Nominees for the 2016 Best of Finance Awards

RATESDOTCA's annual awards recognizes the best of the best in Canada's personal finance industry

Here at RATESDOTCA, we're always working to help Canadian consumers decide which credit cards, bank accounts and investment types fit their lifestyle and budget. And each year, we host the Best of Finance Awards, to not only recognize some of the top products in the personal finance industry, but also to help you - the consumer - find your best match.

In selecting the nominees for the 2016 Best of Finance Awards, we took various factors into consideration, such as points, miles and interest and converted all figures into cash to see which products keep - or put - the most money in your wallet. Each category contains two to three nominees, all of which we found performed exceptionally well for the Canadian consumer.

And now, we present the full list of categories and nominees, all in alphabetical order. The winners will be announced in late November.

Credit cards

Best Credit Card for Building Credit:

• Capital One® Guaranteed (& Guaranteed Secured) MasterCard®
• Home Trust Secured Visa Card
• National Bank MC1™ MasterCard®

Best Cash Back Credit Card – Fee:

• BMO® CashBack® World Elite® MasterCard®
• MBNA Rewards World Elite® MasterCard®
• Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite

Best Cash Back Credit Card – No Fee:

• RBC® Cash Back MasterCard
• SimplyCash™ Card from American Express
• Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

Best Gas Rewards Credit Card:

• MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard® credit card
• Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite
• Shell® CashBack® World MasterCard® from BMO

Best Grocery Rewards Credit Card:

• Capital One® Platinum MasterCard® (for Costco members)
• President’s Choice Financial® MasterCard®
• President’s Choice Financial® World Elite MasterCard®

Best Low Balance Transfer Credit Card:

• MBNA Platinum Plus® MasterCard®
• RBC Rewards Visa Gold

Best Low Interest Credit Card:

• MBNA TrueLine® MasterCard®
• National Bank Syncro MasterCard®

Best Specialty Rewards Credit Card:

• MBNA Rewards World Elite® MasterCard®
• President’s Choice Financial® World Elite MasterCard®
• Scotiabank GM VISA Card

Best Student Credit Card:

• BMO SPC® CashBack® MasterCard® (DISCONTINUED)
• Scotiabank SCENE® VISA Card
• StudentAwards MBNA Rewards MasterCard® credit card

Best Travel Rewards Credit Card – Fee:

• American Express® AeroplanPlus® Platinum Card
• CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite
• TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite

Best Travel Rewards Credit Card – No Fee:

• Blue Sky™ Credit Card from American Express
• Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard®
• Shell® AIR MILES® MasterCard® from BMO

Best Travel Rewards Credit Card – Specialty:

• Alaska Airlines World Elite® MasterCard®
• The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express  (NB: This card is no longer available. See Marriott Bonvoy.)
• WestJet RBC® World Elite MasterCard

Banking products

Best Chequing Account - Low Balance:

• President’s Choice Financial® No Fee Bank Account
• Tangerine No Fee Daily Chequing

Best GIC – 5-Year Cashable – Non-Registered:

• BMO
• ICICI Bank Canada
• Royal Bank

Best GIC – 5-Year Cashable – Registered:

• BMO
• ICICI Bank Canada

Best GIC – 5-Year Cashable – TFSA’s:

• Canadian Direct Financial
• ICICI Bank Canada
• State Bank of India

Best GIC – 5-Year Non-Cashable:

• Implicity Financial
• MAXA Financial
• Oaken Financial

Best Savings Account with $5,000 Balance:

• BMO Savings Builder
• Scotiabank Momentum Savings
• Scotiabank Savings Accelerator

Best Savings Account with No Minimum Balance:

• Alterna Bank High Interest eSavings Account
• EQ Bank Savings Plus Account
• Oaken Savings Account

If you're looking to check out or sign up for any of these products, visit our credit cards, banking and investing pages today!