# Credit card for Retirement



## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

I deal with 3 banks now plus other institutions

I am going with one bank in my retirement

My question is what is a good credit card for me

I need 10,000 limit ,I do not travel,so no need to collect points

Cash back is good


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

CapitalOne has some good cash back cards.

Tangerine has a good one as well.


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## Numbersman61 (Jan 26, 2015)

It usually is a good idea to have more than one credit card. Sometimes one bank will have an IT problem which precludes one from using their card. In addition, if your card is comprised, the bank will freeze the account and you may have to wait until a new card is issued. Happened to a friend who was out of the country with only one card which could not be used.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

I agree. Always have a second credit card. One Visa and one MC is a good way to go. I have always had 2 cards in event one was not accepted somewhere and/or it was frozen/compromised.

I believe the latest issue of MoneySense has a good article on credit cards, and especially cashback credit cards.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I do agree with getting two bards. I just had my card compromised, so while that one is getting replaced, I will use my secondary. 

The card depends on what, where, and how much you spend you spend. Mostly something with a cash back and no fee.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

Great idea,two cards


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Also watch your credit limits. Best to get the 2 cards in place before your salary stops. I just went through switching to RBC from BMO for MasterCard and it was not fun. (scrapped Air Miles for Westjet miles). Been retired for 14 years.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We use three. A Visa, A MC, and a VISA that we use for foreign travel/purchases.

Interested in the comments about RBC/WestJet. We plan to scrap our Aeroplan card since it's value to us has decreased with Aeroplan add on charges. Seriously considering RBC/Wesjet. We are retired. Why type of challenges did you experience...obtaining the card, credit limit???


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

IMO, get cashback credit cards, especially if for personal expenses. Why be held hostage to affinity cards?


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

I may also soon be looking for a new credit card. We've had the PC Financial MasterCard for several years; it pays 1% in PC Points on all purchases. My wife uses the PC Points at Loblaws & Independent Grocers. Last month, I got a call from someone representing PC Financial ( had an India accent ) offering me the World Elite MasterCard; it pays 3% for their stores, and 1% everywhere else. I told him I wasn't interested, but I looked into it online anyway. It said that you needed to earn $70K individual, or family income of $120K to qualify; being retired, I don't earn that much. They called again about a week later, and rather than just say that I wasn't interested, I told them that I didn't qualify for the minimum income requirement, hoping they would leave me alone. The guy on the phone said "Oh, it doesn't matter, you're a valued customer and we want to offer you this card". I said fine, if that's the case; it has no annual fee, and why not get the extra points?

This week, I get an e-mail from PC Financial, it says that I must contact them because some information is missing that might affect my Mastercard account. I called the number, but I was 20th in line and hung up. I have a sneaking suspicion that the income qualification is a requirement of MasterCard, and can't be waived by individual issuers. That same requirement is shown on every other issuers website. I guess this is what happens when they hire some company in the 3rd World to harass their customers, the message wasn't properly communicated.

I'm just going to ignore it until they call me. I'll continue to use it, pay it in full every month as I always do, and redeem any points that I want. If they want to take away the World Elite, and revert me back to the regular card, I'll tell them to stuff it where the sun don't shine. At that point, I think I would also prefer to get a card that pays back cash $$ rather than points. Tangerine looks good, especially having 3 categories that pay 2% if you deposit the cash back into a Tangerine account, which I would do.


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## atrp2biz (Sep 22, 2010)

ian said:


> Interested in the comments about RBC/WestJet. We plan to scrap our Aeroplan card since it's value to us has decreased with Aeroplan add on charges. Seriously considering RBC/Wesjet. We are retired. Why type of challenges did you experience...obtaining the card, credit limit???


No problems whatsoever. I love this card, but I don't spend a dime on it (I use the Capital One Aspire Travel card for everyday purchases). I use it for the annual companion fare and free checked baggage for my party. The $250 in Westjet dollars upon initiation was also nice.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

Userkare said:


> This week, I get an e-mail from PC Financial, it says that I must contact them because some information is missing that might affect my Mastercard account. I called the number, but I was 20th in line and hung up. I have a sneaking suspicion that the income qualification is a requirement of MasterCard, and can't be waived by individual issuers. That same requirement is shown on every other issuers website. I guess this is what happens when they hire some company in the 3rd World to harass their customers, the message wasn't properly communicated.


Did your email look like the one reproduced below?

This is a friendly reminder that weƚ still need some information from you. This missing information may affect the status of your President’s Choice Financial® MasterCard® account. To avoid this, please update your account information as soon as you can. You can contact us at 1 866 953 4889 or at the customer service number on the back of your card.

Thank you.

