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Usage of my credit cards: A analysis
December 27, 2019
6:16 pm
User230
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Rogers World Elite MasterCard:

45% of my spending on credit cards. Their website is hard to work with. Their app is hard to work with. Overall, I will increase my usage in the coming year. The 1.75% cash back on spending is mainly the reason for the increased usage. I get credit limit increase routinely which I usually accept. Rewards can be cashed within a month.

Tangerine World Mastercard:

21% of my spending. Their website is good for analysis. It is a bit slow as you can’t directly go to the CC page, one has to go through the banking portal. I will be decreasing my usage of this card. They won’t allow me to pay off the CC using an external bank. I only use it when I get a good offer from their banking division to put my money there. I did not get any credit limit increase offer from this card. The rewards are cashed every month.

PC Financial World Elite Mastercard:

21% of my spend. Their website is the worst of all the CC companies I deal with. I will keep my usage the same, I think. I use it for gas stations and groceries. No credit limit offer was given. The cash back is redeemed in less than a month.

AMEX Simply Cash:

11% of my spend. Good website and mobile. Not a good return on spending at 1.25%. I will be decreasing my usage. I was given a credit offer but I declined. Cash back is redeemed once a year. I am keeping it as a back up in case my Mastercards stop working.

Home Trust Visa Preferred:

2% of my spend. Bad website. Not a good return on spending at 1%. I will decrease my usage. No credit limit increase offered. Cash back is redeemed once a year. It is a backup to my Mastercard and AMEX. I use it in the states at Costco's. Not really worth having almost.

Final Thoughts:

None of these cards are close to perfect. The big winner was the Rogers card. Not based on service or website or anything like this. It gives 1.75% on spend and rewards are given almost right away.

Tangerine is a bad choice based on how no external banks can be used to pay statements automatically. There is also a chance of getting a 0.5% category by mistake. To me the Tangerine card is only in play for those that bank with Tangerine exclusively. HT Visa is a bad choice based on cash back. AMEX is a bad choice based on cash back on spend and redeeming is only once a year. PC Mastercard is only good if you use it for gas and grocery. Other than that, not so good.

I am currently not considering any cards. Not interested in churning. Not interested in annual fees. I am interested in a usable card with the highest cash back and that is the Rogers card right now.

If there was no Rogers card, I would go with PC Financial. If there was no PC financial, I would go with AMEX. PC is favored as it has fast redeeming of rewards. If there was no AMEX I would go with HT Visa. If there was no HT Visa I would go with Tangerine.

What is your usage of credit cards and what do you think of your credit cards?

Do not include actual numbers. Just percent. This is to avoid issues that could arise from using exact numbers.

The percent I state for each card, are the actual percent of my spend for that card.

This is for the year 2019.

December 28, 2019
5:16 am
Alexandre
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TD Cash Back Visa Infinite

All family groceries, recurring bills, gasoline. 3% cashback. Redeemable at any time at $25 minimum. My monthly cashback is always above $25, so I made a habit to redeem monthly.
Paying balance by transferring money from TD checking account to TD Visa is instantaneous, which I like very much.
Includes roadside assistance which I count upon (but haven't used yet).
My favorite CC so far. The only annual fee card I ever had.

Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard

Using for everyday purchases except those going through TD Visa, and as a backup when buying groceries. 2% cashback, monthly, automatically redeemed to Tangerine Savings account.
Used to be my favorite CC before I signed for TD Visa.

AmEx Simply Cash

Using for Amazon purchases and Prime membership exclusively. 1.25% cashback is not much and it is redeemed annually, but every time I call AmEx I get friendly customer support.
Once used their extended warranty services and got very impressed: the merchant refused post-warranty repairs covered by AmEx extended warranty, so AmEx just refunded me full price of the product, over $300. Decided to stick with AmEx for that reason.
If non-Amazon transaction appears on that credit card, I'm calling AmEx immediately to report unauthorized CC activity.

RBC No Fee No Rewards Visa

Using it infrequently, for very occasional purchases from web sites I am not familiar with, and places I do not frequent (such as gas stations on my vacations trip to oceanfront hotel in Florida).
I signed for this card, because it has "card locking" feature. I can "lock" the card to disallow transactions when I don't use it, "unlock" when I need to use it. This is done through "Profile and Account Setting" on RBC web site. That helps against CC data theft and abuse, because this CC does not have regular usage pattern a bank can use to track and flag unusual CC charges.

