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I’m a sucker for cash-back credit cards. I enjoy getting cash rewards for my spending habits because they’re flexible, easy to use and easy to track. I usually pack around the CIBC Dividend Platinum Visa Card because I earn decent cash back on common spending categories (e.g. groceries, gas, eating out). Still, I made a last-minute switch, just in time for my European trip.
A few months back, I reviewed the Home Trust Visa Preferred Card. At the time, the card didn’t suit any of my needs.
It had lower cash-back rewards at 1% of all purchases, compared to my 3% cash back on groceries and gas. Home Trust’s card didn’t come with the same perks my CIBC credit card did, such as auto rental coverage and extended warranty coverage for newly purchased items.
However, two features interested me when I decided to use the card at the last minute: No annual fee and no foreign exchange fees.
Best for cash back
Home Trust Preferred Visa Card
Welcome Bonus
None
Annual Fee
$0
Regular APR
21.99%
Welcome Bonus
None
Annual Fee
$0
Regular APR
21.99%
Another perfect card to keep on hand if not just for travel: The Home Trust Preferred Visa Card provides 1% cash back on all purchases and has no annual fee. That means, where your regular credit card may charge you 2.5% to spend outside the country, this one saves you that and rewards you 1%.
Related: I Took A Home Trust Preferred Visa Card On Vacation And Paid No Foreign Transaction Fees
- No annual fee.
- Low minimum annual income requirement of $15,000.
- Guaranteed hotel reservations.
- Purchase security insurance.
- Not as much insurance compared to other cards with no annual fee.
- Some cash back cards with no annual fee have higher cash-back rates.
- No welcome bonus.
- Not available in Quebec.
- No FX fee.
- 1% cash back rate on all purchases and no annual cap.
- Based on average Canadian spending, Forbes Advisor estimates this card could earn $278.51 in rewards value per year.
- Minimum annual income requirement is $15,000.
- Visa Zero Liability policy means you don’t have to pay for fraudulent activity.
- Purchase security insurance insures eligible items for 90 days in the event of damage or theft.
Limit of $5,000 per cardholder for each occurrence. - Guaranteed hotel reservations anywhere in the world and your room will be held if you don’t arrive on time.
No Annual Fees
For context, my wife and I booked a trip to Europe for around two weeks—six days on a cruise. I wanted a card for our trip that wouldn’t add more annual fees for me to deal with— after all, my CIBC Dividend Platinum already costs me $99 a year.
The Home Trust Preferred Visa’s no-annual-fee policy was convenient. I wasn’t expecting to use the card for purchases outside of our trip to Europe, so I didn’t want to rack up annual fee payments on a card that would likely be inactive for the rest of the year.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
What appealed to me most about the Home Trust Preferred Visa was the lack of foreign transaction (FX) fees. In contrast to many other no-annual-fee cards, Home Trust’s offering is one of a handful that doesn’t charge FX fees.
Because I would spend a decent chunk of change in British pounds and euros, not paying 2.5% on every transaction was critical. If I had used my CIBC Dividend Platinum Visa, I would have paid 2.5% in FX fees on all my transactions.
To give you a better idea of the savings I cashed in on, here’s a breakdown of my spending and how much I saved on FX fees overall. Keep in mind that most of my daily expenses—like food and lodging—were covered by my cruise ticket, which was not paid for using this card (darn). I ordered it well after we booked our cruise.
FX Fees Saved Via Home Trust Preferred Visa
| PURCHASE AMOUNT | MERCHANT CATEGORY | FX FEES SAVED |
|---|---|---|
|
$313.42
|
Miscellaneous
|
$7.84
|
|
$563.53
|
Travel
|
$14.09
|
|
$128.47
|
Groceries
|
$3.21
|
|
$534.32
|
Dining Out
|
$13.36
|
|
$14.41
|
Household
|
$0.36
|
|
$50.41
|
Gifts
|
$1.26
|
|
$148.19
|
Charitable Giving
|
$3.70
|
|
$93.86
|
Entertainment
|
$2.35
|
|
$30.26
|
Work Related
|
$0.76
|
|
$147.88
|
Recreation
|
$3.70
|
|
$5.33
|
Health & Medical
|
$0.13
|
|
$1,143.43
|
Home Repair
|
$28.58
|
Including all my spending on the trip with the Home Trust Preferred Visa, I saved just over $79 in FX fees. That doesn’t sound like much, but that nearly covers my annual fee for my CIBC Dividend Platinum Visa Card. I’d call that a win.
