Rewards Canada is happy to offer one of our lucky readers a chance to win a $100 Gas Card! All you have to do to enter is to comment below on the new Scotiabank GM Visa cards with an answer to any one of these three questions:
– Which GM vehicle would you most likely redeem your GM Earnings for?
– What do you like best about either of the GM cards?
The contest closes on Wednesday October 14th, 2015 at 11:59pm MST! Limit 1 entry per person
Winner will be
determined by random draw from all eligible entries received. Void where prohibited. No
purchase necessary.
The co-brand suite consists of two cards, the no fee Scotiabank® GM®* VISA* Card and the Scotiabank® GM®* VISA Infinite* Card.
Scotiabank® GM®* VISA* Card
– No Annual Fee
– Annual Fee – $0
– Co-Borrower Fee – $0
– Supplementary Card Fee – $0
– 19.99% annual interest rates for card purchases
– 22.99% annual interest rate on cash advances and balance transfers
– Minimum Credit Limit – $500
GM Earnings
– 5% in GM Earnings on the first $5,000 in Net Purchases annually
– 2% in GM Earnings on all Net Purchases* thereafter
– No limits on GM Earnings
Redemption
– $1 in GM Earnings = $1 towards the total purchase price or lease down
payment of any eligible new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac.
– Customers can start redeeming points at $1 and can combine GM Earnings with any in-market offers.
– No caps on redemption
Insurance coverage:
Sample rewards earning:
—–
Scotiabank® GM®* VISA Infinite* Card
– Annual Fee – $79
– Co-Borrower Fee – $39
– Supplementary Card Fee – $39
– 19.99% annual interest rates for card purchases
– 22.99% annual interest rate on cash advances and balance transfers
– Minimum Credit Limit – $5,000
– Minimum Income – $60,000 or Household Income of $100,000
GM Earnings
– 5% in GM Earnings on the first $10,000 in Net Purchases annually
– 2% in GM Earnings on all Net Purchases* thereafter
– No limits on GM Earnings
Redemption
– $1 in GM Earnings = $1 towards the total purchase price or lease down
payment of any eligible new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac
– Customers can start redeeming points at $1 and can combine GM Earnings with any in-market offers.
– No caps on redemption
Insurance coverage:
Sample rewards earning:
The Verdict
With the release of these cards and with most cards in Canada not
changing their reward offering over the past 6 months, I can hopefully
say that I was wrong when I predicted that Credit Card Rewards will
suffer with the new interchange rate agreement that went into effect
this past April. Both of these cards provide extremely strong earn potential!
5% on your first $5,000 or $10,000 in spending each year depending on
which card you get and then 2% back on all other eligible spending. That
2% is even available on the no-fee card! There are very few and I mean
very few cards that will cost you nothing and essentially earn you 2%
cash back. Spend $30,000 a year on the no fee card and after three years
you’ll have $2,250 towards a GM vehicle or $2,700 towards that same car
with the Infinite version. Unlike most cash back cards where you have
to wait until your card anniversary to get the cash back, the GM
Earnings are similar to many travel rewards credit cards whereby the
points or in this case GM Earnings $ are essentially available for use
as they post
Of course with that being said, you are limited as to where you can use
your rewards. You have one option only and that is using the rewards
towards a new car and that new car has to be a GM vehicle. So if you
meet these two criteria for rewards, that is, you are eyeing a new car
and you are likely to go GM then getting either one of these cards makes
great sense. Don’t travel much and hate annual fees, the no annual fee
card makes great sense. On the other hand if you travel at least once
per year (road trip, flying etc.) and don’t have another card in your
credit card portfolio that offers insurance benefits like out of
province medical, trip interruption or flight delay then paying that $79
per year for the Infinite card is well worth it.
The only thing we here at Rewards Canada that we see missing with these
cards is a sign up bonus. I believe Scotiabank addressed this with the
5% earn each year on the first $5,000 or $10,000 in spending but by
offering even a small sign up bonus incentive like $25 on the no fee
card and $50 for the Infinite could easily push a few more people to the
cards and since those are one time costs they could be recouped
relatively quickly in terms of fees collected from merchants when those
members swipe their cards.
Here are some terms and conditions of the GM Earnings:
– Earnings may be applied toward the Total Purchase Price or lease down
payment of any eligible new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac. The
“Total Purchase Price” consists of the vehicle price (up to the
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price), freight and PDI, air tax, and
applicable sales taxes.
– The “Total Purchase Price” excludes costs associated with licensing,
registration, insurance, dealer fees (where allowed), accessories,
additional options, extended warranties, maintenance or service plans
and other services such as OnStar and SiriusXM. 2
– If you cancel your credit card, your credit privileges are revoked or
your account is closed, your GM Earnings must be redeemed within 90 days
or they will be forfeited. If your account is not in good standing, GM
Earnings are not eligible for redemption. Please refer to the GM Card
Earnings Program Terms and Conditions for details
Redemption Details:
– To redeem the Earnings accumulated with a GM Card, customers can visit
www.gmcard.ca and select “My Earnings” or contact the GM Card Reward
Centre at 1-888-446-6232 to verify their total Earnings available.
– Once verified, customers can visit any authorized GM dealer and choose
their eligible new vehicle. After they have discussed the purchase
price of the vehicle, but before signing the contract, they tell the
sales representative that they want to redeem their Earnings.
– The customer and the sales representative will then call the GM Card
Reward Centre to confirm the total amount of eligible Earnings. During
the call, the GM Card Reward Centre will ask for the Primary or
Secondary Cardholder’s information for authentication purposes and also
obtain certain vehicle sale information from the sales representative
and then provide the representative with an authorization number to
complete the transaction.
– Once the authorization number is issued, the Earnings amount will be
deducted from the total purchase price or lease down payment of their
new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac.