movie theaters to clothing stores to iTunes. What would stop someone from buying gift cards at grocery stores to get the increased cash back and then using those cards for purchases they would have made (and charged on the credit card but at a lower cashback rate) anyway?

EDIT: Maybe the catch is that gift card purchases can't be made with a credit card? I am pretty sure I have made a gift card purchase with a credit card before but I could be wrong.


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## m3s

0xCC said:


> Here's a thought, I suspect there is some sort of protection against this but I'll put it out there anyway.
> 
> At the grocery store I use frequently there are gift cards available for everything from restaurants to movie theaters to clothing stores to iTunes. What would stop someone from buying gift cards at grocery stores to get the increased cash back and then using those cards for purchases they would have made (and charged on the credit card but at a lower cashback rate) anyway?
> 
> EDIT: Maybe the catch is that gift card purchases can't be made with a credit card? I am pretty sure I have made a gift card purchase with a credit card before but I could be wrong.


Lots of people on RFD did this with Smart Cash. Seems like too much effort for me. I have a pile of expired gift cards in my dresser because I was out of country or forgot to use them. Kind of like rewards points that never get used.


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## OurBigFatWallet

0xCC said:


> Here's a thought, I suspect there is some sort of protection against this but I'll put it out there anyway.
> 
> At the grocery store I use frequently there are gift cards available for everything from restaurants to movie theaters to clothing stores to iTunes. What would stop someone from buying gift cards at grocery stores to get the increased cash back and then using those cards for purchases they would have made (and charged on the credit card but at a lower cashback rate) anyway?
> 
> EDIT: Maybe the catch is that gift card purchases can't be made with a credit card? I am pretty sure I have made a gift card purchase with a credit card before but I could be wrong.


I do this all the time and get 4% cash back on purchases I would have made anyway. Safeway has a good selection of gift cards to various stores and my credit card (Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite) pays 4% cash back on all grocery purchases. Safeway qualifies as grocery so I buy gift cards there to get the 4% cash back. The only drawback is that you are constantly having to manage multiple gift cards at once.


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## Hiitsme

OurBigFatWallet said:


> I do this all the time and get 4% cash back on purchases I would have made anyway. Safeway has a good selection of gift cards to various stores and my credit card (Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite) pays 4% cash back on all grocery purchases. Safeway qualifies as grocery so I buy gift cards there to get the 4% cash back. The only drawback is that you are constantly having to manage multiple gift cards at once.


What do you find to be your most used gift cards? I can't think of too much offhand?


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## OurBigFatWallet

Hiitsme said:


> What do you find to be your most used gift cards? I can't think of too much offhand?


Best Buy (electronics), Tim Hortons/Starbucks (coffee), Banana Republic (clothes), Canadian Tire (house stuff).....usually lots of selection which means I can stretch out the 4% cash back to categories other than just grocery/gas


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## Hiitsme

OurBigFatWallet said:


> Best Buy (electronics), Tim Hortons/Starbucks (coffee), Banana Republic (clothes), Canadian Tire (house stuff).....usually lots of selection which means I can stretch out the 4% cash back to categories other than just grocery/gas


Cdn Tire ...great idea!


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## m3s

Hiitsme said:


> Cdn Tire ...great idea!


Cdn Tire also counts as home improvement for the Tangerine card

The web interface is better than any I've recently used (TD, MBNA, Chase) It actually displays the reward category and reward earned for each transaction, as well as a graph total spent on each category (makes it easy to decide which to chose) It lets you input travel notice, change pin/limit, freeze the card, add authorized users (nice because you don't have to waste time calling them..) It also shows pending transactions immediately and total rewards earned

This is definitely replacing my MBNA smart cash.. less places to log into, better web site, more rewards etc


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## bflannel

Im still waiting. I have not put any funds in tangerines hand until I get this Card. I've signed up for the preview, have great credit, etc... Why am I being forced to wade through hip deep cement to get my hands on this card.


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## 0xCC

I did some analysis on our household credit card spending over the last 2 years to see how things would work out with 3 different cash back credit cards. What I found out is that the Tangerine card just isn't all that competitive for how our household makes charges to credit cards.

the 3 cards I looked at were the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite (4% cash back on gas + groceries, 2% cash back on drugstore + recurring payments, 1% on everything else, $99 annual fee for one card, $30 for extra cards), the MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard (2% cash back on gas+groceries, 1% cash back on everything else, no fees) and the Tangerine Mastercard (2% cash back on 2 categories of your choice, 3 categories if you have the cash back deposited into a Tangerine account, 1% on everything else, no fees).

