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Email this7:29 pm
April 6, 2013
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Rogers Bank will be changing some of the benefits on Nov. 18.
One change is the ending of the 1.5x Rewards Redemption Value when redeeming against certain Rogers purchases charged to the card.
Another is the ending of Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, and Trip Delay Coverage.
7:32 am
October 27, 2013
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Well that sucks! I was running about $150-200 per month in 1.5 times redemption values. The change to 5% on Rogers accounts and 1% on everything else will almost be certainly less total value.
Edit: Thank you Peter. My error on above as I didn't scroll down far enough for World Elite card and being a Rogers customer.
It will be 5% on my two Rogers/Shall bills and 2% on the remaining (unlikely to ever break the $61k annual spend cap on our joint card). The new arrangement will still be less than current arrangement.
7:37 am
May 15, 2007
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If I'm understanding correctly about the cash back structure for the World Elite card:
Previously:
* Rogers customers earned 2% back and got an extra 1.5x when redeeming against Rogers purchases, so that's 3% back against Rogers purchases and 2% back on everything else
* Non-Rogers customers got a flat 1.5% back on the World Elite card; 1.0% back on the Red card
If you were a Rogers customer with a $40 monthly bill and spent $1333.33 you would get $40 back if you redeemed against the Rogers charge ($1333.33 * .02 * 1.5)
Now:
* Rogers customers earn 5% back on Rogers purchases and 2% on everything else. No more multiplier when redeeming against Rogers purchases.
* Non-Rogers customers get a flat 1.5% back on the World Elite card; 1.0% back on the Red card
If you are a Rogers customer with a $40 monthly bill and spend $1333.33 (technically $1293.33 on non-Rogers purchases) you would get $27.87 no matter what you redeem it against ($40 * .05 + $1293.33 * .02)
10:37 pm
May 21, 2016
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Lots of discussion about this on other platforms right now. Nothing in my email about it though from Rogers.
There's mixed and confusing advice. One of the popular "jabs" to Rogers is to overpay your Rogers services account eg. Mobile, TV, Internet by a few thousand dollars. Then go to your Rogers Mastercard account and redeem the rewards for that overpayment now for 3% toward Rogers services.
Another brief discussion centres around FX fees and how Rogers Red remains the best for no fee FX cards even when the change takes place. I don't understand personally. Rogers charges a 2.5% FX currency fee so when "doomsday" arrives, you will pay 0.5% for the FX currency fee charge. There are other options like PC Financial Mastercard debit or EQ Debit Mastercard with no FX fee. Of course, there's Home Trust Visa too.
8:48 am
May 20, 2016
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Interesting. I have a $1,650 Rogers Redemption bonus. If I use the full $1,650 to overpay my Rogers services account, I would lose the 5% cashback on that amount, which is $82.50 ($1,650 × 5%). However, if I don’t use the $1,650 Rogers Redemption bonus, its value will be reduced to $1,100 ($1,650 × 2/3) after November 18, 2026.
9:14 am
April 21, 2022
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Hmm said
Another brief discussion centres around FX fees and how Rogers Red remains the best for no fee FX cards even when the change takes place.
Somewhat exaggerated? It's okay for USD transactions, otherwise it's not great, just don't do refunds in foreign currencies. Pick a true no FX card like Home Trust if you think you might need to do a refund, ie, hotel reservations,etc,.
10:18 am
April 6, 2013
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davidgeorge said
Interesting. I have a $1,650 Rogers Redemption bonus. If I use the full $1,650 to overpay my Rogers services account, I would lose the 5% cashback on that amount, which is $82.50 ($1,650 × 5%). However, if I don’t use the $1,650 Rogers Redemption bonus, its value will be reduced to $1,100 ($1,650 × 2/3) after November 18, 2026.
The $1,650 reward was never there. Only the $1,100 was.
If the rewards one was earning with the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard outpaces one's Rogers-related purchases, then the card really wasn't a 3% reward card.
I wouldn't overpay my Rogers services by $1,650 unless that was only a few months worth of services.
10:25 am
October 27, 2013
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I don't know how one accumulates such a large Rogers redemption bonus. I redeem the bonus each month against my Rogers/Shaw bill.
I agree with Norman1 that it was never a 3% card in the first place if one didn't have Rogers/Shaw monthly bills to use the entirety of the bonus each month.
Added: I am pretty sure one of the T's and C's is that one is limited to the value of the bill for any redemption bonus, e.g. no more than $100 on a $100 Rogers/Shaw bill.
10:32 am
January 7, 2023
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This change effectively reduces the rewards from 3% to 2% for me. I will only be using this card for Rogers services from now on.
BTW, the Wealthsimple VISA card has no FX fees and offers 2% cash back. It also has no annual fees if you have $100,000 invested or a monthly automated deposit for payroll or pension.
11:12 am
April 6, 2013
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AltaRed said
…
Added: I am pretty sure one of the T's and C's is that one is limited to the value of the bill for any redemption bonus, e.g. no more than $100 on a $100 Rogers/Shaw bill.
The redemption bonus shown in the app is one's reward balance multiplied by 1.5. The value just projects what the reward balance would be worth if it were all applied against certain Rogers-related purchases.
If one redeemed reward balance against a $100 charge for a Rogers bill, then one's reward balance will be docked $66.67 for the $66.67 x 1.5 = $100 credit to the Rogers card.
With $100/month = $1,200/year of Rogers-related spend, one would be able use up $1,200 / 1.5 = $800 of reward balance a year. That would be for up to $40,000 of charges each year that one would receive 3% reward for.
1:08 pm
October 27, 2013
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Norman1 said
The redemption bonus shown in the app is one's reward balance multiplied by 1.5. The value just projects what the reward balance would be worth if it were all applied against certain Rogers-related purchases.
Which is what was said (or at least meant) in my post. The point is the amount of the Rogers/Shaw bill limits the amount of redemption to the amount owing on the bill.
Every month I look at my reward balance and my Rogers/Shaw bill to determine how much can be applied to that bill.
4:00 pm
April 6, 2013
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Yes, the amounts of the the Rogers-related bills do limit how much of the reward balance can be redeemed with the 1/3 discount (1.5X amplification).
The "Rogers Redemption Bonus" value shown is rather misleading. One won't receive that value (1.5 * "Reward Balance") if one isn't going to have that in Rogers-related bills and spending charged to the card before November 18.
11:31 pm
May 21, 2016
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JohnnyCash said
Somewhat exaggerated? It's okay for USD transactions, otherwise it's not great, just don't do refunds in foreign currencies. Pick a true no FX card like Home Trust if you think you might need to do a refund, ie, hotel reservations,etc,.
I'm curious. How different or what are the drawbacks using the Rogers MC for a refund? Sometimes it's inevitable. for instance you book a hotel, a deposit is charged and you have to cancel. Other times one may need to dispute the USD charge and the amount gets reversed — although in my experience Rogers is terrible and I'd argue the worst in terms of disputing a transaction. While Amex tends to be the best. YMMV.
11:42 pm
May 21, 2016
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Warwick111 said
BTW, the Wealthsimple VISA card has no FX fees and offers 2% cash back. It also has no annual fees if you have $100,000 invested or a monthly automated deposit for payroll or pension.
I hear a lot of chatter about the Wealthsimple Visa card, but tying up $100K in a low-interest HISA or shifting funds into risky investments just to qualify doesn't seem practical. I am not familiar with the particulars of the payroll or pension deposit requirements, but again, my main concern is the opportunity cost of parking funds where they earn very little. For heavy FX users, it is probably worth it.
As for Home Trust Visa, it has been completely unreliable in my experience. Every year I deal with a compromised transaction, an unexpected decline, or fraud. Because HT Visa seems particularly prone to fraud, I now keep it frozen and will only use it as a backup if I travel outside North America. Otherwise, I use PC Financial or EQ for no-fee transactions, even though losing the payment grace period really sucks.
Additionally, in that thread I was referring to about the Rogers Mastercard being the best for FX, there appears to be misinformation claiming that Amex offers a far better exchange rate than Mastercard or Visa International despite and including the 2.5% markup in the FX rate.
3:15 am
November 18, 2017
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Most credit cards do not reverse currency conversion fees. After all, reversing a foreign charge means TWO fees, which the credit card issuer has no interest in paying.
