When you’ve been on the hunt for an early morning caffeine fix or some tasty treats for your road trip, there’s a reasonable chance that you’ve stopped in at a Tim Hortons.
Known for its double-doubles, iced cappuccinos, and shareable Timbits, Tim Hortons is a familiar brand to pretty much every Canadian – but how many of them know that this restaurant/coffee shop also has its own co-branded credit cards?
In this article, we’ll take a look at the two Tims Mastercards to explore their rewards and benefits and see how they stack up against other cards on the market.
Designed with the Tim Hortons loyalist in mind, the Tims Mastercard and the Secured Tims Mastercard (not available in Quebec) let you earn Tims Rewards points on all your purchases.
These points can then be redeemed at Tim Hortons once you’ve saved up enough for the menu item of your choice.
The Tims Mastercard comes with no annual fee and no minimum income requirement, making it accessible to many people. However, this card does require that you have a good credit score and do a credit check to be approved.
Comparately, Tim Hortons’ other credit card, the Secured Tims Mastercard doesn’t require a credit check in order to be approved. This makes it ideal for individuals who are looking to build their credit score.
This could be a solid choice for students and newcomers to Canada who are just starting out on their Canadian credit journey.
What is a secured credit card? – A secured credit card, like the Secured Tims Mastercard, is a credit card that doesn’t require a credit check for approval. Instead, the cardholder will put down a refundable cash deposit as collateral in order to secure the card.
Check out our guide on secured credit cards to learn more.
Relative to many other credit cards on the market, the two Tims Mastercards don’t offer a ton of benefits. That said, if you’re a big fan of Timmies, they might be a perfect fit for you.
Both cards let you earn Tims Rewards points on all your purchases, and you can then redeem these points for Tim Hortons menu items or statement credits. Additionally, both cards come with a few consumer protection perks.
Comparing the two cards, the Tims Mastercard lets you earn Tims Rewards points every time you use the card, as follows:
The Secured Tims Mastercard earns points at the following rates:
Now, since Tims Rewards points are worth 0.5 cents each, this means you could get an impressive 7.5% return when you earn 15 points per $1 spent at Tim Hortons.
However, keep in mind that with both cards, the higher earning rates are limited to the first $20,000 you spend each year. After this limit, all purchases revert to base earning rate of 1 point per $2 spent or 1 point per $4 spent.
Keep in mind that Tims Rewards points expire 12 months after the month in which they were earned. For example, this means that points accumulated on March 15, 2025, will expire on April 1, 2026.
The points you earn with your Tims Mastercard can be redeemed for menu items at participating Tim Hortons, as well as for statement credits up to $45.
You can explore our complete guide to the Tims Rewards program to learn all the ins and outs of earning and redeeming your points, but to give you an idea of the available value, here are some popular redemption choices:
If you’d rather use your points to pay down your statement balance, you can do so at the following rates:
Both the Tims Mastercard and the Secured Tims Mastercard let you use your points for statement credits once every 7 days.
If you have enough points and an eligible unpaid purchase on your statement, you can redeem $5 to $45. Take a look at the Tims Financial website to learn more or explore your options in the app.
Whether or not you should get one of the Tims Mastercards depends on your current financial needs and goals.
To help you make this decision, let’s look at the good and the not-so-good qualities of the two cards.
One of the best parts of the Tims Mastercards is that they both have no annual fee and no minimum income requirement. Plus, as long as you’re able to provide the necessary deposit for the secured card, you’re almost certain to be approved.
Thanks to these features, the cards are accessible to most people, and the secured option (not available in Quebec) can be a great way to establish or rebuild your credit score.
Another way that the Tims Mastercards are valuable is through their ability to earn points that can be redeemed for food and drinks at Tim Hortons across the country or for statement credits on eligible purchases.
In fact, when you use the Tims Mastercard for your Tim Hortons purchases, you net the notable return rate of 7.5% (15 points per $1 spent X ¢0.5 in presumed value).
In terms of additional non-reward perks, both the Tims Mastercard and the Secured Tims Mastercard offer cardholders extended warranty and purchase protection coverage, giving you some extra peace of mind with your new purchases.
At this point, you may be wondering which of the two cards is the best option.
Well, the only notable difference between the two cards are the earning rates and the application process.
Given this, if you’re able to get the Tims Mastercard and enjoy the higher earning rates, that would be the most lucrative choice. However, the secured option is also a decent choice if it better suits your current financial situation.
Now that we’ve explored the cards’ good qualities, let’s take a quick look at the not-so-good parts.
First, a notable limitation of the Tims Mastercards is that the points you earn can only be used at Tim Hortons and for small statement credits, and the earning rates when spending anywhere other than Tim Hortons aren’t amazing.
For example, to get enough points to redeem for a coffee and a donut (700 points or around a $3.50–4.00 value), you would need to spend $140 on groceries, gas, transit, or EV charging on the Tims Mastercard or $350 on the Secured Tims Mastercard.
This earning rate is giving you an approximately 2.5% return from the eligible category spend with the Tims Mastercard and only around a 1% return the secured credit card option.
These earning rates are less than ideal given that you could actually earn considerably more valuable rewards by paying with a credit card that earns a strong return across the entire restaurant category (more on this in the next section!) and not just at Tim Hortons.
Additionally, the Secured Tims Mastercard isn’t the strongest secured card on the market. If you’re in search of a secured credit card, we recommend you read through our guide to secured credit cards to learn more about your options.
If you’re looking for a card that earns valuable rewards at all restaurants, not just Tim Hortons, there are a number of strong contenders.
Depending on how you redeem the points you accumulate with any of these cards, you could enjoy a solid 5% return (or even more if you transfer the Amex Cobalt’s MR points to an airline or hotel loyalty program!).
One additional option – if you’d prefer to earn straightforward cash back, the Simplii Cash Back Visa Card earns 4% cash back on eligible restaurant, bar, and coffee shop purchases (on up to $5,000 in spending per year).
The Tims Mastercard and Secured Tims Mastercard give fans of the legendary brand the chance to earn points that can be redeemed for tasty Tim Hortons menu items.
With no annual fees and no income requirements, a Tims Mastercard might just be the right choice for you if you’d like to save a bit of money on your favourite donuts and coffee.
No. The Tims Mastercard is a no-annual-fee credit card with no minimum income requirement.
There are more than 5,500 Tim Hortons locations in 10+ countries around the world.
To apply for a job at Tim Hortons, you can visit your nearest Tim Hortons branch or apply directly online on the Tim Hortons Careers page.
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