And, because the card has no annual fee, I saved that cash with no initial investment required.
One Small Error—But Not Enough to Cost Me
I’ll be honest here. When I first got the Home Trust card, I thought foreign purchases would not incur FX fees and would earn me the 1% cash back the card offers. However, I didn’t read the fine print. Unfortunately, the Home Trust Preferred Visa doesn’t earn cash back on transactions made in non-Canadian currency.
Let’s compare what I would’ve earned/lost if I had used my CIBC Dividend Platinum instead. CIBC doesn’t explicitly state whether the card earns cash back on foreign purchases, but let’s assume it does so for the sake of argument.
Note that because both cards are on the Visa network, the purchase categories I listed above should be classified as the same for both. The categories listed above may have differing merchant codes for purchases made in the same category. However, since merchant codes aren’t easily available, I figured using my statement’s purchase category would be a safe bet.
Cash Back Earned Via CIBC Dividend Platinum
| PURCHASE AMOUNT | MERCHANT CATEGORY | CASH BACK EARNED |
|---|---|---|
|
$313.42
|
Miscellaneous
|
$3.13
|
|
$563.53
|
Travel
|
$11.27
|
|
$128.47
|
Groceries
|
$3.85
|
|
$534.32
|
Dining Out
|
$10.69
|
|
$14.41
|
Household
|
$0.14
|
|
$50.41
|
Gifts
|
$0.54
|
|
$148.19
|
Charitable Giving
|
$1.48
|
|
$93.86
|
Entertainment
|
$0.94
|
|
$30.26
|
Work Related
|
$0.30
|
|
$147.88
|
Recreation
|
$1.48
|
|
$5.33
|
Health & Medical
|
$0.05
|
|
$1,143.43
|
Home Repair
|
$11.43
|
I applied a 3% cash-back rate to purchases categorized as groceries. Purchases labelled as dining/eating out or transportation/travel earned 2% cash back. Any other purchases not covered by these categories earned 1% cash back.
In total, I would have earned $45.30 in cash back. However, taking into account FX fees of $79.34, using my CIBC card would have resulted in a net loss of—$34.04.
So, even considering my slight misstep, I was still in the green.
What about the rental car coverage?
You may have seen the travel purchase category and inferred I rented a car in Europe. You’re right; we rented a car for the day. So, wouldn’t saving the rental car insurance cost make it worth sticking with my CIBC card?
Not necessarily.
For one, we only paid around $70 for the insurance coverage, bringing my total savings with the CIBC Platinum card to $43.04. That’s still $36 behind the Home Trust Preferred Visa’s savings.
Second, under the CIBC Dividend Platinum’s insurance policy, we would only be covered for damages up to $65,000 or the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Given that we were driving in a foreign country on, what is for us, the other side of the road, we felt like $65,000 worth of coverage would not be enough if we got into a major accident.
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1
TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
Welcome Bonus
Up to $3,000 in value† including up to 85,000 Aeroplan points†
Annual Fee
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Regular APR (Purchases) / Regular APR (Cash Advances)
20.99% / 22.99%
2
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Welcome Bonus
Up to 40,000 Aeroplan points
Annual Fee
$120
Regular APR
30% (charge card)
3
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Welcome Bonus
Up to $1,300 in value† including up to 40,000 Aeroplan points†
Annual Fee
$139 (rebated the first year)†
Regular APR (Purchases) / Regular APR (Cash Advances)
20.99% / 22.99%
Bottom Line
While I might only use the Home Trust Visa Preferred Card for each international trip I go on—which, admittedly, isn’t very often—its lack of an annual fee makes it a keeper in my wallet, especially as I continue to rack up solid cash-back rewards with my CIBC Dividend Platinum Card in the meantime.
