Many people don’t have the time to sit down, shop around and research what the latest opportunities are. With the current pandemic, This is a great time to do a self review and compare what you have to the best options available out there. This series is about tackling this as painless and clear as possible. Today’s post is about Canadian Cashback Apps and Debit/Credit Cards. Some people consider shopping around for cards and rewards to be a tedious process. This post will make the process more straightforward.
What are Cashback Apps?
Cashback apps simply reward a small percent for certain purchases. Cashback rewards have been around for quite some time; primarily integrated in credit cards. These days they can also work by linking the service to your card, taking pictures of your receipts, or even visiting a shopping website through a Cashback website tracking link. Some can stack together and multiply your discount! For example: Rakuten + Cashback card + Multiple linked cashback services + Multiple receipt scanners.
Automatic Cashback (Linked card service)
These are Canadian cash back app that rewards you when you shop online or in-store at one of their partner stores or brands. Pretty straight forward. They have various offers that change.
PayMi
Owned by Cibc.
Has partnerships with popular brands and retailers like Lowe’s, Burger King, SportChek, Gap, CIBC, H&M, Lululemon, Walmart, Amazon, Mark’s, Starbucks and several others.
Drop
Redeem your points for popular gift cards such as Tim Hortons, iTunes, Starbucks, Amazon, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Netflix, Boston Pizza, Earls Restaurant, Cineplex, and more.
Get started here with a $5 bonus
Ampli
RBC owned
Offers from more than 50 top Canadian and global brands across a wide variety of industries. Partners include WestJet, Rexall, Indigo.ca, DoorDash, Knix, H&M and many more.
No fees, Instant Cashback Debit cards
Koho
A reloadable debit card that pays you every time you spend using your KOHO Card (prepaid debit).
Get an additional 1% cashback on ALL purchases!
Stack
The STACK app provides instant rewards and tools to manage your money. A reloadable Mastercard that lets you spend it anywhere worldwide. No fees, no debt, no catch. Also includes automatic cashback on offers and 0 foreign currency exchange fees.
Tangerine
Tangerine was ING-Direct who was bought by Scotiabank.
Tangerine’s free chequing account offers:
No monthly account fees
Access to 3,500 Scotiabank ATMs within Canada and 44,000 worldwide
24/7 phone support
Interest payments of up to 0.10% on your account balance
Free unlimited email money transfers
Your first chequebook is free (50 cheques)
Free unlimited Interac e-Transfers
One fee to note is their $10/year inactive account fee. An account is considered ‘inactive’ if you do not make a single transaction for 12 months.
Try it today! Enter one of these orange codes for an extra (upto $150) cash bonus! Enter one of these Orange keys (Tangerine limits referrals to 3 per key/year): 64099441S1 , 63176751S1, 43616193S1
Honourable Mentions:
Eqbank
Fantastic chequing account with 0 fees all across the board and no inactivity fees! 1.34% interest gained for their chequing account.
Try it here
Manulife Advantage Accounts
Free unlimited transactions (including Interac e-Transfers) with a minimum $1,000 account balance
High-interest rates on your account balance
Free access to over 3,000 ATMs across Canada
A mobile app that supports cheque deposits, e-Transfers, and more
24/7 customer support
Downsides:Inactivity fee of $20 may apply after 2 years of no transactions.
Not many physical ATM locations in Canada.
Checkit out!
Receipt Cashback Apps
These apps require you to scan receipts and will reward you! They can stack together
Checkout 151
You can cash out when your account balance reaches $20 or more. A cheque is sent out to you in the mail.
Get started here!
Caddle
You can cash out when your account balance reaches $20 or more. A cheque is sent out to you in the mail.
Start with a Free dollar!
Proxy Cashbacks
These apps/websites require you to visit their website and then click on the store you want to shop at from their site to apply the cashback reward.
Rakuten
It’s an awesome site that pays you Cash Back when you shop online. With over 750 stores, including Hudson’s Bay, Indigo.ca, Old Navy, and Sephora, you get paid to shop for things you’re already buying.
