By Keph Senett and Winston See on April 2, 2024
Estimated reading time: quarter-hour
Canadians love traveling and shopping, but once they use their bank cards outside of Canada, many pay foreign transaction fees – as much as 2.5% – on every purchase. The excellent news is that there are a big choice of bank cards for Canadians that either charge no fees for foreign transactions or reward you with good enough money back to cover the fees.
It’s best not to make use of Forex cards without an annual fee
At a look: The Home Trust Preferred Visa is a really currency-free card that also has no annual fee. This implies that the foreign exchange price is waived for purchases in all foreign currency echange, not only US dollars.
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Home Trust preferred visa
- Annual fee: $0
- Earning rates: 1% on all Canadian purchases and no exchange rate fees for foreign currency purchases
- Welcome offer: You can earn 1% money back on eligible purchases in Canada, with no caps on money back earning.
At a look: With much higher earning rates than most no-fee cards, the Rogers World Elite Mastercard actually allows you to earn money back on U.S. dollar purchases. However, because of high personal income levels and spending requirements, this card is inaccessible to some applicants.
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Rogers World Elite Mastercard
- Annual fee: $0
- Earning rate: 1.5% cashback on all purchases; 3% money back on all US dollar purchases
- Welcome bonus: You can earn a $25 welcome bonus in cashback rewards in your first card purchase inside 3 months of receiving your card.
- Annual income requirement: Personal income of $80,000 or household income of $150,000
Best not to make use of Forex cards for rewards and perks
At a look: As the primary card from one in every of Canada’s major banks to waive foreign transaction fees, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite offers strong rewards, an easy-to-understand and versatile rewards system, and truly impressive airport lounge advantages.
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Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite
- Annual fee: $150 (waived in first 12 months)
- Earning rate: 3 Scene+ points per $1 spent at Sobeys locations; 2 points per $1 on groceries, dining, entertainment and transportation; 1 point per $1 spent on every little thing else. Plus, you don’t pay any FX fees
- Welcome offer: Earn as much as $1,300 in value in your first 12 months, including as much as 40,000 Scene+ bonus points and a primary 12 months annual fee waiver. Offer ends July 1, 2024.
- Annual income requirement: Personal income of $60,000 or household income of $100,000
At a look: The Scotiabank Gold American Express offers a powerful each day earning rate, especially on groceries and public transportation. Combined with the shortage of foreign transaction fees, this card will not be only the most effective no-fee cards, but additionally the most effective rewards cards in Canada overall.
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Scotiabank Gold American Express
- Annual fee: $120 (waived in first 12 months)
- Earning rates: 6 points per $1 spent at Sobeys affiliated stores; 5 points per $1 on dining, entertainment and groceries; 3 points per $1 on gas, transit and streaming; 1 point per $1 spent on every little thing else
- Welcome offer: You can earn as much as $650 in value in the primary 12 months, including as much as 40,000 bonus Scene+ points. Must be applied for by July 1, 2024.
- Annual income requirement: $12,000
- This bank card’s earning rate is really impressive, with a superb 5 points on groceries and restaurants and 6 points on purchases at Sobeys-affiliated stores.
- Scene+ points are flexible, easy to make use of, and valid for as much as 12 months after you buy a visit, so you may book whenever you want and luxuriate in rewards later.
- Redeem your points for travel in easy increments of 1,000 points (a $10 value). There are not any complicated rules or exceptions to administer, and also you get the identical value irrespective of where you go.
- Scotia’s definition of travel is incredibly broad, meaning you may even redeem the credit for purchases on Uber, UberEats and Airbnb.
- Scotiabank Gold American Express offers a full range of travel insurance advantages, including medical travel emergency insurance, trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance and more.
- This card includes Amex Experience advantages. Amex provides early access to advance tickets to a wide range of events (including concert events and sporting events), while Amex Offers gives you extra discounts and savings at rotating retailers.
- The card’s minimum income requirement is $12,000, making it accessible to most Canadians.
At a look: This is a competitive mid-range bank card with a below-average annual fee that gives impressive travel insurance and bonus points for purchases outside of Canada to make it easier to save on foreign transaction fees.
Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards
- Annual fee: $99 (not applicable in the primary 12 months)
- Earning rate: 1.5 points per dollar; 3 points per dollar on foreign currency purchases
- Welcome offer: Earn 6 points per $2 spent on foreign currency purchases outside of Canada and three points per $2 on all other purchases.
- Annual income requirement: Personal income of $60,000 or household income of $100,000
At a look: Amazon shoppers beware—which means it’s best to hearken to nearly everyone. The Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard is a no-fee merchant bank card. So in the event you’re a Prime member and order from amazon.ca, you may earn 2.5% Amazon Rewards points with the cardboard.
Amazon Rewards Mastercard
- Annual fee: $0 (Prime subscription required for all card advantages)
- Earning rate: Prime members earn 2.5% on Amazon.ca and foreign currency transactions. Non-Prime members get 1.5% back on Amazon.ca. Get 1% in every single place else
- Welcome offer: 5% back at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market saves as much as $3,000 on eligible purchases for six months (price $150)
- Income requirement: not specified
Best bank card alternative without foreign exchange fees
At a look: OK, OK, this is not a bank card, it is a prepaid debit card. Still, the EQ Bank Card can make it easier to avoid costly fees when withdrawing or spending money in a foreign currency by waiving any exchange rate fees charged by EQ (transactions are still subject to Mastercard’s currency conversion rate). This is an excellent substitute card for purchases where bank cards usually are not accepted.
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EQ bank card
- Annual fee: None
- Earning rate: 0.5% cashback on all of your spending
- Welcome offer: There is currently no welcome offer for this card.
- Annual income requirement: None
| Best cards by category | Why we find it irresistible |
|---|---|
| Home Trust preferred visa* Annual Fee: $0 |
1% cashback on all Canadian purchases and no foreign exchange fees on all foreign currency purchases (not only within the US) |
| Rogers World Elite Mastercard* Annual Fee: $0 |
3% cashback on US currency purchases – enough to cover foreign exchange fees and more |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite* Annual fee: $150 (waived in the primary 12 months) |
The only fee-free card in Canada that also offers airport lounge access |
| Scotiabank Gold American Express* Annual fee: $120 (waived in the primary 12 months) |
Impressive earn rate of as much as 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent, comprehensive travel insurance advantages and more. You may also receive an $80 money bonus upon approval with Ratehub.ca |
| Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards Annual Fee: $99 annual fee (waived in the primary 12 months) |
Approximately 0.5% refund on all non-Canadian currency purchases (after foreign exchange fees) and outstanding travel coverage |
| Amazon Rewards Mastercard Annual Fee: $0 (Prime membership required for all card advantages.) |
Amazon Prime members earn 2.5% Amazon Points on all foreign currency purchases, which will be used toward gift cards |
| EQ Bank prepaid card* Annual Fee: $0 |
0.5% cashback on purchases, plus interest in your savings |
A bank card conversion rate is a markup you pay for purchases made in a foreign currency. These rates are set by your bank card network akin to American Express, Visa and Mastercard. These rates are frequently quite near market rates, but are sometimes higher than the exchange rates you get at an exchange office. You can find the conversion rate on your card in your bank card contract.
Sometimes you may have the choice to pay in a neighborhood currency or have the worth converted into your property currency. Generally, it’s in your financial best interest to buy within the local currency, as converting to a different currency may incur fees that will probably be applied to the acquisition price. This applies no matter whether you employ a card that charges transaction fees. So in each cases you lower your expenses by sticking to the local currency.
Using a bank card that does not incur foreign transaction fees is great – unless you would like to purchase from an organization that does not accept bank cards. It’s at all times advisable to have some money with you simply for these occasions, but withdrawing money from an ATM may also incur high fees. A great solution is to make use of a debit card that does not charge fees for foreign transactions, akin to: B. the EQ bank card. Note that your card may waive the fees, however the ATM probably won’t. Also note that using a bank card to withdraw money from an ATM carries the very best fees anywhere and needs to be avoided except in emergencies.