For our spending groceries and recurring payments were the top two categories in each of the last 2 years with gas coming in third. After accounting for the annual fee for the Scotiabank Momentum Visa it turns out that we would get about $80/year more [edited from $50] from the Visa than from the MBNA Smart Cash and about $10/year [edited from $150] more than the Tangerine Mastercard.

In our case it worked out to roughly $375/year in cash back after fees from the Scotiabank Momentum Visa, about $300/year [edited from $320] from the MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard (although I didn't account for the monthly spend cash back cap on this one) and about $365/year [edited from $210] from the Tangerine Mastercard.

The only real issues I can see related to the Scotiabank Momentum Visa are eligibility (based on personal income/household income) and if Visa is accepted at the places you buy gas and groceries. The $400 monthly spend cap on gas and groceries is only something I have seen discussed but I haven'[t verified that it is an actual limit. This would limit your monthly cash back from gas and groceries to $8 (2% of $400). For our household our gas+grocery spending is over $400 in 21 of the 24 months I looked at (87.5% of the time), our average monthly spending on gas + groceries is about $550 so we would be losing out on $3/month with MBNA Smart Cash if that $400 monthly spend cap is real (and I have no reason to suspect it isn't).

[original post: I think I will be considering the Scotiabank Momentum Visa. We currently have an MBNA Mastercard, just not the Smart Cash version. If we can switch over to that card easily I will almost certainly do it.]

[updated]: So after properly updating my calculations for the Tangerine card to have 1% on everything outside of 3 categories and updating the MBNA Smart Cash calculations to have a $400/month spending cap on gas and groceries (so the maximum gas+groceries cash back in a month is $8) for our spending the Tangerine Mastercard beats the MBNA Smart Cash by around $80/year and the Tangerine card only misses the Momentum Visa by around $10/year. Since the Momentum Visa has fees (the cash back I calculated was net of fees) and since it would be yet another set of on-line banking/bills to manage I'm not sure the extra $10/year is worth it.


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## naysmitj

Changed my BMO airmiles Mastercard to the cash back Mastercard with 1.75% CashBack on ALL card purchases. Card costs $120.00 annually.

Also has Extended Warranty Plus which doubles the original manufacturer’s warranty period, up to a maximum of two additional years rather than the standard of one year.

Items bought with your card are automatically insured, against theft or damage for 180 days from date of purchase rather than standard of 90 days

Get Collision Damage Waiver benefits on rental cars, Unexpected Return Home benefits, 8 days of Out-of-Province/Out-of-Country Emergency Medical benefits up to $2 million, and more


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## gibor365

m3s said:


> Just got the link today. I took gas, groceries and home improvement. I'll relegate the MBNA Smart Cash to the dresser when this arrives. I carry 3 cards: TD Visa for travel rewards, MC for cash back/Costco, and Chase amazon for foreign currencies.
> 
> Recurring bills might be higher on average though as I don't have any home improvements planned.. but figured 1 project would be expensive enough. It might be better to use the Visa for home improvements for the extended warranty anyways.


I got approved for this MC and need to select 3 categories.... Most likely I'll select gas , groceries (curious if LCBO and Beer Store are in this category or if I buy wine in RCSS?).... have doubt about 3rd category... There is no category for Air Ticket or AI packages, Hotels counts only if I pay directly to Hotel within US, I pay a lot to my daughter figure skating club, but have no idea if it's entertainment
....

Confused about Recurring Bills .... what is it? So far only internet (Teksavvy) I pay automatically via credit card and Rogers bill I pay from credit card monthly ... do they count? What other stiff you can setup as Recurring Bills ?


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## 0xCC

I think that Teksavvy and Rogers (TV, internet and/or cell phone) qualify as recurring payments. I assumed that car/home insurance would count when I did my analysis. There apparently is a PDF on the Scotiabank website somewhere identifying some examples of things that fall into different categories. There are a bunch of links to it in the RegFlagDeals thread about these cashback cards.


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## m3s

gibor said:


> Confused about Recurring Bills .... what is it? So far only internet (Teksavvy) I pay automatically via credit card and Rogers bill I pay from credit card monthly ... do they count? What other stiff you can setup as Recurring Bills ?


A recurring bill is a pre-authorized debit. That's only internet and phone for me on credit card. I already tried iTunes recurring bill and it didn't count. For entertainment it depends on the merchant code.. no way to know until you try it. For example, a Shell in my town doesn't count for gas because it's like a family bakery/hunting store as well. I can buy beer in grocery stores and gas station and it would count for groceries or gas..



0xCC said:


> I did some analysis on our household credit card spending over the last 2 years to see how things would work out with 3 different cash back credit cards. What I found out is that the Tangerine card just isn't all that competitive for how our household makes charges to credit cards.
> 
> In our case it worked out to roughly $375/year in cash back after fees from the Scotiabank Momentum Visa, about $320/year from the MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard (although I didn't account for the monthly spend cash back cap on this one) and about $210/year from the Tangerine Mastercard.


Something doesn't add up here.. how can MBNA Smart Cash get more rewards than Tangerine when Tangerine has 3 categories and Smart Cash has 2.. not to mention the cap on the MBNA 2% that you decided to disregard.. For me I would chose Tangerine over MBNA now even because Tangerine has a much better website and customer service in my experience


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## gibor365

> I assumed that car/home insurance would count when I did my analysis.


 All this so confusing  I just don't want waste time trying to switch all my utilities (include car insurance, water, gas, hydro, property tax ) to new MC if they won't be counting ..... also not sure if i will be able to do it.... many years ago called Hydro and they didn't allowed put charges as recurring bills on CC....
I also assume that Presto won't count, will it?!

if you don't mind, could you please to give me links to Red flags?


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## 0xCC

m3s said:


> Something doesn't add up here.. how can MBNA Smart Cash get more rewards than Tangerine when Tangerine has 3 categories and Smart Cash has 2.. not to mention the cap on the MBNA 2% that you decided to disregard.. For me I would chose Tangerine over MBNA now even because Tangerine has a much better website and customer service in my experience


it is the "1% on everything else" that puts the other two cards so far ahead of the Tangerine card. For the $400 spending cap you can take $3/month or $36 a year off my MBNA numbers above to give a rough estimate of how it would shake out with that cap. Still doesn't come close to the $100/year less the Tangerine card comes in at based on our spending.


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## 0xCC

gibor said:


> All this so confusing  I just don't want waste time trying to switch all my utilities (include car insurance, water, gas, hydro, property tax ) to new MC if they won't be counting ..... also not sure if i will be able to do it.... many years ago called Hydro and they didn't allowed put charges as recurring bills on CC....
> I also assume that Presto won't count, will it?!
> 
> if you don't mind, could you please to give me links to Red flags?


Red Flags finance forum: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/personal-finance-f41/
Red flag thread on Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite card (started back in 2011): http://forums.redflagdeals.com/merg...nfinite-4-gas-groceries-2-drug-store-1061129/

Edit: list of popular merchants and what category they fall into according to Scotiabank: http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/common/pdf/credit_card/visa_infinite_popular_merchants.pdf


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## m3s

0xCC said:


> it is the "1% on everything else" that puts the other two cards so far ahead of the Tangerine card. For the $400 spending cap you can take $3/month or $36 a year off my MBNA numbers above to give a rough estimate of how it would shake out with that cap. Still doesn't come close to the $100/year less the Tangerine card comes in at based on our spending.


..Tangerine is also 1% on all other purchases.. Tangerine also has no cap on the 2% rewards plus the 3rd category should beat MBNA, if not Momentum depending on your spending habits


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## 0xCC

Ok, I see that 1% on everything else now. They have it in the same bullet point as the 2% and I was skimming the page expecting the 1% to be in its own bullet point. I will have to re-do my analysis.


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## 0xCC

I updated my analysis of our spending in my post above. After adding the 1% on everything else to the Tangerine calculations the Tangerine card comes out ahead of the MBNA Smart Cash card for us and only comes up about $10 short of the Momentum Visa per year. Since it is possible to switch what the 3 2% categories are it is possible that we could make the Tangerine card beat the Momentum Visa with some well timed category changes. Also the 1.5% foreign exchange fee could easily make up for that $10 difference.

I may have to sign up for the Tangerine card. Besides having another bill/card to manage I don't really see any downside to signing up for it.


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## m3s

I came to about the same conclusion as you based on my gas/grocery spending. For me it's not worth having an additional annual fee to potentially get a little extra cash back. This is my secondary card for gas/groceries/Costco. I use a TD Visa Infinite for anything outside of the 2% cash back categories, especially for the travel rewards and travel insurance. It's quite possible I could spend less on gas/groceries in a given year.