I too have a PC Bourgeois Elitist MasterCard and I received the above email on Sept. 23. Bit of a crock, actually. I needed no "friendly reminder" because I had never been asked for anything. The tenor of the email was to the effect that information had been sought from me, that I had refused and/or neglected to supply it and it was time for the cc issuer to give me a short, sharp jerk to bring me to heel.

There was no "missing information", contrary to their misrepresentation. I dutifully called the number given, trying my best to recall any earlier correspondence I had overlooked or to which I had failed to respond. Once the call was answered by a machine, I got the line that has for years now been standard issue with almost all institutions: "We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes" so expect to wait on hold for an hour or so. After so many years of "higher than normal", you'd think a new norm had been set, would you not?

Anyway, I told the woman who eventually took that call that I could not understand why I was getting such email and I could not imagine what had been requested of me that remained "missing". Turns out the email was simply a ruse. Its real purpose was so they could quiz me to ascertain if my postal address, email address, phone # and occupation/employment information remained the same as what was on file. I have no idea (and the responder could think of none) as to the reason for the subterfuge. Why not send an email saying an update is required? Too direct, I suppose.

Apart from my rant, my point Userkare is that the email you received may have nothing to do with checking your income info.


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

Mukhang pera said:


> Did your email look like the one reproduced below?
> 
> This is a friendly reminder that weƚ still need some information from you. This missing information may affect the status of your President’s Choice Financial® MasterCard® account. To avoid this, please update your account information as soon as you can. You can contact us at 1 866 953 4889 or at the customer service number on the back of your card.
> 
> ...


Thank you very much for that!!!! 

Yup, that's it. What a slimy way to treat customers. 

I was a bit suspicious that it was marketing baloney because the headers for the e-mail showed it came from a PC sender that usually just sends e-mail promotions. Still, if they ask for an employer, I would have to say 'retired' ( i.e. probably not making $70K ).

In any case, it may have backfired on them. It made me look at other CC offers, and I'm liking the idea of Tangerine giving 2% cash on 3 categories. I'll probably apply for that one and put the "PC Bourgeois Elitist MasterCard":wink: in the shredder.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

ian said:


> We use three. A Visa, A MC, and a VISA that we use for foreign travel/purchases.
> 
> Interested in the comments about RBC/WestJet. We plan to scrap our Aeroplan card since it's value to us has decreased with Aeroplan add on charges. Seriously considering RBC/Wesjet. We are retired. Why type of challenges did you experience...obtaining the card, credit limit???


Because we had no other relationship with RBC (they fired us from DS a few years ago), they asked for a statement of assets and investment income, then gave us the card with a good limit. Once we used the card, they sent us the companion card voucher, and we used it for our Mexico trip ($299 return plus fees and taxes). For US/Cda travel, it is $99. Must be the Elite card.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Mukhang pera said:


> Did your email look like the one reproduced below?
> 
> This is a friendly reminder that we still need some information from you. This missing information may affect the status of your President’s Choice Financial® MasterCard® account. To avoid this, please update your account information as soon as you can. You can contact us at 1 866 953 4889 or at the customer service number on the back of your card.
> 
> Thank you.


Sound more like a phishing email. You have to watch those! Do not send any personal sensitive information on an email that you really can't determine if it is legit or not, coming from a bank or some scammer looking for ways to
get some of your money. 



> I too have a PC Bourgeois Elitist MasterCard and I received the above email on Sept. 23. Bit of a crock, actually. I needed no "friendly reminder" because I had never been asked for anything. The tenor of the email was to the effect that information had been sought from me, that I had refused and/or neglected to supply it and it was time for the cc issuer to give me a short, sharp jerk to bring me to heel.


I had a similar experience the other night when I applied for the Tangerine MC. Somebody claiming to be a Tangerine representative phoned me at 9Pm ..outside of business hours, so that raised my suspicion. 

She also mentioned she would put our conversation on "record" which made me even more suspicious, then started to ask me a barrage of questions about my identity and asking to send her 3 proofs of identity.
I refused to send her that, as I was not sure who it was I was talking to. Sending out personal information like
copies of 3 pieces of ID (drivers license, utility bill for address confirmation, copy of passport or citizenship, and get this ...a copy of my latest CRA assessment with my SIN was too much! 
I told her I already have an acct with Tangerine, but she told me that wasn't good enough apparently.

So that did it for me!.....I told her to "shove it" and hung up.




> Anyway, I told the woman who eventually took that call that I could not understand why I was getting such email and I could not imagine what had been requested of me that remained "missing". Turns out the email was simply a ruse. Its real purpose was so they could quiz me to ascertain if my postal address, email address, phone # and occupation/employment information remained the same as what was on file. I have no idea (and the responder could think of none) as to the reason for the subterfuge. Why not send an email saying an update is required?


