Recently, Desjardins announced changes to its products, including a devaluation of some of its credit cards, more specifically in the accumulation of BONUSDOLLARS and increased annual fees. This is a good time to review your choice of credit cards to see which options are the most advantageous.
You’ve probably had your Desjardins credit card for a long time.
15% of your credit score comes from your credit history in Canada for all your lines of credit (credit cards, mortgage, line of credit, car loan, student loans, etc.).
To keep your credit history and avoid lowering your credit score, don’t close your Desjardins credit card! Replace it with a basic version, with no annual fee. Then you can take out a new, more advantageous credit card at another financial institution.
For example, I had a very old Modulo Visa Desjardins credit card and downgraded to the Flexi Visa card. It didn’t affect my history, and what’s more, it allowed me to start collecting more points elsewhere, with other cards!
The Visa and Mastercard credit cards Bonus Visa, Cash Back Visa and Cash Back Mastercard are almost identical.
Up to 2% in BONUSDOLLARS for restaurants, entertainment, alternative transport and direct debits
0.5% in BONUSDOLLARS for all other purchases
Cash Back Visa
and
Cash Back Mastercard
Up to 2% cash back on restaurants, entertainment, alternative transport and pre-authorized payments
0.5% cash back on all other purchases
To accumulate even more, have more flexibility and decide for yourself on the 2% cash back category without paying an annual fee, there is the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card.
The good news is that this card has no maximum rebate limit or restrictions, unlike Desjardins credit cards!
What’s more, the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card has a welcome offer. This allows you to get a head start and earn a lot more cash back right from the start.
For example, if you’re planning a renovation or a major furniture purchase next month, simply change the category in your Tangerine profile to get 2% on those purchases.
In other words, for a $1,000 purchase at a home improvement or hardware store, the discount with the Tangerine card would be $20 (2% X $1,000). With the Mastercard Cash Back Card, for example, it would have been only $5 (0.5% X $1,000).
You don ‘t have to open a bank account at another financial institution to get a credit card!
From your bank account, simply pay the card balance as if it were a supplier or bill.
The Cash Back Desjardins World Elite Mastercard is another cash back card with an annual fee of $100. It is not part of the BONUSDOLLARS program.
Here are the cash back it gives cardholders for everyday purchases:
The Desjardins World Elite Mastercard is the Desjardins credit card with the highest grocery rebate. The biggest drawback is that the rate drops to 1% after an annual purchase amount of $10,000 (or if you have an average of $833 or more in grocery purchases per month).
For a family with large, growing children, or for those with a large grocery budget, there are other credit cards on the market offering up to 6% per dollar of purchase:
Similar to cash back
Transfer them to Aeroplan, Flying Blue, Marriott Bonvoy, etc.
6 Scene+ points at IGA/Les Marchés Tradition, etc.
5 Scene+ points at all other grocery stores
No conversion fees
Pay for your IGA groceries with your Scene+ points
Pay for your trip with your Scene+ points
4 free access to airport lounges worldwide
$100 annual TD Travel Credit
TD Rewards points to pay for your travel
$150 travel annual credit
Use your NBC points to pay off your trip
Unlimited access to the National Bank Lounge
As an added bonus, most of these cards come with a welcome offer. This gives you a considerable advantage in terms of rewards.
The Odyssey Gold Visa Card offers an annual fee of $110:
The Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card free card analyzed above is still an excellent alternative. It’s a good card to use at Costco, if you want a Mastercard.
The Rogers Red World Elite® Mastercard® gives you the opportunity to get 1.5% on everything! And if you have service with Rogers, Fido or Shaw, you get 2% on all purchases made with this card. Plus, it’s free.
Or here are others that give you more than the Odyssey Gold Visa card:
For example, with these first-year offers, you’ll get $0 in annual fees, up to $300 cash back, plus cash back on groceries, gas and other purchases. It’s worth the switch!