Note that it takes +90 days to change your 2% category after the first change which goes into effect on the next statement, so it's probably not worth trying to game it. I just got an internet bill charged to the card and it was not counted as a bill payment.. probably because it's a small local company. I'll be sticking with gas/groceries/home improvement (anything bought at Cdn Tire/Rona count as home improvement)

As far as having another bill/card to manage, you might find you like Tangerine and switch other account over! The banking is essentially free and the website/customer service is great. If you prefer to do things online vs phone or face to face it's far better in my experience. If you do sign up there is also a referral bonus that is double for now at $50 each (my code is 32425351S1..)


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## 0xCC

I already have Tangerine accounts and use them regularly for savings. I do my "main" banking with TD but I have a Scotiabank branch within walking distance of my house so it is convenient to have a Tangerine bank card and access to a bank machine so close to home.

I was only commenting about the slight inconvenience of having to remember to pay another bill and also trying to figure out which payment card to use at the checkout for whatever I happen to be buying.

For the gaming of the categories stuff I would expect that I would only be flipping one of my categories once or twice a year when, for example, I know that I am going to be spending $1000 on a hotel for a trip vs. the $300-$400/month I would be spending on recurring payments, doing that would almost make up for the $10/year difference from the Momentum Visa. Also, I could flip the category if I knew that I was going to be making larger home improvement type purchases over a couple of months (buying larger tools, doing some sort of reno, etc, although I would probably try the gift card route for a bunch of that stuff if I could get away with that).


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## SW20 MR2

I'm using a combination of cards. I use my Cap One Costco card for restaurants and gas. I setup my Tangerine card for accelerators on transit/parking (getting to work), groceries, and recurring bill payments. I should get a pretty good amount of cashback between the two. 

If you know you're going to spend a lot of money in a short period of time, sign up for the Amex Simplycash Preferred. The fee is $99, but you get 5% back on everything for the first 6 months (cap of $400).


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## gibor365

When couple of weeks ago I got approved and was selecting 3 categories, my session got timed out and after I logged in again, link to Categories disappear. Today I activated card and my categories got defaulted to 2 first (groceries and restaurants) ... I called tangerine and they said that i can change categories to what I want only on Jan 17 

btw, if anybody can tell me if Presto is included in Parking/Public transport category? I asked rep and she said that on her sample list only Go Transit appears....


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## Spudd

At least you got the card! When I filled out the application it said someone needed to review it, and I haven't heard a peep since then.


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## mrPPincer

I applied today and got approved in the same online session; went with gas, groceries, and home improvement.

I can already see the card online on the same page as my Tangerine savings account.
Will be nice to be able to pay the card online intead of the way I do, or did, with my Canadian Tire Mastercard, at the actual brick & mortar store.


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## gibor365

As so far I got just default categories : groceries and restautrants..... today I shopped in RCSS, but on Tangerine websire I see " 
Money-Back Rewards earned since December 17, 2015 $0.00" ... Why I don't see money-back amount? even 1%?


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## Spudd

If it was just today it might not be posted yet. Maybe it updates overnight.


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## SW20 MR2

Yep, Presto qualifies as does Green P parking.



gibor said:


> btw, if anybody can tell me if Presto is included in Parking/Public transport category? I asked rep and she said that on her sample list only Go Transit appears....


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## gibor365

SW20 MR2 said:


> Yep, Presto qualifies as does Green P parking.


Good stuff if Presto qualifies.... 
I already switched Presto, Telus and Teksavvy on Tangerine CC...
Unfortunately there was a bug with Tangerine and they defaulted my categories for Groceries and Restaurants.... I changed to Gas, Public transport and Bills starting Jan 17... 
They did pretty good interface on Tangerine website for CC , you can see all savings and potential saving if you switch to optimal categories...

ALso checked Enbridge and Hydro ...no sense to pay with CC as they charge 1.75% ....


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## SW20 MR2

Hmmm, need to look into this. If they charge 1.75% and this qualifies for recurring bill, you could get a free 0.25% by paying with Cc.



gibor said:


> ALso checked Enbridge and Hydro ...no sense to pay with CC as they charge 1.75% ....