------------------
All these cards report "pending transactions." That helps to recognize and stop unauthorized CC usage early.

If I have to choose two out of those cards, I'll stick with TD Visa and Tangerine Mastercard.

I am only interested in true cashback cards: no "miles," or "points" or what else. Redeemable anytime or, at worst, monthly.

I never sign for CC with annual fees, with exception of TD Cash Back Visa Infinite. It is because, for me specifically, its 3% cashback with annual fee gets me more money back than if I just used no fee 2% Tangerine Mastercard. Just a bit more, yet with these two together I now have more of their "categories" combined getting me at least 2% cashback.

December 28, 2019
6:08 am
3oakwest
Ontario, Canada
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CTC World Elite for gas and groceries. Also use it for the stores CTC now owns, which seems to be growing all the time.
The free roadside assistance, although not expecting to us it much, is a real bonus.

Rogers World Elite for most everything else.

December 28, 2019
8:54 am
Slybanking
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Rogers World Elite Mastercard:
Almost 100% of our spending. Got one card for my spouse. No fees, service is ok, better then expected. Easy to use, no categories, 1.75% on everything and also double reward on foreign currency which basically pay for the exchange so you don't need to bring much cash money when traveling to save on the exchange fees.
Got that card when Tangerine lowered there percentage on everything from 1% to 0.5%. Cancelled the Tangerine card after that.

Visa Aerogold Infinite:
Use to be our main card (lower fees for employee). Spending aeroplan point is harder then ever and overall unless you spend your points to get business tickets its not really worth it. Will see what Air Canada will do with Aeroplan now that they bought the program but I am not very optimistic. Will probably replace it with a no fees Visa when my spouse retire from CIBC.

That's it. One Mastercard and one Visa.

Happy new year!

December 28, 2019
10:02 am
Dean
Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia
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.
WOW sf-surprised

I can't believe the Number of CC's some of you guys ^ have ... that would drive most people NUTZOID

The wife and I use two (2) 'No-Fee' CCs (and No Others) :

▶ Tangerine Mastercard: 2% Cash-back on groceries, gas, & recurring bills.
▶ Capital One Mastercard: 1% Cash-back on everything else.

We've never had a problem with either of those ^ cards. Month in & month out, both have been working great for us, and for a looong time now.

Keep It Simple Folks❗sf-smile

sf-cool " Live Long, Healthy ... And Prosper! " sf-cool

December 29, 2019
1:24 am
Rick
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User230 said
Tangerine World Mastercard:

21% of my spending. Their website is good for analysis. It is a bit slow as you can’t directly go to the CC page, one has to go through the banking portal. I will be decreasing my usage of this card. They won’t allow me to pay off the CC using an external bank. I only use it when I get a good offer from their banking division to put my money there. I did not get any credit limit increase offer from this card. The rewards are cashed every month.

Use it for the 3 categories only, rewards go into savings and I raid it once in a while for a fund transfer or something. Their alerts are first rate. Often get one on my phone before I have my wallet back in my pocket.

User230 said
Home Trust Visa Preferred:

2% of my spend. Bad website. Not a good return on spending at 1%. I will decrease my usage. No credit limit increase offered. Cash back is redeemed once a year. It is a backup to my Mastercard and AMEX. I use it in the states at Costco's. Not really worth having almost.

Web site isn't the best but it serves its purpose. Alerts are dismal. Show up when they finally get posted 3 or 4 days later, instead of when first charged. Had a few WTF moments when I got an alert 3 days after I had charged something, thinking someone had my card. Only use it for US purchases for the no ForEx fee, and those have been down since I don't buy gas anymore.

December 29, 2019
5:17 pm
Peter
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I use the Amex Cobalt for groceries and restaurants, and the Rogers World Elite Mastercard for everything else, including purchases in foreign currencies.

February 24, 2020
6:26 am
Save2Retire@55
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My cards as of yesterday were:

Canadian Tire World Elite MC: All groceries (Except Walmart) 3% back, Most of my filling at Gas+. $0.05 discount per liter

Rogers World Elite MasterCard: Everything except Grocery / Gas (Foreign / CAD Transactions). 1.75%

MBNA: Walmart / Gas (Except Gas+) 2%

I applied for 2 new cards this weekend.