Emails are not secure. Any hackers out there can modify the header and even "paste"logos of financial institutions on emails
asking for personal information. Better to originate the call to the bank and ask to speak to a real attendant. That way you
are sure that any personal banking information is somewhat secure. 

Too many online and telephone scams these days.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

carverman said:


> Sound more like a phishing email. You have to watch those! Do not send any personal sensitive information on an email that you really can't determine if it is legit or not, coming from a bank or some scammer looking for ways to
> get some of your money.
> 
> 
> ...


The phishing thing crossed my mind, but being asked to call the toll-free number gave it some air of legitimacy, as did the call-handling machinery once I called. Perhaps the most revealing thing I was asked was to identify my employer. So I turned the question around and asked: "What does your current file information say about my employer?". She correctly identified my employer. But being asked for passport and other ID....yikes!


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

carverman said:


> Sound more like a phishing email. You have to watch those! Do not send any personal sensitive information on an email that you really can't determine if it is legit or not, coming from a bank or some scammer looking for ways to get some of your money.


My 1st thought as well, but the headers showed that it passed the DKIM and SPF tests of my email provider.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

ian said:


> We use three. A Visa, A MC, and a VISA that we use for foreign travel/purchases.


We have two. A BMO Mastercard with airmiles worth 0.5% Other is an *Amazon.ca Chase card *with no FX fees and 1% cash back also used for travel in USA. 

BUT, we have a current *problem* with the Chase Visa card. A week ago, they cancelled my card because they said it was potentially compromised. They sent a new card which took about 5 days. I used it twice yesterday and then again this morning. But this afternoon, it was declined at two places. When I got home, my wife told me that her card on same account had been declined twice. She called Chase and they are sending her a new one. I called Chase and they said a stop had been put on mine because my wife's car was compromised. Then they released the hold - so they say! I have not tried it again. 

As two retirees, dealing mainly locally, it seems surprising that both of our cards would be compromised within 1 week. I have read elsewhere that Chase Visa can be troublesome. If this sort of thing happened while travelling, where would they send the new card?? Basically not useful if this happens.

So, I too am looking for a different card and perhaps only use the Chase card for FX transactions, or get rid of it.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

agent99 said:


> BUT, we have a current *problem* with the Chase Visa card. A week ago, they cancelled my card because they said it was potentially compromised. They sent a new card which took about 5 days. I used it twice yesterday and then again this morning. But this afternoon, it was declined at two places. When I got home, my wife told me that her card on same account had been declined twice. She called Chase and they are sending her a new one. I called Chase and they said a stop had been put on mine because my wife's car was compromised. Then they released the hold - so they say! I have not tried it again.
> 
> As two retirees, dealing mainly locally, it seems surprising that both of our cards would be compromised within 1 week. I have read elsewhere that Chase Visa can be troublesome. If this sort of thing happened while travelling, where would they send the new card?? Basically not useful if this happens.
> 
> So, I too am looking for a different card and perhaps only use the Chase card for FX transactions, or get rid of it.


We have found that Chase will put a hold on the cards whenever there is suspicion of fraud. A call usually sets it right. They will send out a new card with the existing PIN because a new PIN needs to be validated at a Canadian retailer. The number to call (416) is on the back of the card.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We have had similar experiences with our Chase Visa card but it has not been compromised. We only use it for travel. On a few occasions, when travelling, it has been denied by a vendor. Happened twice in Australia with a discount airline and twice in Thailand. Same all four times. Tried to do an on line purchase and the card was refused. 

The other issue we have had is being denied access to our on line Chase Visa account while travelling. Phoning their call centre from overseas is a disaster. This caused us concerns. We tried our card in a shop and voila both cards worked even though we were denied on line access to our account. When we travel make a deposit to the card in order to create a credit balance. Then we keep track of our spending, either on line or by hand, just in case we loose access to the on line statement. We want to keep a credit balance so we can continue to withdraw money from the ATM without incurring interest.

Our card was declined by a vendor while we were in Canada making an airline reservation on a foreign site. We used another card. I called Chase and they claimed to have no record of the card being declined. Not certain about this but we have been told that some vendors (overseas), or perhaps vendor's banking partners, routinely reject certain cards. Not certain why or if this is accurate but our card has been rejected a few times. Nothing to worry about but something to be aware of. We always carry backup cards and alternate methods of accessing money just in case.