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## gibor365

SW20 MR2 said:


> Hmmm, need to look into this. If they charge 1.75% and this qualifies for recurring bill, you could get a free 0.25% by paying with Cc.


From what I understood you can setup recurring bill with Enbridge, but it's going via some 3rd party soft, so not sure if it will be qualified and if not you loose 0.75%.
Hydro stated that currently they don't offer recurring bill, but you can pay with CC for 1.75% charge.

Need to check Peel water, property taxes and car/home insurance


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## gibor365

Just check those 3 options:
- cannot have recurring bills or pay with CC for property taxes or water.
For insurance I can pay with CC with no charge, but not as recurring bills, but one time up-front payment.... So potentially we can get 1%, but from time to time we change policy and don't see it too convenient


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## SW20 MR2

Yep, I saw that. Don't think that it'll work.



gibor said:


> From what I understood you can setup recurring bill with Enbridge, but it's going via some 3rd party soft, so not sure if it will be qualified and if not you loose 0.75%.
> Hydro stated that currently they don't offer recurring bill, but you can pay with CC for 1.75% charge.


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## gibor365

Anybody can confirm if Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire, IKEA are considered as Home Improvement under Tangerine categories?


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## m3s

gibor said:


> Anybody can confirm if Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire, IKEA are considered as Home Improvement under Tangerine categories?


Rona and Can Tire yes.

You can download the data for this card now, but in Quicken it comes up incorrectly as a chequing account for me. Hopefully they fix it soon as I haven't been able to track it on Quicken


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## Ag Driver

Deleted


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## bds

I just got my invite today and applied for the card, I registered for the preview end of Dec. I'm a Tangerine client, I'm not sure if that was a factor.


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## Spudd

Ag Driver said:


> Well, I never ended up getting a "special preview" after registering nearly on the first day. Does anyone have an idea as to when they are opening up applications for everyone?


You could try calling in to see what's up. I got the invitation but something got messed up during my application, so I called in and they couldn't see that I'd ever applied. The guy took care of it for me on the phone though, no problem. Maybe you will be able to get it if you call in.

For those who have it, is it possible to change the categories on the website or do you have to call in? I can't find anywhere to change them.


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## m3s

Got this email today "From April 11, 2016 to July 10, 2016, you’re earning 4% money back in your chosen categories"



Spudd said:


> For those who have it, is it possible to change the categories on the website or do you have to call in? I can't find anywhere to change them.


Click "Manage Rewards" and then you will see your categories and rewards stats, click "Change". Much nicer rewards page than MBNA's separate site and cash is easier to redeem (no $50 minimum)


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## mrPPincer

m3s said:


> Got this email today "From April 11, 2016 to July 10, 2016, you’re earning 4% money back in your chosen categories"


Nice! just checked and I got the same e-mail, good to know


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## bflannel

I must need to get my eyes checked because I can't find "Manage Rewards" anywhere. Are you under the main profile or under the rebate card profile itself?

4%... Better than a kick in the shin.

*found it! Great interface... I'm just blind.


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## m3s

Log in, click on the Money-Back Credit Card account, squint your eyes, click on Manage Rewards, click Change.


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## SW20 MR2

The online interface is probably the best that I've seen out of the cards that I've had. Between the Tangerine and the Costco cards, I love having accelerators on 5 categories (restaurants/gas from Costco and groceries/recurring bills/public transit from Tangerine). I'll have a good cashback total this year between the two cards.


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## Ag Driver

Finally got my hands on the Tangerine MC.

Applied last week online, and was approved on the spot. A week later, I confirmed my identity at Canada Post. I also happened to receive the card in the mail the same day.

Good riddance MBNA MC!


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## djkelly

I like that this is a no fee card, but with the MBNA Rewards World Elite getting 2% on ALL transactions you only need to spend $375/mo outside of your two categories for it to make better financial sense.


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## bonjour

Whats missing from this card is Car Rental insurance... I'll need to keep my Visa Infinite card just for that.

Also, does anyone know if its possible to configure the card to pay itself automatically from my Checking account when its due? I hate having to pay my credit cards manually every month, and would like that automated.

Best of both worlds would be a Visa Debit card with rewards and rental insurance.


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## m3s

bonjour said:


> Whats missing from this card is Car Rental insurance... I'll need to keep my Visa Infinite card just for that.


I keep a Visa Ininite card for various reasons. I mainly use Tangerine for the 3 accelerated categories



bonjour said:


> Also, does anyone know if its possible to configure the card to pay itself automatically from my Checking account when its due? I hate having to pay my credit cards manually every month, and would like that automated.


