Looking to earn cash back on your daily expenditures? Don’t want to pay an annual fee? Enter the Tangerine Money-Back credit card – one of the most popular cash back credit cards on the market.
Instead of having set categories to earn extra cash back, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card allows you to choose up to three categories to earn extra rewards. Let’s take a look at what else this card has to offer.
Sign Up Bonus: Average
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card offers a promotional earn rate of 4% cash back in up to three chosen Money-Back Rewards categories for the first three months of card membership. Access two categories right away and if you set up your cash back to be automatically deposited into a Tangerine Savings Account, you can select a third category that will be eligible for the promotional interest rate. After the welcome offer expires, earn 2% in these categories. Plus, this card has no annual fee.
Additionally, for a limited time, you can benefit from a low-balance transfer rate only available to new cardholders. Balance transfers made within 30 days on the account are only subject to a 1.95% interest rate for the first six months of card membership. After that, the balance transfer rate increases to 19.95% rate. That being said, this card can be a good option to reduce your debt load on another card quickly.
Sign-Up Bonus Expiry Date: January 31, 2020
Earning Potential: Great
Don’t spend a lot on groceries or gas? No problem. The Tangerine Money-Back credit card has been praised for its flexibility, giving you 10 categories for you to choose from in terms of earning cash back. Two selected categories will earn you 2% cash back or “Money-Back Rewards” from the start (after the 4% welcome offer rate expires). And if you set up your cash back to be automatically deposited into a Tangerine savings account, you can also select a third category that will give you 2% cash back. All other purchases in other categories earn you 0.50% cash back.
The categories available are as follows:
- Restaurants
- Grocery
- Gas
- Entertainment
- Home Improvement
- Furniture
- Hotel-Motel
- Recurring Bills
- Drug Store
- Public Transport and Parking
How much could you earn using Tangerine’s Money-Back credit card? Assuming you have earned three Money-Back Rewards categories and have chosen Food, Gas, and Pharmacy, here’s what you could collect over a 24-month period:
Let’s also assume that $1,600 is spent on the card monthly in the following categories*:
- Groceries: $494.50
- Pharmacy: $55.33
- Gas: $134.31
- Other: $915.86
According to our Best of Finance methodology*, this can amount to $479.34 Money-Back over a two-year period.
Another good thing about this card is that there is no limit on the amount of Money-Back Rewards you can earn, and you can change your Money-Back categories to suit your spending at any point in time.
This means that if you realize you’re spending more in entertainment, or you know that you have to buy a lot of furniture next month, you can easily switch your categories to capitalize on your planned purchases. This means, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card can work most in your favour if you’re a commuter who regularly pays for transit, gas or parking; you frequently eat out at restaurants; you are renovating your home; or you spend a significant amount on groceries and drugstore purchases each month.
Balance Transfer Feature: Good
As mentioned before, this card features a super-low rate of 1.95% on balance transfers made within the first six months of card membership. After the first six months, balance transfers are subject to a 19.95% interest rate, which is average for most credit cards. So, if you’re struggling to pay off the balance on another credit card and accruing interest at a higher rate, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card may be a good option to clear your debt faster.
Point Redemption: Great
Another appealing aspect of the Tangerine Money-Back credit card is how easy it is to claim your Money-Back Rewards. Your cash back rewards are paid out monthly and can be deposited to your Tangerine savings account or immediately applied to your bill as a statement credit. There’s no need to call, you get your money right away!
This may be a limiting feature to those who want to earn specific types of rewards (AIR MILES, Aeroplan, etc.), or want the ability to trade points in for travel or merchandise. But if you want to grow your savings or pay your bills with automated credit card payments, then this reward redemption process may be preferable to you.
Benefits: Average
Since this is a no-fee card, there aren’t a ton of benefits included. For example, if you are a frequent traveller and require additional insurance coverage on your card, or you prefer a credit card with high-end perks such as concierge and lounge access, this card can’t help you. But you do get a few perks which may interest you, such as:
- Free supplementary cards
- Purchase Assurance
- Extended Warranty
The free supplementary cards are great if you want to earn more rewards as a family.
Purchase assurance covers you in the event of loss, theft or damage, in excess of other insurance, for 90 days from the day of your purchase.
And finally, the extended warranty is nice since it doubles the manufacturer’s warranty up to one additional year.
This post has been updated.