As an aside, we had something ship from LLBean yesterday. Checked the Chase Visa converstion rate against the FX web site. The exchange rate was identical to the third decimal.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

kcowan said:


> We have found that Chase will put a hold on the cards whenever there is suspicion of fraud. A call usually sets it right. They will send out a new card with the existing PIN because a new PIN needs to be validated at a Canadian retailer. The number to call (416) is on the back of the card.


This can happen with other CC cards. I had my PCF MC declined 3 times over a 2 year period. Once it happened in a Loblaws store of all places as PC is their brand. 
It was a bit of an inconvenience the first two times, but after the third time, that was enough for me as I only have one CC.
Switched to CapitalOne MC. it doesn't have any rewards, but there is no fee and my interest rate (if i want to carry a balance is 9.69% on purchases. 

I always pay it off during the grace period . I also have warning system setup with them that if my $5K credit limit reaches the $4K credit threshold, I get an email advising me of that, so I can make a partial payment to increase the available credit for the duration of current billing.


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## canew90 (Jul 13, 2016)

Whats wrong with having more than one credit card? Just make sure you have the option for automatic payment from your bank account so you never get charged interest.

The other item is I don't like have a large credit limit on my credit cards. Too much identify theft going on. I have one credit card with $1,000 limit which I use for internet purchases. The others have a max $5,000 limit, some less.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We use three. One for any foreign purchases and ATM advances/withdrawals, another for Costco, gas and restaurants, and a third for everything else.


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

I use 3 cards: one for most purchases, one for gas and other car expenses, and the third for online purchases. The online one has a lower limit, and I keep it locked up. I carry the other 2 with me, so in case I go to use one and it is declined or compromised I have another one with me.

I also like the ability on some cards to send me a text message for every transaction over $x.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

ian said:


> We use three. One for any foreign purchases and ATM advances/withdrawals, another for Costco, gas and restaurants, and a third for everything else.


+1


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

My parents used to use a single credit card for everything ... gas purchases, groceries, travel, online purchases. Over the years they had several fraud instances that required that they cancel and re-issue the card.

A couple years ago I convinced them to get a PC Mastercard so that they have a second one. Now they use this for all online purchases and when traveling in foreign countries.

They haven't had a single fraud instance or card cancellation since. I think it's a good idea to use one card specifically for online and foreign purchases, which are higher risk.

Regarding email security: always treat any information in an email with great suspicion. Let's say they email you about an offer, and it has an 800 number. Consider that the number itself may be run by fraudsters. Always do some research and don't ever just call the phone number. Google the phone number to see if it takes you to an official company web page. Better yet, only call phone numbers that YOU know. For example call the regular number for that credit card and ask: I received an email about this offer, and it gave this other phone number.

The key message is, do not ever follow information in an email (such as web site address OR phone number). Never click a link found in an email. Treat phone numbers as potentially malicious as well. Do not trust the information you read in an email. Scammers have been known to set up call centers in Montreal or India, and run their frauds out of them.

The same goes for phone calls you receive. Who is this person? They could be a scammer, even if they say all the right things. If THEY phoned you, then you have no idea who they area.

What you must do in those circumstances is tell them you are hanging up and will phone them. And then you phone the standard credit card phone number, as seen on your credit card, etc. If the person on the phone gives you some other number, treat that as potentially a scammer's phone number.

Some of these scams are very sophisticated


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We shred any snail mail/hard copy with personal information on it. We never respond to the phishing emails and we either do not answer of simply hang up on the telephone solicitations. We change our PINs regularly and don't keep the numbers written down in our wallets.

We have had phoney emails that appeared to be from our bank, lots of Nigerian inheritances waiting to be claimed, and various other tempting freebees and offers.

I guess we have missed out on millions of dollars of inheritances as well as many free trips-especially free cruises from the 'Captain' who used to call us on a very regular basis. Oh well.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

james4beach said:


> The key message is, do not ever follow information in an email (such as web site address OR phone number). Never click a link found in an email. Treat phone numbers as potentially malicious as well. Do not trust the information you read in an email. Scammers have been known to set up call centers in Montreal or India, and run their frauds out of them.


On that topic, I received a few minutes ago and email, with the sender identified as "AMAZON". The subject matter was said to be: 
"AMAZON has surprise for you - Open immediately". I cannot recall having done any business with Amazon for a long time, if ever. So what could be the "surprise"? Maybe a better descriptor would be "shock". I decided to suppress my curiosity and I just dumped the email as spam, without opening same.

Anyone else receive one of those today?


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## naysmitj (Sep 16, 2014)

You did the right thing. I am dumping unbelievable offers from banks, credit cards and of course those wealthy Nigerians.
Hit the link and they can infect you faster than a blink.
The big one is ransomware, where you have to pay with BitCoins to access your computer files after infection from a link download.


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