The All-New Tangerine World Mastercard®: A Rewards Card with a Twist
As a Canadian, I often feel like I’ve gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to credit cards. We certainly don’t have the same options for rewards credit cards that our neighbours to the south enjoy.
Times have changed though, and the all-new Tangerine World Mastercard® is proof that Canadians can feel great about credit card rewards. This is a no-fee credit card that just might be a game-changer when it comes to Canadian rewards credit cards. Let’s take a closer look at what makes this card so unique.
The Tangerine World Mastercard® builds on the already popular Tangerine Money Back Credit Card, by adding a suite of premium World Mastercard Benefits, all while maintaining the generous cashback rewards, with no annual fee. If you love earning credit card rewards, you may be familiar with the concept of personalized cashback categories. These types of cashback cards give you a standard cashback earnings rate, and a higher reward for certain spending categories, or on categories that rotate depending on the quarter.
The Tangerine World Mastercard® takes a slightly different approach. You get 0.5% cashback on regular purchases, but the reward jumps to 2% cashback in certain categories. The twist is that you get to choose what those 2% categories are. The Tangerine credit card allows you to pick up to 3 categories that earn 2%. And that’s not the only twist. Tangerine gives you 2 ways to redeem rewards. You can receive your cashback in the form of a statement credit, or have it automatically deposited into your Tangerine savings account. By selecting the latter of the two, you unlock a 3rd 2% spending category.
The other benefit of depositing your cashback into a savings account is that you’re now earning interest on the money as it sits in your account. It’s a great offer from one of Canada’s top banks. In case you’re wondering, here’s a list of the 10 spending categories you can choose from, to receive 2% cashback:
- Gas
- Grocery
- Restaurant
- Hotel
- Entertainment
- Drug Store
- Home Improvement
- Furniture
- Recurring Bills
- Public Transportation and Parking
Switching Tangerine Credit Card Categories
Not only can you choose your own credit card categories at the outset, but you can switch them later on if you think that you can do better by changing it up a little bit. In fact, Tangerine will actually help you analyze which categories you spend the most on and recommend changes so that you can maximize your cashback.
Another interesting departure from the norm, when it comes to the Tangerine World Mastercard®, is the flexible category definition. Gas pumped at Costco counts as gas. Groceries bought at Walmart Supercentres are counted in that category. Many of the other category credit cards don’t provide this breadth of application, and wouldn’t award extra cashback in certain categories if a store can be placed in more than one category. It’s the unique twists on standard rewards that make the Tangerine World Mastercard® stand out as an addition to your wallet.
Features of the Tangerine World Mastercard®
On top of offering a great twist to earning cashback, the Tangerine World Mastercard® offers a number of attractive key features. Here are some of the benefits you can expect:
Card Features
- Welcome offer: 4% cashback on up to 3 categories for the first 90 days
- 2% cashback on up to 3 personalized categories
- 0.5% cashback on all other purchases
- No annual fee
- Unlimited cashback rewards
- 19.95% interest
- Balance transfer interest rate of 1.95% for 6 months
- Auto rental collision/loss damage insurance
- Mobile device protection
- Access to Mastercard Airport Experiences by Loungekey
- Purchase Assurance & Extended Warranty
- Minimum annual income of $60,000/$100,000 household
Promotional Offer: Tangerine sweetens the pot with a handsome introductory offer for new clients. You can earn a whopping 4% cashback on up to 3 personalized spending categories for the first 90 days, after which the category earnings return to the regular 2%.
Open A Tangerine World Mastercard® today
Tangerine World Mastercard® Benefits
The Tangerine World Mastercard® builds on the existing Tangerine Money Back Credit Card by adding three key benefits that are usually only found on a credit card with a hefty annual fee.
Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance provides protection against theft and damage when you rent a car for up to 31 consecutive days, providing that you’ve charged the full price of the car rental to your Tangerine World Mastercard®.
Mobile Device Insurance offers up to $1000 of coverage on your new smartphone, or tablet when you purchase the device with your credit card and make your monthly phone payments from your card. The insurance protects against loss, theft, accidental damage, as well as mechanical failure.
Mastercard Airport Experiences grants cardholders access to over 400 Loungekey private airport lounges worldwide at a price of $32 USD per visit. Dine in style, or just relax, while you’re waiting for your next flight.
It’s important to note that the premium benefits offered by the new Tangerine World Mastercard® are almost unheard of from a no fee credit card, and are a definite selling feature.
