While we love earning miles and points to fund our travels, cash back credit cards are popular with many Canadians because they are easy to understand and easy to redeem. If you are interested in getting started with credit card rewards or further optimizing your personal finance strategy, a cash back credit card can be a great addition to your wallet.
Two cards that are often mentioned when it comes to strong cash back earning credit cards are the Tangerine Money-Back credit card and the Rogers Red Mastercard. These cards both offer no annual fees and similar earning rates, but with a few differences when it comes to benefits and redeeming cash back.
Let’s take a look at our comparison of the Tangerine Money-Back credit card vs. the Rogers Red Mastercard to find out which one is best for you.
Card Overviews
The core features of any credit card are the welcome bonus, earning rates, annual fee, and income requirements.
Welcome Bonuses
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card offers a welcome bonus of $100 cash back, earned through the following structure:
- Earn 10% back on up to $1,000 in everyday purchases made within your first 2 months ($100 value)
- Plus: You can earn an additional $0 FlyerFunds Rebate on the Tangerine Money-Back credit card when you apply through Frugal Flyer Rebates!
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card earns cash back and allows cardholders to choose three accelerated spending categories to increase their cash back earnings.
Check out our Tangerine Money-Back credit card review for more details.
$100 cash back
$1,000
$100+
$0
Yes
Apr 30, 2025
The Rogers Red Mastercard offers a welcome bonus of $60 cash back, earned through the following structure:
- Earn $60 cash back when you make a mobile wallet purchase within the first 90 days and 6 automatic payments within the first 8 months for your Rogers, Fido or Shaw postpaid service.
- Plus: You can earn an additional $50 FlyerFunds Rebate on the Rogers Red Mastercard when you apply through Frugal Flyer Rebates!
With the Rogers Red Mastercard, Rogers, Fido and Shaw postpaid customers can earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases and get a 1.5x redemption bonus on Rogers, Fido and Shaw purchases – a 3% cash back value.
Check out our Rogers Red Mastercard review for more details.
$60 cash back
$0
$60+
$0
Yes
–
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card wins out in the welcome bonus category, with a more straightforward to earn and higher-value welcome bonus. The slight downfall is that it does require spending $1,000 in the first two months to earn the bonus, whereas the Rogers Red Mastercard does not have any minimum spending requirements.
Earning Rates
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card earns a maximum of 2% cash back:
- 2% cash back on two money-back categories of your choice.
- Unlock a third money-back category when you have your earned cash back deposited automatically into a Tangerine Savings Account.
- 0.5% cash back on all other purchases.
Tangerine Money-Back credit card holders can select two money-back categories from the following options: grocery, furniture, restaurants, hotel/motel, gas, recurring bill payments, drug store, home improvement, entertainment, and public transport/parking. These categories will earn 2% and can be changed whenever desired, however, it will take one billing cycle for the new money-back category to take effect.
On the other hand, the Rogers Red Mastercard also earns a maximum of 2% cash back:
- 2% cash back on all eligible purchases for Rogers, Fido and Shaw postpaid customers.
- 2% cash back on all purchases made in US dollars.
- The card does charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fees so any purchases made in US dollars would net out at -0.5%.
- 1% cash back on all other purchases.
The earning rates on both cards are excellent, but the Rogers Red Mastercard is the standout winner for those cardholders who are Rogers, Fido, or Shaw customers. If you are spending with the Rogers Red Mastercard, you don’t need to even worry about what spending category your purchase will fall into since you will earn 2% cash back regardless. This makes the card even more flexible than the Tangerine Money-Back credit card.
If you aren’t a Rogers, Fido, or Shaw customer, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card is the better option since you can select the bonus categories that you spend most in to earn 2% back on most of your purchases.
Annual Fees
Both the Tangerine Money-Back credit card and the Rogers Red Mastercard have no annual fees, making them a great low-commitment option for the consumer who wants to add a powerful cash back credit card to their wallet without worrying about annual fees.
Coincidentally, both of these cards are considered to be two of the best credit cards with no annual fees in Canada.
Income Requirements
The minimum income requirements for both of these cards are very low making them accessible to all Canadians.
