Rewards Options with the Rogers Bank Platinum MasterCard

The Rogers Bank Platinum MasterCard has been one of the better credit cards in the Canadian credit card market. They recently added some new valuable reward redemption options.

PER THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW- I would say that this card only makes sense if you are an existing Rogers, Fido or Chatr client to take full advantage of all its benefits, which I am. That’s why I personally have this card. 

Highlights

First off, let’s recap the highlights of the credit card:

  • $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 on foreign exchange purchases
  • Earn 1.75% cash back on all purchases

Reward Options

Note that there is a minimum of $20 redemption before you can cash out. The alternative is to contact Rogers Bank once per year by December to receive a statement credit in the January bill.

Rogers

  • Redeem cash back rewards against a Rogers bill, as well as purchases made in a Rogers retail location or online.

Fido

  • Apply cash back rewards towards monthly Fido bill, as well as purchases made in a Fido store or online.

Chatr

  • Redeem cassh back rewards towards Chatr pre-paid services.

The Shopping Channel

Texture

  • Redeem cash back rewards for a Texture online magazine subscription (over 150 magazines) to choose from.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • Redeem for single game tickets, Flex Packs, Seasons Tickets, concessions from Rogers Centre, as well as merchandise from the Jays Shop retail locations and online.

Thoughts on the Rewards

Basically, the more reward options, the more valuable the rewards become. I personally have this credit card and very much enjoy having the option to use it whenever it makes sense. I have set up my credit card for pre-authorized Rogers payments and I primarily use this credit card on foreign purchases.

28 Comments

  1. Note that you can also use the Fido and Rogers MasterCards as a statement credit if you do not mind waiting until the end of the year. If you are only using the card for foreign currency spend, the Fido card carries no annual fee and offers the same benefits as the Rogers card.

    From Legal:
    You may also redeem your Rewards in the form of an annual statement credit to your Account
    by calling Rogers Bank at 1 855 775-2265. You must request an annual statement credit for
    each year that you wish to receive it by December 1st of that year. Annual statement credits will
    be awarded in January of the following year and the amount credited will be the total dollar
    value of the balance of your Fido Rewards Account as of the date the credit is issued to your
    Account.

    https://www.rogersbank.com/legaldocs/en/Fido_MC_Rewards_Terms_and_Conditions.en.pdf

  2. It may be better to get the Fido MasterCard instead, which is no fee and earn 1.5% in Canada and 4% in foreign currencies, if you mainly use the card for foreign transactions. That way, you don’t have to put your Rogers bill on this card earning 1.75% when the Tangerine MasterCard can give 2% if recurring payments are selected. Or, other 2% cash back cards can be used, such as the Capital One Travel Aspire World Elite (2% everything), mbna Rewards World Elite (2% everything), or the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite (2% recurring bills).

    The Fido MasterCard has the same redemption options as the Rogers MasterCard, including the statement credit available once a year by calling in.

    1. yup.. I came to the same conclusion. I am a Rogers customer (no recurring payment) and I used Fido Mastercard for foreign purchases only, and this card beats Rogers MC due to no annual fee.

  3. Is the 4% on foreign currency charges better than the previous no foreign currency conversion fee that was originally offered? That was one of the main reasons I took this card, though also having Rogers cable/internet it was practical with those related benefits.

    1. No, it is not. The Rogers card used to offer 1.75% cash back on foreign currency transactions, along with a 2.5% foreign currency fee waiver, for a total of 4.25%.

      The current 4% on foreign currencies is essentially 1.5% cash back after subtracting the 2.5% foreign currency fee.

  4. Nice !
    I thought you could only use the rewards towards Rogers/Fido products.

    No annual fees + 1.5% on everything + 4% on foreign.
    Cash-back

    That’s excellent for a MasterCard !

  5. You’re ignoring the fact that you MUST be a Rogers/Fido/Chatr customer in order for the cashback to make sense. Having the liberty to switch between carriers is important, since there are always promotions in different companies. So you’re actually losing something by having this card. It’s too restrictive.

  6. @Jean-Francois
    Because if you’re not, then your other options for redemption are:
    – TSC, which has pretty terrible value (you can get the same merchandise elsewhere for cheaper).
    – Texture, which, let’s be real, if you’re the type pf person who reads magazines, than you’re not the type of person that looks for value and discounts.
    – Blue Jays, which: A. You have to be some kind of a fan in order to enjoy it, or you just use it to buy a gift; and B. You can usually get tickets and merchandise for cheaper elsewhere. Not to mention the fact that you have to live in/visit Toronto in order to go to a game.
    The minimum of $20 for redemption is very restrictive as well.

  7. Agreed but you can have it given in cash-back on your credit card statement. Wish is as good as cash. Am I missing something ?