1. Brim MasterCard will be for all foreign transactions (Except when I need to have insurance - Flights / Car Rentals). 1% return and no foreign exchange fee

2. TD Cash Back Visa Infinite - Due to their promotion. Rebate for the first year fee after 2 statements + 10% return for the first 3 months up to $2000 spending ($200 Free money). I will see if Canadian Tire changes their policy and decide to keep / cancel this by Feb 2021. It has a good 3% return on Grocery / Gas but its insurance is not enough to justify the fees. Only 10 days per out of province. I need at least 15 days to cover the normal 2 weeks family vacations. Rogers was 10 days too but free so paying extra $50 to get coverage wasn't an issue.

3. Rogers World Elite Master Card - I keep this as I used it over $15K this past year (Mostly flight related stuff). Their 1.5% for everything in CAD is still the highest in Credit Cards so I will keep it as long as I have the World Elite card. Will only be used for USD (If I need insurance, Aka flights, Car Rentals), and everything other than Grocey and Gas.

4. Canadian Tire World Elite - Same usage as of now. I also LOVE their Roadside Assistance. I used it once this season when my battery died.

5. MBNA: Same usage as of now. Walmart + Gas except Gas+

If I can find that one perfect CC which gives a good return for Gas, Grocery, Others without charging fees for Foreign Exchange Fees. Maybe Rogers should have made their CC a paid one but keeping the current rates. Meridian Cards might be my next pick.

March 5, 2020
9:17 pm
crediphile
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CIBC Visa Infinite Dividend Cash Back:

With its 4% cash back on grocery and gas plus its travel insurance, it's still worth the $99 annual fee that they charge.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card:

For the 2% on the three spending categories that are not covered by CIBC Visa Infinite Cash and the ability to earn interest on cash back reward.

(To be cancelled after June 2, 2020) Rogers Platinium Card/Capital One/Amex Simply Cash (when they are accepted):

Basically for online shopping and all other purchases that are not grocery or gas and purchases that are not covered by Tangerine. Once the Rogers card is cancelled, will try to use Amex Simply Cash as much as possible otherwise will use CIBC Visa Infinite Cash up to its limit and then Capital One for the rest. Capital One's customer service is the best. It's put me on hold the least and for the shortest time.

March 5, 2020
9:24 pm
crediphile
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Save2Retire@55 said
My cards as of yesterday were:

Canadian Tire World Elite MC: All groceries (Except Walmart) 3% back, Most of my filling at Gas+. $0.05 discount per liter

Rogers World Elite MasterCard: Everything except Grocery / Gas (Foreign / CAD Transactions). 1.75%

MBNA: Walmart / Gas (Except Gas+) 2%

I applied for 2 new cards this weekend.

1. Brim MasterCard will be for all foreign transactions (Except when I need to have insurance - Flights / Car Rentals). 1% return and no foreign exchange fee

2. TD Cash Back Visa Infinite - Due to their promotion. Rebate for the first year fee after 2 statements + 10% return for the first 3 months up to $2000 spending ($200 Free money). I will see if Canadian Tire changes their policy and decide to keep / cancel this by Feb 2021. It has a good 3% return on Grocery / Gas but its insurance is not enough to justify the fees. Only 10 days per out of province. I need at least 15 days to cover the normal 2 weeks family vacations. Rogers was 10 days too but free so paying extra $50 to get coverage wasn't an issue.

3. Rogers World Elite Master Card - I keep this as I used it over $15K this past year (Mostly flight related stuff). Their 1.5% for everything in CAD is still the highest in Credit Cards so I will keep it as long as I have the World Elite card. Will only be used for USD (If I need insurance, Aka flights, Car Rentals), and everything other than Grocey and Gas.

4. Canadian Tire World Elite - Same usage as of now. I also LOVE their Roadside Assistance. I used it once this season when my battery died.

5. MBNA: Same usage as of now. Walmart + Gas except Gas+

If I can find that one perfect CC which gives a good return for Gas, Grocery, Others without charging fees for Foreign Exchange Fees. Maybe Rogers should have made their CC a paid one but keeping the current rates. Meridian Cards might be my next pick.  

