Laurentian Bank Visa Dollars

Not an earth-shattering credit card, but the Laurentian Bank Visa Dollars does add a little competition to the cash back industry.

Highlights

  • $65 annual fee
  • No annual fee for supplementary cardholders
  • Earn $75 sign up cash back bonus (if you apply before June 30, 2016)
  • Earn 3% cash back on recurring bill payments
  • Earn 2% cash back on gas and groceries
  • Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases

$75 Sign up Bonus

The $75 cash back bonus is broken down into two phases. Earn the first $50 when you spend $500 within the first 50 days of the date indicated on the letter accompanying the card. Earn the other $25 when you spend $3,000 within the first year. The sign up bonus pretty much offsets the first year annual fee.

3% on Recurring Bills

The 3% is a nice return for your telephone, cable TV, Internet, newspaper, etc. bills. It beats the 2% cash back with the Scotiabank Momentum Infinite Visa Card.

Generally no annual fee cards will only give you 1% cash back. Just a quick math based on $300 of monthly bill payments:

  • $300 of monthly bills x 12 = $3,600
  • $3,600 x 3% = $108
  • $3,600 x 1% = $36

You earn $72 more ($108 – $36), which covers the $65 annual fee. So this credit card could make sense for some people depending on what you are comparing with.

The 2% cash back on gas and groceries and 1% everything else are pretty much standard, so I would not factor them into the calculation.

Conclusion

I think that this may be a worthwhile credit card for people who have over $300 of monthly recurring bills. If you are a Laurentian banking customer, I would push them to waive the fee as well.

This is definitely a great additional to the cash back market.

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