Yes!

1. Select "Move my money"
2. Select "From" and "To" accounts
3. Select "Ongoing"
4. Select "Monthly on payment due date"
5. Select "Full statement balance" or "Minimum payment"

Voilà



bonjour said:


> Best of both worlds would be a Visa Debit card with rewards and rental insurance.


Does it exist? I find it's good to have a Visa and a Mastercard as mine often get locked


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## Ag Driver

I just enrolled for the Tangerine Savings Account with a friends code. So a $50 bonus, 2.4% for 6 months, and a 3rd category. All in all a great switch from MBNA to Tangerine. 

I assume I will be able to view both my account and credit card with one log in? At least I would hope so....At this point I am using 2 separate log ins. I imagine once everything is activated it will merge?


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## gibor365

> and a 3rd category


 what is it?


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## Ag Driver

gibor said:


> what is it?


I have Gas and Groceries right now. I personally don't believe I dine out all that often, however I imagine it is a top category. Thus I will probably pick "Restaurants". I am trying to navigate around and find out how to change the categories and set up the cash back to my savings account. I have a feeling I will be unable to add the 3rd until the account is activated though. What are you categories/

I have some major expenses coming up, such as a drive way, but I can't imagine a contracting company would fall under "Home Improvements". I'm saddened to find out that Costco is categorized as "Other" vs "Groceries"


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## cedebe

Ag Driver said:


> I just enrolled for the Tangerine Savings Account with a friends code. So a $50 bonus, 2.4% for 6 months, and a 3rd category. All in all a great switch from MBNA to Tangerine.
> 
> I assume I will be able to view both my account and credit card with one log in? At least I would hope so....At this point I am using 2 separate log ins. I imagine once everything is activated it will merge?


I see all my accounts, spending and saving, on one page when I log in, so yes, you should be fine. Welcome to the family!


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## Ag Driver

cedebe said:


> I see all my accounts, spending and saving, on one page when I log in, so yes, you should be fine. Welcome to the family!


Ahh, I now see the issue. Due to the fact that I followed the referral link in an email, vs logging in to create a new account -- this in turn created two profiles/client numbers. 5 business days to correct this issue and merge the accounts. Oyy...


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## mordko

Tangerine does not allow to automatically charge full balance to a non-Tangerine account. This is a pain but apparently "this feature will be added very soon".


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## m3s

mordko said:


> Tangerine does not allow to automatically charge full balance to a non-Tangerine account. This is a pain but apparently "this feature will be added very soon".


Do other banks allow this?

I just looked at TD.. and I'd have to *gasp* FAX them a form to automatically pay my TD visa with my TD account.. I doubt they would allow a non-TD account


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## mordko

m3s said:


> Do other banks allow this?
> 
> I just looked at TD.. and I'd have to *gasp* FAX them a form to automatically pay my TD visa with my TD account.. I doubt they would allow a non-TD account


Yep. I thought all of them allow this... Here is what TD has to day: "Payments can be made from your chequing or savings account at any financial institution." https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/banking/credit-cards/pad.jsp


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## willpower

Stupid question...I booked 4 nights at a hotel in Cancun (all inclusive) (Booked directly with the hotel)...this transaction should be included in the hotel/motel category right?

I'm planning on using my:
Costo Master card for Restaurant (3%) and fuel (2%). (No fees)
Tangerine Master card for recurring bills (2%), Grocery (2%) and Hotel/Motel (2%) (For now...will change it to Home Reno after this trip). (No fees)
West Jet RBC Master card for everything else (1.5%). ($99/year)


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## drpap

When does the Costco Mastercard give you your rewards? Is there a certain amount you need to reach? Or a certain date?

Just to compare vs the Tangerine which gives it automatically at the end of the month regardless of any amounts or limits.


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## SW20 MR2

Costco card is given after year end in the form of a coupon that you must take into Costco. You can use it as a credit at the cash register or just ask for cash. You must go in store though.


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## Ag Driver

Deleted


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## Beaver101

^ Sorry if this is in the wrong thread but just saw the mention of Amazon Visa and a question popped up in my head ... maybe a silly question here - can you pay your AV charges with online banking or do you have mail or send wire-transfer to their headquarters in Manhattan (or somewhere in the USA)? Obviously I don't have an AV card so don't know the specifics.


