Have you ever gone shopping somewhere and been stopped by a smiling customer service rep trying to entice you into getting a shiny new branded credit card?
You’re not alone, statistically, some of you may have even caved. I know I did… though in my case I was looking to get a store credit card. Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t all bad, heck, some of them are pretty fantastic.
Today I want to help you cut through the marketing claptrap and find out what are the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of store credit cards in Canada. This last category isn’t just a fun Western allusion; it’s for cards that are a little weird but may have niche use cases but only if you’re committed.
The Good Store Credit Cards in Canada
First up are our good cards, the cowboys in a white hat that ride into your wallet to make your life easier. Everything in here is a useful addition to your wallet and is well worth considering.
Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard
The Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard is one of, if not the, greatest keeper credit cards in Canada. We’ve written about this card a lot at Frugal Flyer before because it’s one of the best cards to enhance your daily life as a Canadian.
Yes, it does earn 4% in Canadian Tire Money at its namesake stores and affiliated retailers like Sportchek and Mark’s Work Wearhouse, but that’s just the beginning.
The Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard includes valuable benefits such as complimentary gold membership to the Canadian Tire roadside assistance program.
Check out our Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard review for more details.
0 CT Money
$0
$0+
$0
Yes
–
The card has no annual fee, and for $0 a year, Canadian Tire bundles the card with its Gold roadside assistance package, which includes five service calls per year, and tows of up to 200km. That’s worth the “price” of admission on its own if you have a vehicle.
But that’s not all. The card also comes with the Canadian Tire Bill Pay feature, giving you both cash flow flexibility and the opportunity to earn Canadian Tire Money on all sorts of everyday expenses, ranging from hydro bills to university tuition. And in case you need flexible payments, you can also finance your purchases from the entire Canadian Tire store portfolio for up to 24 months interest-free.
Of course, not everyone can qualify for the $80,000 minimum personal income (or $150,000 household income) necessary for the World Elite version. If that’s the case, then the regular version of this card is still a good option.
MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard
How much do you shop at Amazon? Don’t lie, I won’t judge you: we all know that no matter how much lip-service people pay to fearing the future dominion of the Dark Lord Bezos, they shop at Amazon a lot. I’m a big fan not just of their products but also of some of their subscription services like Prime Video (bundled with my Prime membership) and Audible.
It may be an enormous, monolithic company, but it fills a need many of us have, especially parents on the go, have: Amazon gets just about anything you may need at your door when you need it there.
Therefore, the MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard is a great addition to your wallet so long as you’re a Prime member. This is because then it earns 2.5% cashback on all Amazon and Whole Foods purchases, as well as 2.5% back on foreign currency transactions. This latter part earn rate offsets the 2.5% foreign transaction charges it unfortunately dings you with.
The MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard offers Prime Members 2.5% in Amazon.ca Rewards on purchases on Amazon.ca and at Whole Foods Market Stores.
Check out our MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard review for more details.
15,000 Amazon.ca Rewards points
$3,000
$150+
$0
Yes
–
However, the welcome bonus on this product isn’t fantastic, usually hovering at an Amazon gift card valued at between $50 and $100. It also isn’t worth it if you don’t intend on shopping at Amazon a lot; with no annual fee, though, I’d argue it’s one that most households will get value out of because of its extended Amazon warranty, which protects against theft (porch piracy being a concern in many major metropolitan areas).
The Bad Store Credit Cards in Canada
Next up, we have the Bad cards, the scoundrels you don’t want to let near your wallet. I wouldn’t ever hold one of these. For my money, these are everything wrong with store credit cards, as they exist to use faith in the parent brand to take advantage of customers who don’t know any better and get them to spend money on subpar products.
Tims® Mastercard
I wish I could like the Tims Mastercard, just like I wish I could like Tim Horton’s.
The Tims Mastercard® is a no annual fee card that offers Tims Rewards points everywhere you shop – with up to 5 points per dollar on everyday essentials.
20 Tims Digital Gift Card
$0
$20+
$0
Yes
–
This card is just not good, and we’ve done the math. Since the card earns 1 Tim’s Reward point per $2 spent as a baseline, you might be earning something like 15% of a single penny per dollar spent… which can only be redeemed at Tim Horton’s. I understand their donuts are legendary, but this is an earn rate that is worse than every other credit card on the market.
I think the thing about this that makes the card unacceptable is the fact that it only earns 5x on Tim Horton’s purchases on its lonesome. You can earn up to 15x the Tim Rewards points… by scanning the Tim Rewards app. People without this credit card still get 10x at Tim Horton’s just by scanning the app.
Why would you have this instead of the American Express Cobalt Card, now that Timmie’s has been taking Amex for a decade plus?
Staples/The Brick/Purchase Financing Credit Cards
A variety of Canadian retailers, including Staples, Rona, and The Brick, offer flexible financing on credit cards via their issuer, Flexiti.
You’ll notice something: these are all retailers selling larger one-time capital purchases that can be very expensive, such as furniture, computers, or home improvement supplies. The idea behind the Flexiti card is decent enough: they want to give you a chance to finance your purchase at 0% over 12-36 months, so long as you hold the card.
