The world of credit cards is constantly moving and changing. When looking at no-fee money back credit cards, I’ve always recommended the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard, with it’s 2% cash back on 2 to 3 categories of spending. But Tangerine has released a new challenger that may seem similar, but offers some important perks that make it stand out. This Tangerine credit card review will show you why the new Tangerine World Mastercard is the best offering in no-fee credit cards.
The Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard
I’ve written about the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard and the rewards that it has to offer before, but just to recap, it offers:
- A no-fee cashback credit card
- 2% cashback in 2 spending categories (such as groceries, restaurants, gas, etc.)
- A third 2% cashback category if you setup automatic deposits of your cashback into a Tangerine savings account from the credit card.
- The ability to change spending categories throughout the year (changes taking place after a 90 day waiting period)
- 0.5% cash back on all other purchases made on the card that don’t fit into your selected rewards categories.
For a no-fee cashback credit card, I haven’t seen anything that closely matches those card benefits. As far as perks, the Money-Back Mastercard also offers the following purchase assurance and extended warranties:
- For most new purchases made anywhere in the world using your Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card, you may receive a lifetime maximum of up to $60,000 for the following insurance coverage:
- Purchase Assurance to automatically cover loss, theft or damage on most new insured items for 90 days from the date of purchase
- Extended Warranty which may double the period of repair services to a maximum of one year
The Tangerine World Mastercard
In November 2019, Tangerine launched it’s newest credit card offering, the Tangerine World Mastercard. On first glance, it may look almost the same as the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard. It offers all of the same cashback and purchase assurance/warranty extensions described above for the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard. So why would you switch over to the Tangerine World Mastercard?
Additional Perks for the Tangerine World Mastercard
The main reason you would want to switch to the new Tangerine World Mastercard is the 3 new perks that the card offers that the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard does not.
MOBILE DEVICE INSURANCE!
This is the big one, and the perk that swayed me to make the switch to the Tangerine World Mastercard. You get insurance on cell phones purchased with the Tangerine World Mastercard. You get protection on new cell phones, smartphones or tablets when you charge the full cost to your card, or when you purchase it through a plan and charge all of your wireless bill payments to your card. The insurance covers up to $1,000 if your mobile device is lost, stolen, accidentally damaged or experiences mechanical failure.
In a world where you carry around a $1000 device in your pocket with you wherever you go, this insurance is extremely valuable!
Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
I don’t rent cars very often, but maybe once a year when I travel, I rent a car, and getting additional insurance through your credit card is handy to have. The insurance covers damage and theft protection for your car rental when you rent for up to 31 consecutive days and charge the full cost of your rental to your card.
Mastercard® Airport Experiences Provided by LoungeKey
There is a good chance that if you travel a lot, you might already have a credit card tailored to travel perks. But if you only travel once or twice a year, this is a nice perk to be able to take advantage of. With this program you get access to special lounges, dining offers, retail offers, and spa offers. You can read more about the specifics here: https://airport.mastercard.com/en/program-overview
Why wouldn’t you choose the Tangerine World Mastercard over the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard
If the new Tangerine World Mastercard offers all of the same benefits of the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard plus additional mobile insurance and other perks at the same no-fee price, you might ask why someone would pick the old card over the new one?
The only key incentive that the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard offers over the Tangerine World Mastercard is the entry level to be approved for the card. The minimum personal income level to be able to apply for the Money-Back Mastercard is $12,000 per year, making it accessible to a majority of people with decent credit.
The Tangerine World Mastercard requires a minimum personal income of $60,000 per year (or $100,000 household income) to be eligible to apply. That is a fairly significant jump over the other card, and something to be aware of before applying.
If you’re unsure if you have good enough credit to be approved for a credit card, you can get a free credit report through Borrowell, which I use to track and monitor my own credit.
Recommendation
Both the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard and the Tangerine World Mastercard are great no-fee, cashback credit cards that I would recommend (and have in the past) with great potential for cashback earning and flexibility on how you can receive rewards. If you meet the $60,000 annual income baseline, then there is no reason not to go for the Tangerine World Mastercard when deciding between the two. If you are below the $60,000 annual income, the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard is still a great option for those not wanting to pay any annual fees and earn cash back on all of their purchases.
Click the links below to sign-up for either Tangerine credit card:
We use Costco for a lot of our shopping. Would the Tangerine world MasterCard give us 2% on these purchases?
Unfortunately, Costco isn’t consistent regarding how it’s purchases are classified, and can be different store by store. I’ve heard some accounts of Costco being categorized as “Groceries” but mostly as it being categorized as “Wholesale” which would only be 0.5% cashback as there is no bonus category by Tangerine for Wholesale. You could purchase something small from your local Costco on a Tangerine card to test out how it is categorized, but other than that there is no for-sure answer.
In my case, Costco charges on my Tangerine MC were categorized as 0.5%.
So my current set-up is:
-Tangerine MC for all “Groceries”, “Recurring Bills” and “Hotels” (all at 2%)
-Costco’s Capital One for “Restaurants=3%”, “Gas=2%” and everything else (at 1%)
Looking forward to others’ choice of cards and set-ups.
That looks like a really good setup to maximize cash back between the two cards. Does the Costco Capital One have an annual fee?
no fees