Following quickly on the heels of adding new account fees, Tangerine is now making some less than friendly changes to their credit card.
The most important change to me is that they are increasing the foreign exchange fee from 1.5% to 2.5%. So, using this credit card is going to cost me more when I travel, primarily in the U.S.
The change that’s likely to annoy more customers is reducing credit-card rewards. Currently, certain categories of transactions get 2% cash back and the rest get 1%. The rest will now get only 0.5%.
Of course, we’d all be better off if there was no such thing as credit-card rewards and retailers were charged less to accept credit card payments. But I’m not holding my breath.
A slew of other fees that affect those who handle credit poorly are going up as well.
I still find Tangerine products to be better than most of what I can get at the big banks, but future fee increases could change that.
I was also dismayed by this news. I expect to use my PC MasterCard (still 1%) for what would have been "the rest" with Tangerine, and I will get an Amazon card for foreign purchases. Thanks Scotiabank.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: The Amazon card looks interesting. I'm going to look into it for myself. I'm also going to kick the tires on EQ bank.
DeleteI have used the Amazon Visa card for several years - works like a charm - the F/X rates are excellent and you get 1% back.
DeleteOnly downside no insurance coverage of any sort (would really like to have CDW coverage for car rentals :( ) and they cannot seem to setup a PAD for balance payment so you have to make the payment manually (minor irritation).
@GCAI: Thanks for the information. It's good to know the good and bad points. I've never successfully set up pre-authorized withdrawals for entire credit-card balances each month. I have seen pre-authorized withdrawals of the minimum payment, which is useless to me.
DeleteAmazon Visa pays 2% on Amazon purchases and 1% on everything else.
ReplyDeleteNote, it is Amazon.CA, purchases, you don't get 2% if you use it for Amazon.COM
Delete@aB Correct. But you would save FX fees if you bought from amazon.com.
DeleteIf Forex is a major concern, recommend you look at Rogers Bank Platinum. They charge the same 2.5% exchange...but provide a 4% cash-back which means a net 1.5% of ANY forex transaction. They also have a pretty fair range of standard cash-back features. This card will be replacing my LemonBank card.
ReplyDelete@Dave2213: Thanks for the information and the laugh (LemonBank).
DeleteDave, I removed all of my money from Lemon Bank after MJ told us about the new fees. I use my Roger's MC for travel out of country but I thought the FX refund was only good for payment of my monthly Roger's Bill?
DeleteThe Rogers cash back can be applied to a Rogers bill balance -or- can be taken as a credit toward the credit card account balance (once a year). So, if you're like me and based on the calculator Rogers supplies, my annual cash back will be ~ $1,200 which I will request be applied against my balance in January of each year. Good deal!
DeleteYep, I second the Rogers MC. Using it as the primary card now. It gives 1.75% cash back on all purchases in Canadian dollars and 4% cash back on purchases in other currencies. Note that it's not just Rogers customers who can get the annual fee of $29 waived but Fido customers as well. Still keeping the Tangerine card for gas and groceries though... at least for now.
ReplyDeleteFor the Amazon.ca card, they stopped taking applications early in April, so it is off the table for now.
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