  8. @James

    You can call in once per year to redeem for statement credit, which is basically cash back. (See Shawni’s comment or even in the blog post, “The alternative is to contact Rogers Bank once per year by December to receive a statement credit in the January bill.”)

  9. Yeah I missed that part but I’m still positive that there are way better options out there and in order to get the best value of cashback/rewards, you gotta have more than one card. Anyway, I consider these better than the Rogers card: AMEX Simply Cash (5% back for 6 months for gas/groceries/restaurants – use only there), Tangerine MC (2% on categories – use only there), CapitalOne Aspire Travel WE (2%), PCF WE MC (3% in some retailers – use only there), mbna Rewards WE (2%), BMO Rewards WE (2%). As far as I know, all of them except for the AMEX SimplyCash let you redeem the cashback/rewards every statement, rather than one-time annually. Yes, some have an annual fee (but also a nice welcome bonus and sometimes extra benefits and/or FYF) but I consider this one to have an annual fee as well because I would never commit to be a Rogers customer (and absolutely wouldn’t auto-pay with them), especially not for a 1.75% back which can only be redeemed once a year (I want my money and I want it now) only after a call for the customer service line. Too many asterisks.
    Also, I know that with some of the cards above you have to redeem for travel in order to get the best value, but it’s money that I (and I’d assume most others) would spend anyway and it’s not in inflated prices.
    The most I’d do is maybe, signup for this card for a year in order to improve my credit score (lower the revolving credit utilization), in which case the $25 would be nice, but I’d apply for the ones with better bonuses first.

  10. @James

    I agree that there are other options, but everyone’s situation is different. Some people may not make enough to qualify for World Elite or Visa Infinite cards, while others may want one with no annual fee.

    However, the Fido MasterCard (with no annual fee, 1.5% cash back in Canada and 4% cash back for foreign transactions) is still the best flat-rate (no categories) no annual fee cash back card, higher than the AMEX Simply Cash at 1.25% which has worse acceptance in Canada than MasterCard. I believe the Fido MasterCard was what Jean-Francois was referring to in his comment.

    I do agree with you on having multiple cards, I personally have both the Fido MasterCard and the Tangerine MC (I make less than World Elite or Visa Infinite requirements), which gives me 1.5% cash back on general non-categorical spending, 2% in three categories of my choice (currently gas/grocery/recurring), and 4% in foreign transactions. I’m also not interested in short-term promotions such as the 5% for 6 months you mentioned.

  11. The Fido Mastercard is the only card (in Canada) that actually provides you with a solid return with non-CAD purchases (ie: Foreign Spend). Since the Amazon card was discontinued (which incidentally only offered a 1% Amazon cashback), and the Marriott rewards card not having an exceptional return (1 Marriott point per dollar spend and any decent hotel requiring 20,000 points), getting 1.5% back on foreign spend is best in class, at least for Canada. If only premium cards such as an Amex Platinum or Visa Privilege would waive that pesky 2.5% fee for foreign spend, we would truly have a great card. In the meantime, we are stuck with a low-end, no value added card called the Fido card, which at least gets us 1.5% back.

    1. …and we’d have to decide between putting foreign currency travel (i.e. car rental) spend on the Fido card without insurance coverages or other cards with insurance coverage but a 2.5% fee.

        1. Yes it does, but it doesn’t have an exceptional return as you stated, and it also comes with an annual fee… ah the dilemma…

          …first world problems….

          1. Hi, perhaps try for home trust preferred visa, which imho may have more advantage/utility for your unplanned “world problems” like insurance protections, purchase returns, and foreign ATM cash needs. Unlike rogers MC, it has “coverages” for car rental CDW, purchase security & basic roadside assist plus 1% flat cashback and truly no annual fees & no FX fees saving you those costs upfront all the time, e.g., no strings tying you to rogers PAP nor loaning your money in fees first to later award back mostly (since no rewards on foreign cash advances & returns, rogers/fido MC keeps those FX fees) every time spending threshold allow buying their stuff and/or must ASK yearly for credit next year.
            OTOH, for those lucky to be problem free or travel comfortably already to chase rogers/fido’s ONE benefit for hUge BONUS REWARDS minus FX fees and/or hate that CONveniences for PIN change and RFID-NFC paywave/app are lacking today then you’ll probably not get it nor like home trust.

  12. I am confused about setting the “My Preferred Minimum Purchase Amount”. Let’s say, if I set it at $20, and I currently have $200 of unredeemed available cash back. If my next purchase is $22, does all of $200 get applied to pay for the $22 purchase and I’ll have no unredeemed cash back left? If that is not the case, and after redeeming $22, I’ll still have $198 cash back left for future use, why would anyone set the “preferred Minimum Purchase Amount” higher than $20?

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