The Desjardins Odyssey Lounge is only available to travellers in the International Zone at Montreal-Trudeau Airport. Other cards offer free entry to a wider range of airport lounges worldwide.
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card has an attractive welcome offer and more travel benefits:
2% at BONUSDOLLARS for restaurants, entertainment, alternative transport and direct debits
0.65% on BONUSDOLLARS for all other purchases
50% discount on admission to Salon Odyssée Desjardins
6 free airport lounges access, worldwide
No foreign currency fees
Pay for groceries and travel with your Scene+ points
For $130 per year, the Odyssey World Elite Mastercard earns rewards according to the following scale:
The Odyssée World Elite Mastercard has excellent travel insurance, including trip cancellation. However, the entire trip must be paid for with the card in order to benefit. Other credit cards are less demanding and offer bonus travel privileges:
The National Bank World Elite Mastercard is an excellent card that is promoted with a welcome offer a few times a year:
Read our comparison between Carte Odyssey World Elite Mastercard Desjardins and National Bank World Elite Mastercard®.
The Odysséey Visa Infinite Privilege card is Desjardins’ best credit card.
It has an interest rate of 11.9%, and gives you 12 free visits a year to the Odyssée Desjardins lounge. This card offers a full range of travel insurance and many privileges.
However, it is one of the cards to suffer the biggest loss in the changes at Desjardins, with a reduction from 1.75% to 1.5% in the “Other” category, as well as the imposition of a $95 annual fee for each additional card.
The main categories of Desjardins credit card spending are groceries, restaurants, entertainment and alternative transportation. One of their great advantages is that they also offer excellent travel insurance.
Their only drawback is that they don’t offer welcome offers. This is a real shame. An equivalent card with a gift of additional points increases the value faster than a Desjardins credit card.
But whatever you choose, always remember to pay your balance in full! Because if you don’t, the savings you’ve made with your discounts, points or BONUSDOLLARS will all be gone.
Desjardins offers eight credit cards to suit individual needs.
Caisses Desjardins offers 3 Mastercard credit cards and 5 Visa credit cards. You can compare them easily using this link to the Protégez-Vous credit card comparator.
You’ve received your new Desjardins credit card in the mail! Congratulations! It will usually be received about 2 weeks after your application has been approved.
Before activating the card, please take the time to read all the information. This may include conditions of use, safety tips and other important details.
Call the activation number: You’ll usually find a telephone number dedicated to activation in the accompanying letter or on the sticker on the card. Dial this number. For all other questions, please contact Customer Service at 514 397-1580 or 1 888 389-7823.
Once you are connected to the activation service, follow the voice instructions. You will probably need to provide personal information to confirm your identity, such as your card number, date of birth or social insurance number.
Choose a PIN (personal identification number) : After confirming your information, you may be asked to choose a PIN for your card, if you haven’t already done so. Be sure to choose a memorable and secure PIN.
Once all steps have been successfully completed, the system will confirm that your Desjardins credit card is activated and ready for use.
An answer will then be given and the credit limit will be granted or not to the card account.
If you have any questions, call Customer Service at 1-800-224-7737 (1-800-CAISSES).
Simply call Customer Service at 1-800-224-7737 (1-800-CAISSES).
You have two choices:
The insurance policy can be found here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service at 1-800-465-7822.
Yes, all Desjardins credit cards have a 2.5% fee on foreign currency transactions.
To see the few credit cards in Canada that don’t, check out our article on the best credit cards without foreign currency conversion fees.
Admission to the Salon Odyssée Desjardins is approximately $42 plus tax for adults and $26 for children aged 3 to 11.
With the Odyssey Gold Visa card, there’s a 50% discount on the cost of admission.
The Odyssey World Elite Mastercard gives you 8 free accesses per year. The Odyssée Visa Infinite Privilège card gives you 12 free visits a year to the Salon Odyssée Desjardins.
Once you’ve used up your free admission, you’ll receive a 50% discount on the regular admission price.
Savings are here (if you don’t see the sign-up form, please click here):