The Rogers Red Mastercard has no stated minimum income requirements, whereas the Tangerine Money-Back credit card has a minimum annual personal income or household income requirement of only $12,000.
These are two of the best credit cards with low income requirements for Canadians, so if you are looking for a good credit card but don’t meet the higher income requirements of other cards, either of these is an excellent choice to add to your wallet.
Benefits & Insurance Coverages
Between these two credit cards there are minimal benefits and insurance coverages available, which isn’t surprising considering they both have no annual fees.
Five Free “Roam Like Home” Days
The Rogers Red Mastercard offers the only true benefit between these two credit cards. Rogers Red Mastercard users will receive five free “Roam Like Home” days every calendar year, which allows users to access their Rogers cellular plan when traveling to the U.S. or internationally at no additional charge.
Customers who exceed the free five days will be charged at a rate of $12/day for U.S. travel and $15/day for international travel. They will also only be billed a maximum of 20 days per billing cycle when roaming.
You can check to see if the location you are traveling to is eligible for “Roam Like Home” here. If you are looking for a longer-term and more budget-friendly solution for cellular service when traveling, consider looking into eSims or Google Fi.
Insurance Coverages
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card offers a few insurance coverages, while the Rogers Red Mastercard does not provide any insurance coverages.
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card offers the following insurance coverages:
- Purchase assurance
- If a purchase made on the card is lost, damaged or stolen in the first 90 days, purchase assurance will cover you for any repairs or a replacement.
- Extended warranty insurance
- Your manufacturer’s warranty is automatically doubled (up to one additional year) with this benefit for most items purchased with your credit card.
Refer to the benefits package included with the credit card to understand the terms and conditions of both insurance coverages.
Redeeming Cash Back
Both the Tangerine Money-Back credit card and Rogers Red Mastercard earn cash back on all purchases, however, the cash back earned can be redeemed at different times and for different credits.
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card
Cash back that is earned on the Tangerine Money-Back credit card is automatically paid monthly, regardless of the amount of cash back earned. There is no action that cardholders need to take to receive their cash back.
Cash back will be paid either as a statement credit towards the cardholder’s Tangerine Money-Back credit card, or it can be deposited to a Tangerine Savings account, depending on the cardholder’s choice.
Rogers Red Mastercard
Cash back on the Rogers Red Mastercard can be redeemed once a minimum balance of $10 cash back has been earned.
The Rogers Red Mastercard offers exceptional value when redeeming cash back as Rogers, Fido and Shaw postpaid customers can get a 1.5x redemption bonus on Rogers, Fido and Shaw purchases. This means that cardholders will effectively earn a 3% cash back value if redeeming towards Rogers, Fido, or Shaw purchases, which is outsized value for a credit card with no annual fee.
As a result of the increased cash back redemption value, the Rogers Red Mastercard is the winner between these two cards from a redeeming standpoint.
Comparison Summary
If you are interested in a high-level comparison summary of these two cards, the table below captures the most important details:
| Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card | Rogers Red Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome Bonus | $100 Cash Back | $60 Cash Back |
| Welcome Bonus Details |
|
|
| Earning Rates | 2% cash back on all eligible purchases for Rogers, Fido and Shaw postpaid customers. 2% cash back on all purchases made in US dollars. 1% cash back on all other purchases. | 2% cash back on up to three money-back categories of your choice. 0.5% cash back on all other purchases. |
| Annual Fee | $0 | $0 |
| Income Requirement | No income requirements | Personal or Household: $12,000 |
Conclusion
Both the Tangerine Money-Back credit card and Rogers Red Mastercard are stellar options for Canadians who are interested in adding a straightforward yet powerful cash back credit card to their wallet.
If I had to pick one, I would go with the Rogers Red Mastercard (provided I was a Rogers, Fido, or Shaw customer) as the 2% earning rate across the board coupled with the increased value when redeemed towards Rogers, Fido, or Shaw purchases provides an excellent value proposition. The Rogers Red Mastercard presents a simpler earning structure since you don’t need to choose the right credit card for certain spending categories, making it a great card to use for day-to-day purchases.
Josh Bandura
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