News, Tips & Tricks
The big news over the weekend came to us from Walmart Canada who
announced they will stop accepting Visa branded cards. The first store
will be in Thunder Bay and others across Canada wil follow suit. Walmart
states that Visa is charging them too high of fees and they could not
come to an agreement to continue accepting Visa cards.
Following an evaluation of credit card transaction fees in Canada and
the rest of the world, we have concluded the fees applied to Visa credit
card purchases remain unacceptably high.Walmart’s
purpose is to save customers money so they can live better. We are
committed first and foremost to this purpose, which requires us to keep
costs as low as possible.
To ensure we are taking
care of our customers’ best interests and delivering on our promise of
saving customers money, we constantly work to reduce our operating
costs, including credit card fees. Unfortunately, Visa and Walmart have
been unable to agree on an acceptable fee for Visa transactions. As a
result we will no longer accept Visa in our stores across Canada,
starting with our stores in Thunder Bay, on July 18, 2016. This change
will then be rolled out in phases across the country.
This leaves
MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Interac and Cash as the methods of
payment at Walmart. Of course this will mean an even bigger push by
Walmart for their own Walmart Rewards MasterCard and many, unfortunately, will
jump on the card when at the cash register finding out Walmart no
longer accepts Visa. The sad thing is there are many other options that
are better than the Walmart MasterCard here in Canada (whether it is a
MasterCard or Amex card).
As we stated on Twitter over the weekend, this
further solidifies our constant push for our readers to hold onto at
least one Visa card, one MasterCard and one American Express card. We
normally state this due to promotions that are available to each
individual brand but now it is even holding true just for being able to
use cards at certain retailers. Here is the excerpt from our Maximize Your Miles article:
Carry different credit cards
Some bonus mile offers or other offers like free gift cards (see
Cash in on other rewards below) require that you only use a
specific credit card like a Visa. So if it is economically
viable for you to do so, carry a Visa card, a MasterCard
and an American Express. Think it may be expensive? Well
there are quite a few no fee credit cards that earn points. Of course you
don’t even have to get a mileage card for your additional card, you
could go for cash back rebates or merchandise but since this
is an article on miles, why wouldn’t you?”
The whole idea of carrying all three major card brands is the premise of our Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios,
so if you only carry a Visa card but want to continue shopping at Walmart and continue earning your favourite rewards like Aeroplan miles be
sure to check out our Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios.
—
Another Rexall AIR MILES coupon for you. 80 bonus Reward Miles if you $50 or more until the 16th. Get the coupon here.
—
BMO has increased the sign up bonuses for their SPC MasterCards!
Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Fly British Airways between Toronto and London for as low as $693 all in. Find out more here.
Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
– Double Rewards points for stays at Best Western Hotels in the Netherlands and Belgium. More… Jul 1 – Aug 31, 16
La Quinta Returns
– Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More… Until Jul 7, 16
Le Club accorhotels
– Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. More… Book by Jun 29 for stays until Aug 31, 16
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
– Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for at least two consecutive
nights in the Premier Club or Premium Suite at Concorde Hotel Singapore.
More… Until Jul 31, 16
– Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent with EuropCar in in Australia, Malaysia and Thailand. More… Until Jul 31, 16
South African Airways Voyager
– Double Voyager Miles for stays at IHG Hotel stays Worldwide. More… Jun 1 – Aug 31, 16
Follow Rewards Canada:
Today’s Bonus Offer Highlight is brought to you by: