Is your credit card no longer serving you? It may be time to switch.
What's in your wallet? A new survey finds that it may be a good time to take a close look at your credit cards. The pandemic has caused some changes and you may find your card no longer serves your best interests.
"I cancelled my American Express because it was really expensive to have," said one consumer CTV News talked to in downtown Vancouver.
That may be the case for many cardholders paying high fees. The rewards they offer may not be worth it anymore. Ratehub, a website that allows consumers to compare credit cards, says consumers are steering away from rewards cards.
"The fact is a lot of Canadians just don't want travel points if they are not going to use them any time soon and would rather have cold hard cash in their bank account or credit card," said Mikael Castaldo, general manager of everyday banking at Ratehub.ca.
A J.D. Power credit card customer satisfaction survey for 2021 found that 22 per cent of those surveyed had postponed reward redemption for more than a year and 22 per cent ditched cards with annual fees.
"There could be new products out there that you're not aware of or not familiar with that might fit you better," said John Cabell, director of banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power.
The survey also found that customers are more satisfied with their primary credit card issuer than they were a year ago.
The card issuers that rate highest on the satisfaction survey for benefits, services and rewards are:
1. Tangerine Bank
2. Canadian Tire
3. PC Financial
4. American Express
5. Desjardins
6. RBC Royal Bank
7. Capital One
8. Scotiabank
9. CIBC
10. National Bank
11. BMO Bank of Montreal
12. MBNA
13. TD Canada Trust
However, that does not mean you should cut and go. You have to consider what you are leaving on the table. How many rewards have you accumulated? If they are travel rewards, you may want to consider hanging on for a while longer until you can use them, unless the value is less than the upcoming annual fee.
Cancelling a credit card can also lower your credit score by increasing your credit utilization rate. That is the amount of credit available compared to your debt load. A lower credit score could mean higher interest rates on loans.
Rewards can still be enticing as long as you are not carrying a balance and paying interest or missing payments, which can quickly cancel out the rewards benefits.
In addition, beware of chasing rewards by transferring balances to get bonus points, etc. It's called card churning and it could damage your credit score.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.