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Best Credit Cards for Foreign Purchases (updated March 3, 2018)

It was not long ago that I wrote this post, but already it is due for an update. I am happy to see that the Canadian credit card market has become more competitive on the foreign purchases front. More and more credit cards are either waiving the foreign transaction fee or offering a higher earning ratio on foreign purchases, which are the cards that I will be focusing on today.

Below is a list of credit cards to choose from.

No Annual Fee Cards

Home Trust Preferred Visa

  • No annual fee
  • Earn 1% cash back on all purchases
  • Receive a Roadside Assistance membership
  • No foreign transaction fees

Unfortunately, this is currently not available to Quebec residents.

Rogers Bank Fido MasterCard

  • No annual fee
  • Earn $50 cash back sign up bonus (earn $25 after your first purchase and earn $25 when you register your Fido bill for pre-authorized payments both within the first 3 months)
  • Earn 4% cash back on foreign exchange purchases
  • Earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases

This card would only make sense if you can take advantage of their specific reward options.

Brim MasterCard (coming soon to select provinces only)

  • No annual fee
  • Earn 1 points for every $1 spent
  • Receive a Boingo membership
  • No foreign transaction fees

Annual Fee Cards

Rogers Bank Platinum MasterCard

  • $29 annual fee (waived the first year or waived so long as you have pre-authorized Rogers payments set up)
  • Earn $25 cash back sign up bonus
  • Earn 4% cash back on foreign exchange purchases
  • Earn 1.75% cash back on all purchases

This card would only make sense if you can take advantage of their specific reward options.

Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards Card (Ontario residents only)

  • $99 annual fee (first year fee waived for a limited time)
  • $30 annual fee for a supplementary cardholder
  • Earn 3 points for every $1 of net purchases in foreign currencies
  • Earn 1.5 points for every $1 of net purchases

Brim World MasterCard (coming soon to select provinces only)

  • $99 annual fee
  • $20 annual fee for a supplementary cardholder
  • Earn 1.5 points for every $1 on all purchases
  • Receive a Boingo membership
  • Receive a LoungeKey MasterCard Airport Experiences for unlimited lounge access
  • No foreign transaction fees

Premium Cards

Brim World Elite MasterCard (coming soon to select provinces only)

  • $120 annual fee
  • $25 annual fee for a supplementary cardholder
  • Earn 2 points for every $1 on all purchases
  • Receive a Boingo membership
  • Receive a LoungeKey MasterCard Airport Experiences for unlimited lounge access
  • No foreign transaction fees

HSBC Premier World Elite MasterCard (exclusive to HSBC Premier clients)

  • $149 annual fee
  • No annual fee for supplementary cardholders
  • Receive $100 annual travel credit
  • Earn 6 HSBC points for every $1 spent on travel purchases
  • Earn 3 HSBC points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Receive a Boingo membership
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Requires $100,000 in HSBC deposits/investments or $500,000 HSBC mortgage

HSBC Jade World Elite MasterCard (by invite only)

  • $299 annual fee (fee waived for Jade HSBC Premier member)
  • No annual fee for supplementary cardholders
  • Receive $200 annual travel credit
  • Earn 6 HSBC points for every $1 spent on travel purchases
  • Earn 3 HSBC points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Receive a LoungeKey MasterCard Airport Experiences for unlimited lounge access
  • Receive a Boingo membership
  • Receive 10% discount on select hotel bookings (book directly through the HSBC Expedia and Agoda websites)
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Requires $1,000,000 in deposits/investments

Please let us know, in the comment section below, if we missed any credit cards!

19 Comments

  1. Matthew, you might want to add additional qualification notes regarding Meridian and Brim. Meridian Visa cards are restricted to residents of Ontario. Brim Mastercard is currently only accepting applications for residents of select provinces. Hopefully these impressive credit card options will be available to all Canadians at some point.

    There is a also a rummer circulating about the pending release of the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite with 0 foreign transaction fee.

  2. Just in case anyone is tempted by the slick language by the Rogers and Fido Cards there IS a foreign transaction fee of 2.5% with these cards. So after the Cash Back of 4%, the economic benefit is ONLY 1.5%. Not nearly as hot after the math.

    Keep in mind the opportunity cost of NOT using another card to pay your Rogers/Fido bill. I use my SPG AMEX to pay my bill ($160 x 12 months = 1920 SPG Points….$46 value per year according to PointsHogger calculator) which either beat or almost matches the first year bonus of these cards.

    ***Pro Tip using the Cash and SPG Points option when booking rooms supercharge the value of your SPG points***

    The Home Trust Visa (which I have) in addition to the Car Rental insurance and Roadside Assistance also has access to a Legal Assistance, which is an excellent idea when in a foreign land. Something as simple as a speeding ticket can cause a headache when not appropriately handled, heaven forbid something more serious.

    Considering the simplicity, competitive Cash Back, and added benefits of the Home Trust Visa, and reduced value of the Rogers/Fido card upon further inspection, I think that the Home Trust Card is the winner as solely a travel card (assuming you have a good card(s) for domestic spending).

    1. Please note in my SPG Rogers/Fido bill analysis that once the Cash Back from paying your bill is considered, you’ll at worst break even, or come out ahead by the end of year 2.

  3. Brim World Elite is actually turning out to be something to look forward to. I have applied and got a message that they are in pre launch.

    You get 2 points per dollar for first $25000 and an extra 2 points per dollar on your first $10,000 purchases on amazon.ca!

    They are offering comprehensive insurance benefits including free car rental, emergency medical, flight/baggage delay/cancellation.

    LoungeKey membership is also included. Free Boingo as well.

    Extreme ease in redeeming points. You can redeem as low as $1 and you do not have to call anyone for that.

    The other interesting thing is installments where for 7% fee you can divide the cost of say an airline ticket for up to 24 months without impacting your current credit.

  4. Hi Matt, thanks for this post. Hadn’t heard about Brim, it really does look very interesting.
    Could you please point to where they mention that they’re only coming to select provinces? I wasn’t able to find that on their website. I’ve read reporting that theyre not coming to SK, where I am moving soon, but cannot find this language on their website.

    Also-haven’t seen anyone mention their built in installment payment option, I think it is really attractive!

    1. From various personal sources. Either way, I would not read into it too much until they are official. They are probably still negotiating with each provinces, so they may not even have a full list. Just being cautiously optimistic for now!

  5. This list needs updated to reflect that Rogers MasterCard and Fido MasterCard are being devalued as of May 23, 2018. The base earn for both cards will drop to 1.25%. The earn rate will increase for Rogers products to 2%. The net cash back on foreign purchase will drop from 1.5% (4% earned – 2.5% FX fee) to 0.5% (3% earned – 2.5% FX fee). The annual fee has been eliminated on the Rogers MC as of Mar 13, 2018. Thus the Rogers/Fido cards will be identical as of May 23, 2018 (apart from the artwork). See here for additional info: https://rogersbank.com/en/notification

  6. The new Scotia Passport VISA Infinite should be added to this list. It has no FX Fee! You earn 2 Scotia reward points per $ (50K spend cap) on grocery, dining, entertainment, and daily transit purchases; 1 point per $ for everything else. Includes a Priority Pass membership with six free visits per year. Great insurance package. $139 annual fee.

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