The Tangerine Money Back Credit Card
Despite the new card offering, the original Tangerine Money Back Credit Card hardly takes a backseat. The cashback rewards are identical to the more upscale World Mastercard. Not only that, but it remains a no-fee card. What you don’t get is the premium World Mastercard benefits I highlighted above, but those come with a minimum annual income requirement of $60,000, or $100,000 for a household. If you don’t meet the income criteria, the Money Back Credit Card is a completely fine alternative. Here’s a full list of card features:
Card Features
- Welcome offer: 4% cashback on up to 3 categories for the first 90 days
- 2% cashback on up to 3 personalized categories
- 0.5% cashback on all other purchases
- No annual fee
- Unlimited cashback rewards
- 19.95% interest
- Balance transfer interest rate of 1.95% for 6 months
- Purchase Assurance & Extended Warranty
How to Maximize Your Tangerine Rewards
The first step to maximizing your Tangerine credit card is to agree to have your cashback deposited into your savings account. It gets you the extra 2% cashback category, and you’ll earn interest on the balance in your savings account.
The next hack is to coordinate your Tangerine Mastercard use with other credit cards. If you have another category-based cash-back credit card, you can combine the two to increase the number of personalized spending categories you can take advantage of. Pay attention and make sure that you spend on the right things with the right card. Remember, you can always rearrange your Tangerine Mastercard categories to get the most benefit from it.
Another tip: Buy gift cards at stores matching your categories. If you buy gift cards from a grocery store, it will register in that category, and you’ll get your 2% cashback on those items. Choose to stock up on gift cards for your own use, or to give to others as presents and you can get even better value. This is especially true during the 4% special promotion period.
If you belong to a hotel loyalty program, you can stack loyalty programs with your rewards card. Use your Tangerine cashback credit card to make your hotel reservation. You’ll get cashback, and earn hotel loyalty points at the same time. This works for any loyalty program. You can also use this strategy for sites like Swagbucks that offer retail store rebates. Shop with these programs, and get the extra bonus. It’s a great way to compound your cashback rewards.
Final Thoughts on both Tangerine Mastercards
The Tangerine World Mastercard® gives cardholders the chance to kick their cashback earnings into overdrive. If you can meet the minimum income requirement, you’ll get the added insurance benefits that come with this no-fee card, that looks and feels more like an upscale, premium product. The beautiful thing is that the original Tangerine Money Back Credit Card is still there, offering the same flexible personalized cashback rewards, with no fee, and no income requirement.
For Tangerine customers, it really is a no-lose proposition. After all, there’s no need to stick with cards that have little to no cashback potential. The all-new Tangerine World Mastercard®, as well as the original Tangerine Money Back Credit Card are a great option for just about anyone.
Comments
I have a tangerine cash back card and you need to be careful when chosing categories for 2% cash back. I chose reoccuring bills as one of mine, changed all my reoccuring payments to this card (insurance, automatic public transit pass payment, cable bill) only to discover a few months later I wasn’t get 2% for those.. The reason given by tangerine? Insurance is in the insurance category, train pass in the public transport category… So basically, nothing counts for reoccuring bills because they all fall under another category even if they are charged on a reoccuring monthly basis automatically by those companies. Very disappinted and it was very misleading. They should just remove that category if they aren’t going to honor it. Now I have to switch all those automatic payments back to my other credit vard which gives 1.5% on everything.
Hi Karen, I’ve heard that Tangerine is bound by the categories MasterCard assigns. On my Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite, I have utility and internet bills show up as recurring, so I assume they still would with this card.
Which card is giving you 1.5%?
The Capital one master card. But I got it a few years ago and I don’t believe they offer that anymore (but those who already had it kept it). Its 1.25% now I believe.
I have had the Tangerine credit card since December 2015 and find it very convenient. At the end of each month my rebate earned in the past 30 days is automatically deposited to my savings account. By far the my choice for sure.
Highly recommended.
This cash back card has too many variables and choices making it quite complex. I have a similar one with American Express and has no choices but is simple and quite rewarding. There are only four cash back categories: Gas 3%; Restaurants 2%; Travel 2%; All other 1%. Cash back is paid out once per year in the form of real cash to spend as you please. Once per year is adequate allowing you to build up the reward in a meaningful amount.
Looks pretty similar to me. Three main categories. Plus poor acceptance by retailers. Is there a fee?
The thing I find aggravating about this card is the “activation” procedure. You have to figure out yourself how to activate once you go into the website. God forbid if you have to call in – at least 25 minutes on hold.
Only credit card that I know of that require the Supplementary card holder to activate his/her card separately.
One thing to be careful of: when you apply determines your statement date and they can’t (or won’t) change the date. I am self-employed, so I need all (or a majority of) my bills to fall due in the latter half of the month. By sheer luck, I applied & got the Tangerine card so that the statement date is the 7th so the due date is the third week of the month.
Other than that, it’s a fabulous card. And I *really* love the fact that when you log into your Tangerine account, you can see pending transactions before they are posted to the account. I don’t know of any other credit card provider that allows you to see pending transactions.