Plus, get a $5 Cash Bonus when you join today!
Great Canadian Rebates
TopCashBack
TopCashback has partnered with a wide range of stores to offer discounts on your online shopping. When you shop via our partner stores, they will pay a commission for your purchases. Your TopCashback account will be credited and so long as you don't return the goods we will be able to pass this commission onto you as 'cashback', Easy!
Free to join.Get a payout bonus when you get your cashback as a Visa Prepaid card, Amazon.com Gift Card or American Express Rewards Card.Free payouts through ACH and PayPal. Be paid whenever you choose. No minimum payout amount.Stack the savings with cashback and vouchers. Over 4,400 Online Stores.
Invite your friends and earn $10 for each
Sign up here!
Shopping around
These apps provide ease of access to comparatively shop store flyers and promotions in your local area.
Reebee
Flipp
PcPartPicker
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com
Excellent place for all North Americans to find hardware at the cheapest price among the most common tech vendors.
No-fee Credit Cards
Great cards to lower your credit utilization and get some cool perks at zero additional cost!
Triangle World Elite Mastercard
Fees: 0
Benefits of the card include:
No annual fee
Earn 3% in CT Money when you spend on groceries (on up to $12,000 per year). Excludes Costco and Walmart
Earn 4% in CT Money on purchases made at Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, and participating Mark’s and Atmosphere stores
Collect 5-7 cents per litre in CT Money when you buy fuel at Gas+ locations
Free Roadside Assistance (Gold Plan)
Car rental collision/loss damage waiver insurance
Extended warranty
Purchase protection
No-fee and interest financing on qualifying purchases of $200 or more at participating stores
Interest: 20%
BMO CashBack Mastercard
Fees: 0
Offers: Earn 5% cash back for your first 3 months (up to $2,500 in spending).
Earn 3% cash back on groceries, up to $500 spent per month.
Earn 1% cash back on recurring bill payments, up to $500 spent per month.
Earn 0.5% cash back on all other purchases.
Interest: 20%
Tangerine Money-back Credit Card
Benefits of this card include:
No annual fee
Earn 2% cash back on up to 3 categories of spending of your choice including groceries, entertainment, home improvement, gas, recurring bill payments, drugstore purchases, transportation, etc. Money-back categories can be changed to suit your spending habits at any time
Earn 0.5% cash back on other purchases
Cash back is automatically paid out monthly
No limit on the amount of total cash back you can earn
Free 90-day purchase protection
1 year extended warranty
Balance transfer promotion rate of 1.95% for 6 months when transferred within 30 days of activating your card
Requires: 12k Income yearly
Try it today! Enter one of these orange codes for an extra (upto $150) cash bonus! Enter one of these Orange keys (Tangerine limits referrals to 3 per key/year): 64099441S1 , 63176751S1, 43616193S1
Tangerine World Mastercard
Benefits of this card include:
No annual fee
2% unlimited cash back on three categories of spending including grocery, entertainment, gas, restaurants, recurring bill payments, public transportation, hotel/motel, and several others
Earn 0.50% cash back on all other categories
1.95% balance transfer rate for 6 months
Car Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance for 31 consecutive days
Mobile device insurance with coverage up to $1,000
Mastercard Airport Experiences Provided by Loungekey with access to exclusive dining, retail and spa offers at over 1,000 lounges in 400 airports worldwide
Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty
Interest: 20%
Requires: 60k Income Yearly
Try it today! Enter one of these orange codes for an extra (upto $150) cash bonus! Enter one of these Orange keys (Tangerine limits referrals to 3 per key/year): 64099441S1 , 63176751S1, 43616193S1
MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard
Benefits of the card include:
$0 annual fee
2 MBNA points (2%) for every $1 spent on groceries, gas, and restaurant purchases (on up to $5,000 per category)
1 MBNA point (1%) for every $1 in eligible purchases
5,000 introductory bonus points when you make your first eligible purchase within 90 days of account opening
5,000 bonus points if you enroll for e-statements within the first 90 days of opening your account
1 year extended warranty
Car rental insurance coverage
90 days of purchase protection
$1 million in travel accident insurance coverage
Interest:20%
Downside: Cashback is only redeemable for preselected rewards; no direct Fiat/cash payouts.
