The New Scotiabank More Rewards Visa Card
Looks like Scotiabank has taken over the relationship with More Rewards MBNA, which discontinued its co-branded credit card. We also have posts talking about Top Ways to Redeem More Rewards and Ways to Earn More “More Rewards”.
Highlights
Scotiabank is now offering a More Rewards Visa Card with the following highlights:
- No annual fee
- Earn 6 More Rewards points for every $1 spent on purchases at participating More Rewards locations
- Earn 4 points for every $1 on all other purchases
Low Profile
Keep in mind that More Rewards is more prominent for Canadians living in the West. More Rewards may seem like a low profile program, especially compared to some of the more popular ones in Canada, but maybe it should be given more attention, considering all the backlash that Air Miles is getting.
Expiry Policy
Keep in mind that it is free to sign up for a membership card. In terms of the expiry policy, you need to keep your account active once every 18 months to prevent your points from expiring. Granted, there are excluded purchases that will not help your account to remain active, such as: lotto, gas bar, tobacco, gift cards, prescriptions, clinics, diabetes care, tickets, charities, insurance, bus passes, postage stamps, deposit & recycle fees, rewards and taxes.
Could use improvement
First of all, I would have liked to see some sort of sign up bonus. Even if it was just 10,000 points, which is only worth $20, as it will be explained below.
The problem I have with the More Rewards program is that the reward redemption are brutal. For example, it will cost 36,000 points to redeem for a $75 gift card. That means that 1 point is worth 0.002 cents a piece. So if you are 6 points per dollar at partner stores, you are earning a 1.2 cents per dollar or a 1.2% return (0.002 x 6). At 1.2% return, it is not bad, but when you look at all other purchases, you are 0.8 cents per dollar or 0.8% return (0.002 x 4).
If you have this credit card, I would only use it at partner locations to get the multiplier bonus. At the very least, I am just glad to see that More Rewards is still alive and ready to compete!