We get most of our gas at Costco. You cannot use any other credit card except CAPITOL ONE at Costco, which is administered through them.
Gregg, you can use any MasterCard at Costco. I’ve been using the BMO World Elite MasterCard there since Costco switched from American Express.
Used my Tangerine MC for gas at Costco. Received 4% rebate.
This card looks like a great choice for a no-fee cash back card. I like the idea of picking your 2% category. Will have to determine if it makes sense for us to apply or not. Thanks for the review.
Hi Tom. I am looking at getting the Tangerine money back MasterCard but I want to be sure I can use it at Costco. Presently I am using my regular MBNA credit card at Costco. Above you said that any MasterCard can be used at Costco…..for groceries & gas. Just need a confirmation on this please. Thanks
Hi Catherine, it can be used (like any MasterCard), but Costco doesn’t count as a grocery category, so you’d just get the 1% back. For gas, I’ve heard some say that their gas stations do show up in the gas category, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Hi Tom thanks for this. Why would Costco not be a grocery category? What category is it? You mentioned above that some gas stations take the card. How do I find out which ones? Is there a list of categories I can look at online? Thanks. Have a good day.
FYI: I presently use my Tangerine M/C for all purchases.. My selected categories for the 2% rebate are groceries, gas and restaurants. Usage at Costco for groceries unfortunately does not qualify for the 2% cash back, BUT, the purchase of gasoline does qualify according to my statements.
We have not shopped at Walmart for quite awhile, due to location so I am not sure if the 2% applies.
Hope this information is of benefit.
CAUTION with Tangerine Mastercard!!! if you’re like me and like to have your CC balance auto withdrawn from your bank account every month and pay off balance so no interest charges are incurred, FORGET with Tangerine unless you also bank with them. I chatted on line with customer service and they said they cannot so that with other banks. So I have to manually go in and pay my Tangerine like a bill payment every month. Sorry, but I am just too busy and too much going on to have to deal with this. I know I would miss payments and get charged interest. it is a convenience that all other CC companies offer (Citibank, BMO and CIBC all auto withdraw from my TD Canada Trust bank account), and value that convenience. I wish I had known going in, and cancelling now will likely affect my credit rating. If it does, then this card is going in the drawer to collect dust, never to be used again.
Sorry this credit card doesn’t work for you. I always verify and check every charge on my credit card statement prior to payment.
Congratulations on being so busy in your life. I like the extra 2% cash in lieu of any rewards at TD.
I don’t use TD either. I only have it for some of the benefits, like extra year warranty. My go to card was what used to be Citi Driver’s edge, which then got sold off to CIBC. 2% on every purchase towards new or used vehicle purchase or lease. But they have since changed to cash back and charge a fee. Will have to look for another card.
I just switched to a Rogers world Elite M/C which pays 1.75%. You might look at this.
Need a list of places that accept the card and which categories they fall under!!
It is a MasterCard so accepted virtually anyplace. I would expect you can understand the categories. I.e.: shell is gas so 2% if you choose.
What category does Shoppers Drug mart fall under as we can also buy groceries etc. Thank you
Shoppers Drug Mart is considered a drug store even if you only buy groceries there.
I use it almost weekly to buy certain grocery items such as milk, orange juice or butter etc. As for recurring bills, that is one of the categories that I chose (and it’s my largest payback category) and many bills qualify for this category: my Rogers bill, monthly donations, home security system, newspapers etc. I love this card–it’s one of the best!
One thing to note is that online shopping or booking seemed to have been designated mostly as an “online” category by Master Card. So, if you buy grocery from amazon.ca, or book hotels through expedia.ca, you likely won’t be able to get the 2% or 4% even if you have chosen grocery or hotel as your category (I learned this the hard way, making many hotel bookings with this card…).
Also, when it comes to traveling, it doesn’t have good travel-related insurances (travel interruptions, assistance, etc). So if you are using the card for hotel bookings, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
I would use Tangerine for day to day shopping, definitely not for other purposes (like traveling).
Tangerine Money-Back MasterCard is not a good rebate card. To be more precise, its 2% return is very misleading and using the whole card is more trouble than good to most people. Its setup of what belongs to your selected 2% category is very unfair and arbitrary. Lots of recurring bills are NOT counted as recurring, so instead of getting 2% bonus you only get 0.5%. My utility bills from ATCO Gas is not counted as recurring bills. That is ridiculous! It’s also a waste of time trying to call them. First the wait time is extremely long. Second its operators are not responsive at all. They just say “nothing we can do about it”.
My C.I.B.C Card gives me back 4% on Gas and Food, and 1% on all other purchases.
The credits accumulate and are deducted from my Final Yearly Bill.
Thanks, but No Thanks.