Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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Chuck
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by Chuck »

chufinora wrote: 14 Feb 2018 17:00
kcowan wrote: 14 Feb 2018 16:09 The facts are that the card appealed to snowbirds and they don't typically carry a balance.

Also how many of we card carriers charged a bunch at amazon.ca?

So both sponsors wrote it off as a bad experiment! I am amazed that it lasted as long as it did.

There is clearly a need and I wonder how long Home Trust will honour the zero FX feature when they discover that we make no money for them.
Sure we don't offer as much as those who carry a high interest balance, but I am pretty sure they make plenty on the 2-3% they charge retailers on every purchase. I was using mine as my primary card so the were probably making $50-100 revenue a month off of my purchases. (Thats more than my internet provider makes from me.)
It's more complicated than that. I can't claim to understand all the details, but of that 2-3% I think at most half goes to the card issuer (in your example Home Trust). Visa and Mastercard, take their cut, and a few other middleman processors (terminal issuers, network providers) take a cut as well. I have read that about 1.5% goes to the card issuer for a non-rewards card. There are more processing fees for a rewards card.

So it might be for a rewards card only about 1% goes to the card issuer. I think issuers really love people who carry a balance as well as forex and cash advance fees, ATM fees and any other way to get milk from the cow they can come up with. I think you see niche providers offering these cards to build a customer base, but it seems if they succeed, they cut the rewards ASAP.

Heck, even Tangerine reduced their cash back incentives as soon as their basic card became popular.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by kcowan »

Chuck wrote: 15 Feb 2018 01:20...I have read that about 1.5% goes to the card issuer for a non-rewards card. There are more processing fees for a rewards card.
The 1.5% is the rate of losses from credit charges, so there is no profit for the issuer. Any additional charges for reward cards go back to the card-holder. I know that the card issuer makes money but the profit is razor thin.

We shall see whether Home Trust considers this a good deal. If I were them, I would ratchet the FX from 0 to 1% and see whether I lose any card-holders.

Here is an example of the financial challenges they are facing:
As far as Home Capital Group CEO Yousry Bissada is concerned, the alternative lender is fully in recovery mode after the crisis of confidence that pushed it to the brink last year. “We have turned the corner and expect to grow from here, responsibly, with sustainable risk management practices embedded in our culture,” he said in the company’s earnings release. But the company’s performance in the fourth quarter illustrates how much the crisis cratered Home Capital’s business. Profit sank 39.6 per cent. Mortgage originations plunged 64.1 per cent. Granted, those are year-over-year figures, and the sequential results are showing growth. But the road to recovery is a long one.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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Quebec wrote: 27 Jan 2018 09:11
For those applying for the Home Trust Visa:
Red Flag Deals wrote:Finally reached Home Trust. They said they've had thousands of applications and are very backed up, they are still processing the December ones.
I applied for the Home Trust Visa card on Feb 17. I followed up with a phone call today. This eventually led to a recorded message advising that processing time for new credit card applications is 4-6 weeks.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by Koogie »

I got mine on Feb. 09 and have been using it the last couple of weeks in the US. No problems as yet. The old postal code trick works at gas pumps with it as well. Will examine the exchange charges on my statement when I get home.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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Koogie wrote: 28 Feb 2018 10:55 I got mine on Feb. 09 and have been using it the last couple of weeks in the US. No problems as yet. The old postal code trick works at gas pumps with it as well. Will examine the exchange charges on my statement when I get home.
IME, exchange rates for CC transactions are dynamic - they change throughout the day - so unless you can get to say Yahoo FX within a couple of days of a given transaction, it's hard to be sure you have an accurate datum rate ...
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by kcowan »

But you can get the historic rate on the date the transaction was processed and compare to the the HT rate.

That is what I did with amazon.ca
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by adrian2 »

pmj wrote: 28 Feb 2018 12:52
Koogie wrote: 28 Feb 2018 10:55 I got mine on Feb. 09 and have been using it the last couple of weeks in the US. No problems as yet. The old postal code trick works at gas pumps with it as well. Will examine the exchange charges on my statement when I get home.
IME, exchange rates for CC transactions are dynamic - they change throughout the day - so unless you can get to say Yahoo FX within a couple of days of a given transaction, it's hard to be sure you have an accurate datum rate ...
Amazon Visa uses the following algorithm in showing the exchange rate for a transaction with a foreign amount F:
1. take the Visa exchange rate for the post date (call it "R")
2. convert the foreign amount into CAD: Y = (foreign amount F) x R
3. round Y to two decimals: y = round(Y, 2)
4. calculate an exchange rate r = F / y
5. display r with 9 decimals on your statement

Therefore, for multiple transactions posted on the same date, it gives the appearance of using different rates, but that's just an illusion. The real rate used is always "R".