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## Spudd

Beaver101 said:


> ^ Sorry if this is in the wrong thread but just saw the mention of Amazon Visa and a question popped up in my head ... maybe a silly question here - can you pay your AV charges with online banking or do you have mail or send wire-transfer to their headquarters in Manhattan (or somewhere in the USA)? Obviously I don't have an AV card so don't know the specifics.


You can pay it with online banking.


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## l1quidfinance

I just got a letter from Tangerine last night. 

Whilst you still get 2% on three cashback categories so long as you have a Tangerine savings account you now only get 0.5% on all other transactions. Down from 1%
Forex rate is now no longer competitive and changed to the more standard 2.5%


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## m3s

Ag Driver said:


> Just a heads up.
> 
> Tangerine has changed their program from 1% for all other purchases to 0.5%. I have the Amazon Visa, so anything other than my 3 categories (at 2%), I will use my Visa to get my full 1%.
> 
> Too bad they are cutting back, but at least I am not at a loss.....just merely a shuffle of card use!


Boo

I also have Amazon Visa but it was nice to get 1% cash back at Costco (only accepts MasterCard iirc)

Also I wasn't carrying my Amazon Visa around unless traveling out of country


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## cedebe

l1quidfinance said:


> I just got a letter from Tangerine last night.
> 
> Whilst you still get 2% on three cashback categories so long as you have a Tangerine savings account you now only get 0.5% on all other transactions. Down from 1%
> Forex rate is now no longer competitive and changed to the more standard 2.5%


You're lucky you got a letter. I had to read about it on another forum last week. 

m3s, I second that 'boo.' :/


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## fstamand

It was a great card, especially since there was no yearly fees.
I will do my day to day with my Scotiabank momentum, and use some of the 2% with Tangerine.


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## l1quidfinance

fstamand said:


> It was a great card, especially since there was no yearly fees.
> I will do my day to day with my Scotiabank momentum, and use some of the 2% with Tangerine.


Yes it was a great card. These moves have just pushed me to apply for my first annual fee based credit card. This probably made sense all along considering I try and pay for everything on credit card but I was always reluctant to pay a fee.

Now I'm going to get the MBNA World elite Mastercard. This offers a straight 2% back on all purchases amongst other perks. You get $100 sign up bonus so your first year is free and the a further $60 is available if you sign up through GCR. 

Granted the card is not available to all as you need $70k annual income or $120k household income.

Well worth a look if you fit that bill.

howtosavemoney.ca offers some great comparison reviews for anyone looking.


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## OutofBounds

I noticed the change as I did my application today. It sucks, but the 2% cash back on 3 categories covers 99% of what we would use a credit card for. When I submitted my application though, it said they weren't able to approve me and will be sending me more information soon. Has anyone run into this before? I make in $65K+ per year, I have under $10K in debt total and a credit score in the high 600's. The only reason I could see them not approving me is my 20K line of credit, less than half of which is being used (the debt previously mentioned). Should be interesting to see what their reasoning is.

I may be looking into other options. I don't need the Scene points my Scotiabank Visa gives me, plus Costco where 90% of our shopping is only takes Mastercard.


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## Spudd

OutofBounds said:


> I noticed the change as I did my application today. It sucks, but the 2% cash back on 3 categories covers 99% of what we would use a credit card for. When I submitted my application though, it said they weren't able to approve me and will be sending me more information soon. Has anyone run into this before? I make in $65K+ per year, I have under $10K in debt total and a credit score in the high 600's. The only reason I could see them not approving me is my 20K line of credit, less than half of which is being used (the debt previously mentioned). Should be interesting to see what their reasoning is.
> 
> I may be looking into other options. I don't need the Scene points my Scotiabank Visa gives me, plus Costco where 90% of our shopping is only takes Mastercard.


It happened to me too, I waited a couple of weeks hoping an approval would come through and then used the online chat, where they approved me.


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## OutofBounds

Spudd said:


> It happened to me too, I waited a couple of weeks hoping an approval would come through and then used the online chat, where they approved me.


Good to know. I'll give it a bit of time and see. I got a message on my account stating "due to some items on your credit report we are unable to approve you at this time" or some such nonsense. I'll get in touch with them next week and figure it out.


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## SW20 MR2

Disappointing to learn that they made the changes to the base earn rate, but I could see it coming. 

I will now shift spend in the non-accelerated categories to my Cap One Costco card.


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