Saturday Updates and Promotions (RBC-WestJet and Scotiabank-Chase Canada)

I plan to start a new Saturday series every few weeks, so long as there is enough relevant updates and promotions to talk about. This series is going to provide news updates and promotions grouped together. I chose Saturday mornings because I think that it is a great day to catch on what was missed during the week.

WestJet Conversion Bonus

RBC Rewards is once again offering its bi-yearly 20% conversion bonus to WesJet Rewards that will run between October 5, 2015 and November 15, 2015. Normally, you will need to convert a minimum of 1,000 RBC Rewards points that will net you 10 WestJet dollars. With this promotion, you will receive 12 WestJet dollars for the same 1,000 points.

In the past, we have seen up to 25% bonuses, but the last few times have only been 20%. Either way, I am just happy to RBC continuing to offer transfer bonuses. There are times when it feels like the miles and points game is looks to have a bleak future in Canada. But even now and then, we do see some good things and they should be pointed out!

Scotiabank to Buy Out Chase Canada

With all the recent discontinuations of Chase Canada credit cards, I was really beginning to wonder what was going to happen to them. Well, we finally have some answers. Scotiabank is in the process of acquiring the JPMorgan Chase Credit Card Portfolio in Canada (“Chase Canada”). It is worthwhile to note that Chase Canada has approximately 2 million active customers.

I am sure that many of us are still unhappy with how things played out when TD purchase MBNA. A few credit card discontinuations later and a devaluation to the popular MBNA SmartCash MasterCard, TD goes into the black book. So hopefully Scotiabank will learn from TD’s mistake, especially considering that Chase Canada has a few fan favourites as well. The current Chase Canada credit card portfolio looks like this:

• Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card
• Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card
• Sears Card
• Sears Financial MasterCard
• Sears Financial Voyage MasterCard

It is also worth noting that with this transaction, Scotiabank becomes the first bank to distribute MasterCards, Visas and American Express’. There was some confusion on the various reports. In some reports it seems as though they only purchased the Sears Cards. Based on the Scotiabank press release it seems as though they only purchased the operations and not the credit cards portfolio. We will be watching very closely to find out what the exact details are.

If Scotiabank is in find taking over the popular Amazon and Marriott Visa cards, along with the introduction a decent Tangerine credit card, there are fears that the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card will take a hit or even cease to exist. So I think it is worthwhile to get a message out there now, before it is too late. If Scotiabank is smart, they have a really big window of opportunity. With the introduction of the new Tangerine credit card, with the Chase Canada portfolio, along with their current group of credit cards, they have a big opportunity to take over a huge market share if they pull all their resources together. Hopefully Scotiabank avoids flopping like the TD-MBNA fiasco!