RetirEd
5:35 am
July 28, 2016
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Hmm said
I hear a lot of chatter about the Wealthsimple Visa card, but tying up $100K in a low-interest HISA or shifting funds into risky investments just to qualify doesn't seem practical. I am not familiar with the particulars of the payroll or pension deposit requirements, but again, my main concern is the opportunity cost of parking funds where they earn very little. For heavy FX users, it is probably worth it.As for Home Trust Visa, it has been completely unreliable in my experience. Every year I deal with a compromised transaction, an unexpected decline, or fraud. Because HT Visa seems particularly prone to fraud, I now keep it frozen and will only use it as a backup if I travel outside North America. Otherwise, I use PC Financial or EQ for no-fee transactions, even though losing the payment grace period really sucks.
Additionally, in that thread I was referring to about the Rogers Mastercard being the best for FX, there appears to be misinformation claiming that Amex offers a far better exchange rate than Mastercard or Visa International despite and including the 2.5% markup in the FX rate.
I got the Wealthsimple Visa Infinite Privilege about 6 months ago. So far it's been great, no problem at all and all the perks are real. It's true it is not for everybody, for example I do not pay monthly fees cause I transferred my TFSA that was already invested in stocks from a traditional bank to Wealthsimple. They paid for the transfer and they gave me a 1% bonus paid over 1 year.
So not for everybody but it's definitely an offer to consider if you are a regular traveller.
I actually also have the Rogers CC simply because I need a MC for Costco.
7:03 am
April 27, 2017
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Hmm said
I hear a lot of chatter about the Wealthsimple Visa card, but tying up $100K in a low-interest HISA or shifting funds into risky investments just to qualify doesn't seem practical. I am not familiar with the particulars of the payroll or pension deposit requirements, but again, my main concern is the opportunity cost of parking funds where they earn very little. For heavy FX users, it is probably worth it.
Define “risky”. While all investments carry risks, you could be investing in a sensible whole of the market or a bond ETF. And if so, WS is a good option. I wouldn’t make brokerage decisions just based on the credit card but it's a nice perk (0 fx charge, insurance, lounges, etc.). As luck would have it, I quit Rogers services and stopped using their credit card 2 months ago.
9:04 am
May 15, 2007
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If this math is correct, you're worse off with the new structure if non-Rogers purchases make up more than 2/3 of your spend on the card:
Old:
$100 Rogers x 2% = $2 cash back
$200 non-Rogers x 2% = $4 cash back
Redeem $6 + 50% bonus = $9 cash back
$9 / $300 spend = 3% effective cash back
New:
$100 Rogers x 5% = $5 cash back
$200 non-Rogers x 2% = $4 cash back
Redeem $9, no bonus
$9 / $300 spend = 3% effective cash back
2:04 pm
January 9, 2011
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Totally confusing, and unnecessary IMO. But then maybe I can't grasp their new method - I certainly couldn't see actual value in their previous one because I use other cards too.
With all other cards, I get cash back on every purchase with the percentage depending on what it is. Redemption is cash received, automatic or up to me, with the timing defined, ie: Tang is monthly crediting my savings account with them. Infinite Visa is whenever I implement it as a credit to my card, AMEX is automatic on my birth month.
So here's an example to see what happens with Rogers' new method. I have a $ 250- monthly Rogers bill and charge it to a Rogers MC. (currently I get 2% cash back from Visa). I spend nothing else on the Rogers card that month. How much % cash back to I get on that $ 250-, and when/how do I get it?
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as
sharp as it used to be.
4:13 pm
May 21, 2016
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I think the intent is to make this confusing and normalize. Look at BMO's offer, for example: https://www.bmo.com/en-ca/main.....s-account/
For me, when it comes to no-annual-fee credit cards, Rogers still seems to be the "best." If you have an eligible Rogers service, you can get 2% on pretty much everything. With Tangerine, the 2% is limited to the categories you choose.
Then there is the whole issue of merchant category codes. Merchants don't exactly make it easy to figure out how they're actually classified. Church's Fried Chicken is a good example. It shows up as a restaurant descriptor, but the actual backend merchant category code isn't restaurant. So you don't get the same rewards you would for somewhere like McDonald's or Swiss Chalet.
For dining out or fast food from places I know are actually coded as restaurants, I use the Simplii Visa which earns 4%.
For foreign currency other than USD, I would use EQ, but apparently some members who have actually compared the transactions against Mastercard's international FX rates have found that EQ appears to add its own FX spread on top of Mastercard's rate. So it's a lie there is no FX fee involved.
The whole industry is arguably set up in a way that makes it complex. Consumers and government just let it happen without any pushback with the exception of the occasional social media or forum comment.