To verify the above, take a statement and multiply the foreign amount by the forex rate shown: you'll get something very, very close to an exact number of CAD cents.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by chufinora »

ockham wrote: 28 Feb 2018 10:25
Quebec wrote: 27 Jan 2018 09:11
For those applying for the Home Trust Visa:
Red Flag Deals wrote:Finally reached Home Trust. They said they've had thousands of applications and are very backed up, they are still processing the December ones.
I applied for the Home Trust Visa card on Feb 17. I followed up with a phone call today. This eventually led to a recorded message advising that processing time for new credit card applications is 4-6 weeks.
I applied Jan 14th - received the card today. Positives are that the card offers 'Free Roadside Assistance' which I was not expecting (Might be useful since I don't have CAA and drive older cars). Also car rental insurance coverage which Amazon dropped from their card last year. Negative (compared to the Amazon card) the 1% cashback is only redeemed annually in January, and as others have mentioned you cannot modify your PIN.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by Koogie »

chufinora wrote: 01 Mar 2018 17:17 Positives are that the card offers 'Free Roadside Assistance' which I was not expecting (Might be useful since I don't have CAA and drive older cars).
You might want to look into the fine print. I dimly recall someone mentioning elsewhere the coverage is extremely limited and the tow distance for instance was only something like 10km.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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All credit card perks like this are severely limited in scope. Not a substitute for real protection.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by freedom_2008 »

Applied HT visa on Jan 31st. Received an email from them on Feb 21st asking for copies of other credit card and bank saving/gic statements, then another email 5 days later saying documents received and application process started and I will receive my card in 7 to 10 B-day. Hopefully in next week.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by pmj »

REMINDER
Time - or soon - to make a purchase (or more!) after the last-statement-before-March 15th to use up un-redeemed less-than-$20 rewards that will be applied to the first after-March-15th statement.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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pmj wrote: 03 Mar 2018 19:24 REMINDER
Time - or soon - to make a purchase (or more!) after the last-statement-before-March 15th to use up un-redeemed less-than-$20 rewards that will be applied to the first after-March-15th statement.
Yep: three cards in my household
- one was used to buy US$10 of international minutes for my phone, as it had $10.87 in rewards to burn;
- one was used to reload the Amazon gift card with $10, as it had $9.12 in rewards to burn;
- the last was used to reload the same Amazon gift card with $18, as it had $17.06 in rewards to burn.
Problem solved!
-
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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adrian2 wrote: 03 Mar 2018 20:02 Yep: three cards in my household
- one was used to buy US$10 of international minutes for my phone, as it had $10.87 in rewards to burn;
- one was used to reload the Amazon gift card with $10, as it had $9.12 in rewards to burn;
- the last was used to reload the same Amazon gift card with $18, as it had $17.06 in rewards to burn.
Problem solved!
-
And I see you also left room for the 2% reward on Amazon Canada purchases in making those gift card reloads :D.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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Interesting news from Carrick in the Globe -- Scotia has rolled out a travel rewards card with no forex fees (added), including for online purchases.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-i ... e38280514/
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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fireseeker wrote: 13 Mar 2018 14:34 Interesting news from Carrick in the Globe -- Scotia has rolled out a travel rewards card with no forex fees (added), including for online purchases.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-i ... e38280514/
There is lots of discussion on other forums including RFD on the new Infinite Visa. P_I started a thread here http://www.financialwisdomforum.org/for ... 76#p611376
Last edited by AltaRed on 13 Mar 2018 14:43, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

fireseeker wrote: 13 Mar 2018 14:34 Interesting news from Carrick in the Globe -- Scotia has rolled out a travel rewards card with no forex fees (added), including for online purchases.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-i ... e38280514/
I read that article as well and thought it would be a good starting point for a new topic specific to Foreign exchange charges on credit and debit cards.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by kcowan »

Starting March 28th 2018 Rogers and Fido will only be paying 3% down from 4%. So you will only be earning 1/2% on foreign transactions. The choices are narrowing...
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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ockham wrote: 28 Feb 2018 10:25 I applied for the Home Trust Visa card on Feb 17. I followed up with a phone call today. This eventually led to a recorded message advising that processing time for new credit card applications is 4-6 weeks.
I applied on February 6 and haven't heard a peep from them.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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SoninlawofGus wrote: 29 Mar 2018 13:31
ockham wrote: 28 Feb 2018 10:25 I applied for the Home Trust Visa card on Feb 17. I followed up with a phone call today. This eventually led to a recorded message advising that processing time for new credit card applications is 4-6 weeks.
I applied on February 6 and haven't heard a peep from them.
As I reported elsewhere on FWF, I called HT again on Monday (Mar 26). I was now told that processing time is 6-8 weeks (......but at least the rep confirmed that they had my application). Not a confidence inspiring start, for sure.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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just received my final statement from Amazon and the accumulated points were cashed in on the statement and credited against the balance owing. While on the summary on main page it shows " points forfeited" they are actually redeemed and credited on account statement. Adios amazon :thumbsup:
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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I don't suppose that I will be receiving a cheque for $14.54 Ha ha - as though I care.
My statement shows 1454 points forfeited and a credit balance of $14.54
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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Okanagan wrote: 29 Mar 2018 14:23 just received my final statement from Amazon and the accumulated points were cashed in on the statement and credited against the balance owing. While on the summary on main page it shows " points forfeited" they are actually redeemed and credited on account statement. Adios amazon :thumbsup:
I also made sure to have an expense on the card; it was sufficient to offset the credit. :)
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

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CROCKD wrote: 29 Mar 2018 14:30 I don't suppose that I will be receiving a cheque for $14.54 Ha ha - as though I care.
My statement shows 1454 points forfeited and a credit balance of $14.54
I'm pretty sure the cheque is forthcoming.
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Re: Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program

Post by nile »

i will buy you two
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