Canada’s No Foreign Transaction Fees Credit Cards

With Chase pulling out of Canada, the beloved Amazon Rewards and Marriott Rewards credit cards went along with it. The Amazon Rewards Visa was my go to credit card while travelling abroad and making purchases in foreign currency. For those that do not know, most credit cards in Canada charge an additional fee of 2.5% when making a purchase in a foreign currency. These Chase credit cards not only provided great reward benefits, but also provided a traveler’s must, no foreign transaction fees! As I search for a new credit card for my year of travelling the world, here’s what I’ve found to be Canada’s No Foreign Transaction Fees Credit Cards.

This post was originally written in April 2018 but with the has been updated as of February 2nd, 2020.

Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card

Finally, a Big 5 Bank issuing a credit card with no foreign transaction fees!

Scotiabank’s latest premium travel credit card, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card converts the foreign transaction amount at the Visa FX rate, which is not much different from the actual live exchange rate.

What else you get:

• Earn 2 Scotia Rewards points on every $1 you spend on eligible grocery stores, dining, entertainment purchases, and daily transit purchases
• Earn 1 Scotia Rewards point on every $1 you spend on all other eligible purchases
• Free supplementary card
• Annual bonus of 10,000 points ($100 value) if you spend minimum $40,000 per year
• Comprehensive travel insurance
• Added coverage such as Purchase Security & Extended Warranty Protection and Price Protection Service
• Since it is a Visa Infinite, It also comes with additional benefits from Visa
• Complimentary Avis Preferred Plus Membership

To apply for the card, you need to have a minimum annual gross personal income of $60,000 or a minimum annual gross household income of $100,000. There is an annual fee of $139 which can be reduced to $69 if you are part of a Scotia Total Equity Plan.

If you like to travel in style and use airport lounges, then this credit card is an amazing deal. The annual fee is offset by the Priority Pass membership and 6 free visits per year! This is valued at around $261 USD ($99 USD for membership + $27 USD per visit). Although the rate that you earn is not the highest compared to other travel rewards credit card, I feel that the lounge access and the extensive insurance benefits makes this a worthy card while travelling abroad.

For their upcoming promo, Scotiabank is offering up to 40,000 Bonus Scotia Rewards points in your first year (which up to $400 towards travel) starting March 2nd, 2020 and ending July 1st, 2020. If you’re interested in the card, I’d be grateful if you considered using The Sum of Travel’s affiliate link to apply, which goes a long way towards supporting the website.

Scotiabank Gold American Express

In 2019, Scotiabank revamped their Scotiabank Gold American Express to add the No Foreign Transaction Fee feature to this card as well. They also updated their design to a modern and sleek black finish. This card is well known for its amazing earn rates:

• 5 Scotia Rewards points per dollar spent on dining and entertainment
• 3 Scotia Rewards points per dollar spent on gas, transit, ridesharing, and streaming services
• 1 Scotia Rewards point per dollar spent on everything else

As an American Express card, there are benefits such as Front Of the Line or American Express Invites. Cardmembers can purchase resale tickets to some of the most in-demand concerts, theatre productions, restaurants, and special events before the general public. The card also provides travel insurance similar to the Passport Visa Infinite. All this is at an annual fee of $120.

However these earn rates only apply to purchases in Canadian Dollars. And as American Express is not as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard, you might have difficulties paying with this card when travelling abroad.

If you’re interested in the card, I’d be grateful if you considered using The Sum of Travel’s affiliate link to apply.

Home Trust Preferred Visa

A very obscure credit card for the non credit card nerds, as not a lot of people have heard of Home Trust. This card has gained a lot of popularity with the closures of the Chase cards.

The details:

• No foreign transaction fees
• 1% cash back with no limits however foreign transactions are not eligible for cash back
• Roadside Assist membership at no extra charge
• Purchase Security Insurance
• Visa Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
• No annual fee
• Only 10 transactions per day
• Not available for residents of Quebec
• Cannot change assigned PIN
• No tap feature

The limit of 10 transactions per day and the ability of not changing the assigned PIN is annoying. Further more the change of no cashback of foreign transactions has made this card unattractive.

Rogers Platinum Mastercard and Fido Mastercard

Canada’s favorite cell phone provider (insert sarcasm) has provided the public with a decent product, a credit card that with no forex fees.

They both offer:

• Earn 3% cash back on purchases in foreign purchases. After the deduction of 2.5% fee, the net cash back is 0.5% cash back
• Earn 2% cash back on Rogers products and services
• Earn 1.25% cash back on all other purchases
• Welcome bonus of $25 in cash back rewards on your first purchase within 3 months
• No annual fee

While the cashback is usually for a statement credit for your Rogers bill, you can call and apply your cashback against your credit card bill (unfortunately only redeemable once per year). The difference between the two cards seems to be the physical design of the card, as the earn rates and benefits are the same.

However, starting June 2, 2020, Rogers has made changes to these cards.

• The 3% cash back on purchases in foreign purchases only applies to U.S. dollars not any other currency.
• all other cash back to 1%

What this essentially means that purchases in any foreign currency (other than US) will incur the 2.5% fee and not have any cash back to offset. Thus making this card useless as a credit card for travelling, unless you only travel to the United States.

Rogers World Elite Mastercard

If you eligible for their minimum income requirement of $80,000 annual personal income or $150,000 annual household income. Then Rogers has another card, the Rogers World Elite Mastercard.