MBNA sucks with their tiered cash back reward and their "up to..." limit. Once you apply all the limits, the cash back % is not too much higher than 1% which for all those hassles, you might as well use a 1% cash back card. And they cheat on the categories of stores that you are supposed to get the higher 2% reward on. And for the 2% reward, you will be much better off using the Tangerine card. And you won't get those annoying telemarketing calls peddling their payment protection insurance on you. I used to get those calls daily until I complained to a regional manager and they finally stopped.

March 5, 2020
9:27 pm
crediphile
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Dean said
.
WOW sf-surprised

I can't believe the Number of CC's some of you guys ^ have ... that would drive most people NUTZOID

The wife and I use two (2) 'No-Fee' CCs (and No Others) :

▶ Tangerine Mastercard: 2% Cash-back on groceries, gas, & recurring bills.
▶ Capital One Mastercard: 1% Cash-back on everything else.

We've never had a problem with either of those ^ cards. Month in & month out, both have been working great for us, and for a looong time now.

Keep It Simple Folks❗sf-smile  

That used to be our exact setup and it was great until our family got expanded. With the more mouths that have to be fed, more credit cards have to be obtained. We can no loger keeping it simple anymore. sf-smile

March 5, 2020
9:40 pm
crediphile
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Alexandre said
TD Cash Back Visa Infinite

All family groceries, recurring bills, gasoline. 3% cashback. Redeemable at any time at $25 minimum. My monthly cashback is always above $25, so I made a habit to redeem monthly.
Paying balance by transferring money from TD checking account to TD Visa is instantaneous, which I like very much.
Includes roadside assistance which I count upon (but haven't used yet).
My favorite CC so far. The only annual fee card I ever had.

Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard

Using for everyday purchases except those going through TD Visa, and as a backup when buying groceries. 2% cashback, monthly, automatically redeemed to Tangerine Savings account.
Used to be my favorite CC before I signed for TD Visa.

AmEx Simply Cash

Using for Amazon purchases and Prime membership exclusively. 1.25% cashback is not much and it is redeemed annually, but every time I call AmEx I get friendly customer support.
Once used their extended warranty services and got very impressed: the merchant refused post-warranty repairs covered by AmEx extended warranty, so AmEx just refunded me full price of the product, over $300. Decided to stick with AmEx for that reason.
If non-Amazon transaction appears on that credit card, I'm calling AmEx immediately to report unauthorized CC activity.

RBC No Fee No Rewards Visa

Using it infrequently, for very occasional purchases from web sites I am not familiar with, and places I do not frequent (such as gas stations on my vacations trip to oceanfront hotel in Florida).
I signed for this card, because it has "card locking" feature. I can "lock" the card to disallow transactions when I don't use it, "unlock" when I need to use it. This is done through "Profile and Account Setting" on RBC web site. That helps against CC data theft and abuse, because this CC does not have regular usage pattern a bank can use to track and flag unusual CC charges.

------------------
All these cards report "pending transactions." That helps to recognize and stop unauthorized CC usage early.

If I have to choose two out of those cards, I'll stick with TD Visa and Tangerine Mastercard.

I am only interested in true cashback cards: no "miles," or "points" or what else. Redeemable anytime or, at worst, monthly.

I never sign for CC with annual fees, with exception of TD Cash Back Visa Infinite. It is because, for me specifically, its 3% cashback with annual fee gets me more money back than if I just used no fee 2% Tangerine Mastercard. Just a bit more, yet with these two together I now have more of their "categories" combined getting me at least 2% cashback.  

For the annual fees that you are getting charged on TD Visa Infinite, you could've gotten the CIBC one. It charges lower annual fee but gives you 4% on groceries & gas *knock on wood* plus the travel insurance and the purchase protection. It is the only annual fee card that I carry as well. Tangerine Money-Back is still my favorite cc even with the lower cash back %, it has the largest number of eligible merchants for the 2% cash categories. And I like the fact that you can earn interest on the cash that you earn and not having to be forced to apply to your purchases. Plus it's no annual fee which is always better than an annual fee card as you don't feel as obligated to spend more than what you otherwise want to.

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