Home Trust Preferred Visa Card
Benefits offered by this card include:
$0 annual fee
0% foreign currency transaction fees
1% cash back on all purchases with no limit on how much you can earn annually
Free roadside assistance
Visa auto rental collision/loss damage insurance
Purchase protection
Interest:20%
Downsides: The biggest one is with the approval process. It can take between 2-4 weeks before you'll receive an email telling you if you've been approved or not.
Honourable Mentions:
MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard
Fees: $0
Offers: Key Benefits
4 points for every $1 spent on eligible gas, groceries and restaurant purchases during the first 90 days, and 2 points for every $1 spent on eligible gas, groceries and restaurant purchases thereafter ($5,000 annual cap on each category). 1 point for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases.
5,000 bonus points after you make $500 or more in eligible purchases within the first 90 days of your account opening.
5,000 bonus points once enrolled for paperless e-statements within the first 90 days of account opening.
Redeem points for travel, cash back, brand-name merchandise, gift cards from participating retailers, and charitable donations
No annual fee.
Interest:Standard Annual Interest Rates of 19.99% on purchases, 22.99% on balance transfers, and 24.99% on cash advances.
Downside: While there are multiple high value redemption options available, getting cash back is not one of them. Its value is half that of redeeming for travel, so if you're looking for cash back from a credit card, you may want to look elsewhere.
American Express Cobalt
Fees: $120/year
Offers:Key Benefits
The highest earn rate on both groceries and restaurants of any card in Canada.
Earn 5x the points on eligible eats and drinks in Canada, including groceries and food delivery.
Earn 2 points for every $1 spent on eligible gas, travel and transit purchases.
Earn 1 point for every other $1 spent.
$10 monthly fee, instead of an annual fee.
Earn up to 30,000 rewards points as a welcome bonus in the first year when you spend $500 every month. That's worth $300 in statement credits when redeemed towards travel purchases, or $225 in Amex prepaid cards.
Highest reward value is achieved by redeeming for flights using the Fixed Points Travel Program.
You can also redeem your points for ANY purchase you make to the card instantly, including essentials like groceries.
Cobalt Cardmembers receive regular Perks such as bonus reward offers and access to great events.
Access Front Of The Line® Presale & Reserved Tickets to some of your favourite concerts and theatre performances and special offers and events curated for Cardmembers with American Express® Experiences.
Downside: Annual fee
BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
Fees: $120/year
Offers:Key benefits
Get great World Elite perks and earn cash back rewards on all your purchases.
Earn 10% cash back on up to $2,600 spent in the first 3 months, and the first year free.
Earn more cash back on the categories that mean the most:
5% on groceries
4% on transit including ride sharing, taxis, and public transportation
3% on gas and electric vehicle charging
2% on recurring bill payments like your monthly phone bill or favourite streaming service, and
1% unlimited cashback on all other purchases
Get complimentary roadside assistance which includes battery boosts, flat-tire change, lockout service and towing (a $69/year value).
Complimentary membership in Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey.
Travel worry-free knowing you are covered by BMO’s extensive travel insurance which includes 8 days of emergency medical, personal effects insurance, hotel burglary, and 8 other types of travel coverage.
Access to BMO Concierge Service for assistance with events, reservations, gift buying, scheduling activities, and more.
Access over 1 million Wi-Fi hotspots around the world - all at no added cost, and no added fees or roaming charges
Unlock Mastercard Travel Rewards cashback offers when you travel and shop outside of Canada.
Get valuable benefits and offers for digital everyday services from a variety of on-demand apps and subscription services.
Interest: 20.99%
Downside: Annual fee
CIBC Dividend Infinite
Earn 4% cash back on gas and groceries, and up to 2% on everything else.
Interest rate
19.99% for purchases
Annual rate: $120/year
Still confused on cards and savings? Leave a comment if you have any questions. Let us know what you think!