What you get:

• 4% unlimited cash back rewards on all eligible purchases made in a foreign currency. After the deduction of 2.5% fee, the net cash back is 1.5% cash back
• 2% cash back on Rogers products and services
• 1.75% cash back rewards on all other eligible purchases
• No annual fee
• Welcome bonus of $25 in cash back rewards on your first purchase within 3 months
• Since it is a World Elite Mastercard, It also comes with additional benefits from Mastercard
• Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection, Rental Car Collision/Damage, Out-of-Province/Out-of-Country Emergency Medical, Trip Interruption and Trip Cancellation.

This card from Rogers has peaked my interest as the net 1.5% cash back on foreign transactions is the most generous from any card (with or without any annual fees). Along with the added insurance coverage, this card is one of the best option right now.

However, starting June 2, 2020, Rogers has made changes to the card. They reduced

• the foreign currency purchases cash back rewards to 3% and only those in U.S. dollars.
• all other cash back to 1.5%

They have also added a stipulation that accounts must have an annual minimum spend of at least $15,000 in order to maintain the World Elite status. If the annual minimum spend is not met, Rogers can switch the account to another Rogers Bank credit card (Rogers Platinum Mastercard or Fido Mastercard). The only benefit to this change is that they added a Global WiFi package through Boingo.

Like mentioned with the Rogers Platinum Mastercard or Fido Mastercard, the updated changes makes this card useless as a credit card for travelling, unless you only travel to the United States. The annual minimum spend is also hard to justify on keeping this card.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

As one of the largest banks in the world, having branches in 67 countries, it makes sense that they would have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees.

This card offers:

• No foreign currency conversion charge. HSBC uses the MasterCard FX rate for all foreign transactions, which tends to be, on average, closer to the actual exchange rate than Visa’s (although the difference is really small).
• Earn 3% in travel rewards on all eligible travel purchases and 1.5% in travel rewards on all other eligible purchases
• $100 annual travel enhancement credit
• Complimentary membership to Mastercard Airport Experiences Provided by LoungeKey
• Unlimited Wi-Fi through Boingo at over 1 million hotspots worldwide (Value of $39 USD/month)
• 10% discount on select hotel bookings on your card with Expedia and Agoda
• 31-day travel insurance coverage (medical, baggage, trip cancellation and delay, car rental)
• Added coverage such as Purchase Security & Extended Warranty Protection and Price Protection Service
• Since it is a World Elite Mastercard, It also comes with additional benefits from Mastercard
• Annual Fee of $149 (HSBC Premier clients are eligible for a $50 rebate)

Before you get too excited like I was, to apply for the card, you need:

• Have a minimum annual gross personal income of $80,000 or a minimum annual gross household income of $150,000 and
• Be an HSBC Premier client

The first requirement is not too hard, especially if you live at home with your parents (one of many perks!). But becoming a HSBC Premier client requires you to have an active HSBC Premier chequing account and maintain a $100,000 balance or reach a personal HSBC residential mortgage balances of $500,000 or greater.

Unfortunately, like many Canadians, I don’t have $100,000 lying around or a $500,000 mortgage, so I am not eligible to get this credit card.

HSBC World Elite Mastercard

HSBC has added another card to its collection and its the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. This card is essentially the credit card above but without the requirement of having to be a HSBC Premier client. The difference I can see that is the Premier card, the annual fee are eligible for a $50 rebate.

Until March 9th, HSBC is having a promotion on this card, where you can receive up to 40,000 Points ($200 value in travel rewards) and they will waive the $149 annual fee for the first year (offer excludes Quebec residents).

This card is one of the best option right now, and is even more attractive to get with the current promotion.

Brim Financial Mastercards 

This new financial institution is bringing out three new Mastercards to Canada. Their credit cards brings a variety of benefits depending on which one you get. Here are some of them:

Brim Mastercard:

• 1 point for every $1 spent
• No annual fee

Brim World Mastercard:

• 1.5 points for every $1 spent on the first $25,000 spent. Thereafter its 1 point for every $1 spent
• Complimentary LoungeKey membership
• Comprehensive travel insurance including car rental insurance
• Annual fee of $99

Brim World Elite Mastercard:

• 2 points for every $1 spent on the first $25,000 spent. Thereafter its 1 point for every $1 spent
• Complimentary LoungeKey membership
• Comprehensive travel insurance including car rental insurance
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
• Since it is a World Elite Mastercard, It also comes with additional benefits from Mastercard
• Annual fee of $120

All of them provide:

• No foreign currency conversion charge
• Free Global Wi-Fi with access to over 1 million Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots (Value of $39 USD/month)
• Mobile Device Insurance (different coverage depending on the card)
• Event Ticket Protector Insurance
• Extended Warranty and purchase protection
• Installment Pay on purchases over $500

Brim’s reward point is valued at least at 1 point = $0.01. They mention that they will offer redemption multipliers with some merchants for their products or services meaning that 1 point could be worth $0.015, $0.02, $0.03 or more. However, there has been many comments of how unreliable Brim’s operations are – Brim reportedly took months to send credit cards to customers after their applications were approved.

Bonus

While not a credit card, STACK is a prepaid Mastercard to consider to add to your wallet while travelling. Read my review of it here!

Conclusion

After much research, these cards are what I found to be Canada’s No foreign transaction fees credit cards. With the limited options that we have, I have chosen two to be the best of what Canada has to offer. The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card and the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. I rate the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card a bit higher as it provides six airport lounge passes which is great if you do not have the unlimited Priority Pass membership through American Express Platinum or American Express Business Platinum.

Let me know which one you have? or which one you think is best?