• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Let's Talk About Money

A Canadian personal finance blog for DIY investors

  • Home
  • Guides and Articles
    • TD e-Series Guides
      • TD e-Series Funds – what are they, how do I buy them, and how much do they cost?
      • Step by step: How to buy TD e-Series Index Funds through TD Mutual Fund accounts
      • Step by step: How to re-balance your TD e-Series portfolio
      • Step by step: How to buy TD e-Series Index Funds through TD Direct Investment
      • Moving from TD Mutual Funds to TD Direct Investment
      • TD e-Series Excel – Track your Portfolio
    • Tangerine Guides
      • Switch to Tangerine: Why I’m leaving my physical bank behind
      • Step-by-step: How to switch to Tangerine (Part 1)
      • Step-by-step: How to switch to Tangerine (Part 2)
    • Articles
      • Let’s Talk About: Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies
      • Compare Tangerine MasterCard to Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite
      • The investment return on waiving bank fees
      • ‘High’ Interest Savings Account – Don’t be fooled by the name
      • Rent or Buy: A home as an investment
      • How to save when your mortgage payments go down
      • CMHC Mortgage Insurance Premium Increase: What will it really cost you?
  • My portfolio
    • 2018
      • January/February 2018 – Investment portfolio growth
    • 2017
      • October / November / December 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • August/September 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • June/July 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • May 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • April 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • March 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • February 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
      • January 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
    • 2016
      • December 2016 – Investment portfolio growth
      • November 2016 – Investment portfolio growth
    • Getting into investing: My starting point
  • Finance Book Reviews
    • Book Review: Millionaire Teacher
  • About

Let's Talk About Money / September 23, 2017

Compare Tangerine MasterCard to Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite

Compare Tangerine Mastercard to Scotia Momentum Visa - Banner
Over the last year or so, I’ve used my Tangerine MasterCard as my main method of purchase. I put every purchase on my credit card, pay it off completely every month, and reap the rewards that the credit card offers me. But due to Tangerine changes, it was time to make a switch to a new card. Let’s look at the data and compare Tangerine MasterCard to Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite.

Tangerine MasterCard Rewards

When I signed up for the no fee Tangerine MasterCard more than a year ago, the rewards worked as follows:

  • 2% rebate on any 2 spending categories of my choosing (Groceries, Furniture, Restaurants, Hotel-Motel, Gas, Recurring Bills, Drug Store, Home Improvement, Entertainment, Parking)
  • An additional 2% rebate category for having a Tangerine savings account
  • 1% rebate on all other purchases

These were great rewards for a no fee credit card.  Over the last 12 months I made over $300 in rebates! All for just putting all purchases on my credit card.

What changed?

Tangerine made what seemed to be a minor switch a few months ago, but had a major impact on my bottom line. Tangerine lowered their rebates on the ‘all other purchases’ category from 1% to 0.5%. This may not seem like much, but a lot of purchases full under this category.

Other options

After they made this switch, I started looking around for other credit card options. Between finance boards, and the /r/PersonalFinanceCanada subreddit, it seemed that the Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card was most often recommended. It offers the following rewards:

  • 4% on gas and grocery purchases
  • 2% on drug store and recurring bill payments
  • 1% on all other purchases

Another difference for this card is that it has a $99 annual fee, which is waived during the first year.

Let’s compare Tangerine MasterCard to Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite rewards

Both of these cards have pretty good rewards, and between the no fee Tangerine MasterCard and the $99 annual fee for the Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card, it’s hard to tell which one would be best for me. Luckily, I have cold hard data from the past year of using my Tangerine MasterCard.

Rewards Data - Compare Tangerine MasterCard to Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite

Using my last year of spending habits, I can predict how much I will receive in rewards in the upcoming year. As you can see above, I will make quite a bit more using the Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite, in my first year. $156 more! And in my second year, when the $99 annual fee kicks in for my Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite, I’ll still make an additional $57 in rewards!

Make the switch

After looking at these numbers, I decided to make the switch! I applied and received my new Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite. If I really wanted to maximize my rewards, I would keep using my no fee Tangerine MasterCard for all Restaurant, Parking, and Home Improvement purchases – but I prefer to keep it simple and use the one card for everything.

  • Share on FB
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Google+
  • Share on Pinterest

Filed Under: Articles, Banking, Featured

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow me

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr

Get updates!

Sign up to receive article updates and releases right to your inbox!

I won't spam you or use your email for any other purpose besides sending you blog updates.

Find an article

Recent Posts

  • TD e-Series Excel – Track your Portfolio
  • January/February 2018 – Investment portfolio growth
  • Let’s Talk About: Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies
  • October/November/December 2017 – Investment portfolio growth
  • August/September 2017 – Investment portfolio growth

Categories

  • 2016 (2)
  • 2017 (8)
  • 2018 (1)
  • Articles (8)
  • Banking (7)
  • Cryptocurrency (2)
  • Featured (20)
  • Finance Book Reviews (1)
  • Guides (6)
  • Investment (20)
  • Mortgages (2)
  • Portfolio Update (12)
  • Tangerine Guides (2)
  • TD e-Series Guides (6)

Footer

Contact

Questions or comments? Contact me at info@letstalkaboutmoney.ca

Connect with me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Archive

  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016

Additional info

  • Contact
  • Advertising
  • Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

© 2018 · Let's Talk About Money · info@letstalkaboutmoney.ca