However, they will often charge you an “admin fee” which is really just interest disguised as a nonsensical junk fee. It’s fine to charge interest; just don’t obfuscate it behind nice-sounding terms.
The reason I think these fall into the “bad” rather than the “ugly” category is simple: this didn’t need to be a credit card. Unlike the Canadian Tire World Elite card, which has plenty of utility outside of its financing, the only purpose for this product to exist is the financing option.
In my opinion, this means the issuer is hoping you spend on your new Flexiti card, which will incur automatically carrying a balance until such a time as you pay off the principal of the “interest-free” mattress you bought. You’ll be dinged with a complex schedule of interest fees, and if you miss a payment, things will get really ugly.
Steer clear of this business model as it doesn’t feel honest to the consumer.
Walmart Rewards Mastercard
The last of the “Bad” cards is for frequent shoppers at Walmart. The Walmart World Mastercard and its non-World relative just received big updates to the earning structure.
While the welcome bonus remains a paltry $25 on signup, the earn rates have been boosted to 3% on all Walmart purchases, including online, and 1% everywhere else.
Is this as good as the Rogers Red Mastercard? If – and only if – you shop at Walmart a lot. Redemptions are also limited to increments of $5 and can only be used at Walmart anyway, so that makes redemption a bit more annoying. I’d definitely argue that this redemption structure puts it into the “bad” category and is not worth your time when competitors exist.
The lack of flexibility kills it, even if the product has improved a little in recent times.
The Ugly Store Credit Cards in Canada
Finally, we come to the category of the “Ugly” cards. These are what I’d consider as being useful… but only if you can use them for very specific purposes.
CIBC Costco Mastercards
First up, we have the CIBC Costco Mastercard and the CIBC Costco World Mastercard. Both of these cards have the same earn rates: 3% cashback on restaurants and Costco gas, 2% on other gas stations and Costco.ca, and 1% on everything else (including Costco Wholesale). The only difference is that the latter product has a few more insurances.
The CIBC Costco World Mastercard earns cash back and gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 3% cash back at restaurants and Costco gas stations.
Check out our CIBC Costco World Mastercard review for more details.
$0 cash back
$0
$0+
$0
Yes
–
The cards also double as your membership card, so it makes the ever-crowded Costco checkout line that much simpler.
So, should you get this card if you shop at Costco a lot? I’d argue that if you’re buying groceries and furniture at the normal Costco Wholesale stores, you are better served with something like the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard and its 1.5-3% cashback, with Rogers customers getting the better deal.
However, this is the Ugly category. The Costco Mastercard is better if you aren’t a Rogers customer, and you intend to spend a lot at restaurants and at Costco gas stations. So if you have a truck and like to eat out a lot, this is the product for you. It’s also better if you have a lot of online purchases, especially on goods like Costco’s furniture, as you can then enjoy the warranties provided by the CIBC cards.
PC World Elite Mastercards
Alright, so these two credit cards are only for those who have to use the PC Optimum program. There are a lot of parts of Canada where only Loblaws-affiliated brands are available for things like grocery or pharmacy, and I don’t think there’s much value in these products unless you’re in a situation where you have to shop at them a lot.
That being said, I’d recommend the no-fee PC Financial World Elite Mastercard over the PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard unless you really need the elevated welcome bonus, earning rates, and free grocery delivery service. This is because the annual fee is the same price as PC Insiders, and PC Insiders just provides a service (grocery delivery) that Doordash and Uber Eats provide for free (or at least with regular enough discounting to their fees to render them effectively free).
The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard earns 3% back at Optimum-affiliated grocery stores and 4.5% back at Shoppers Drug Mart, but comes with only a welcome bonus of 20,000 PC Optimum Points.
The President’s Choice Financial World Elite Mastercard earns 30x PC Optimum points at Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, and more.
20,000 PC Optimum points
$0
$20+
$0
Yes
–
The PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard boasts an annual fee of $120, usually waived in the first year as part of the welcome offer, plus 20,000 PC Optimum Points as a welcome bonus and free PC Insiders membership.
The PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard earns 40 PC Optimum points per dollar spent at Loblaws grocery stores and offers cardholders a complimentary PC Express Pass for free grocery delivery and pickup.
Check out our PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard review for more details.
20,000 PC Optimum points
$6,000
$20+
$120 (FYF)
Yes
–
The Insiders version also has a slightly elevated earn rate: 5% back at Shopper’s and 4% on groceries. Is it worth the hike in annual fee? That’s for you to decide.
Conclusion
To wrap up, we hope that we’ve helped you navigate the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Canadian store credit card scene. Whether one of these belongs in your wallet is up to you; we hope that we’ve helped demystify the sales pitch you’re likely to receive when shopping at one of the many retailers above.
Remember: a company wouldn’t encourage you to get a credit card unless they thought they’d make money off of it. So while there are some products that leave a bit to be desired, we always have the Canadian Tire family of cards providing value to regular people.
Kirin Tsang
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