Desjardins instituting credit card spending caps and are shifting some merchants out of accelerated earn categories

As reported by Milesopedia there are some negative changes coming to the Desjardins BONUS DOLLARS program. As of January 1, 2024 they will be putting annual spending caps in place for select accelerated earn rate categories on all of their rewards card offerings. Some of the cards accelerated categories also see changes as to what type of purchases count towards that increased earn rate. All of these rewards cards and some other non-rewards cards offered by the bank will also see increases to their interest rates as of November 29, 2023.

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Desjardins Odyssey Visa Infinite Privilege

  • The 3% earn rate for travel will be capped at $25,000 in spend per calendar year.
  • They will no longer count convenience store or sporting event purchases (including sports associations, gyms and other fitness centres) in the 3% groceries and 4% entertainment accelerated earn rate categories respectively which means these purchases will earn 1 .75%.

Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard

  • The 4% earn rate for groceries will be capped at $10,000 in spend per calendar year.
  • The 3% earn rate on restaurant purchases will now be capped at $6,000 in spend per calendar year
  • They will no longer count convenience store or sporting event purchases (including sports associations, gyms and other fitness centres) in the 4% groceries and 2% entertainment accelerated earn rate categories respectively which means these purchases will only earn 1 %.

Desjardins Odyssey World Elite Mastercard

  • The 3% earn rate for groceries will be capped at $10,000 in spend per calendar year. This is definitely one of the lower caps in the market for this category though not as low as seen on the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard but in the end the two cards will equal out as BMO is 5% on $500 per month (or $300 cash back annually) and the Desjardins card will max out $300 cash back annually for the 3% rate. Better off with the MBNA Rewards World Elite, Amex Cobalt, Scotia Gold
  • The 2% earn rate on restaurant purchases will now be capped at $6,000 in spend per calendar year
  • They will no longer count convenience store or sporting event purchases (including sports associations, gyms and other fitness centres) in the 3% groceries and 2% entertainment accelerated earn rate categories respectively which means these purchases will only earn 1 .5%.

Desjardins Odyssey Gold Visa

  • The 2% earn rate for restaurants and Pre-Authorized payments will be capped at $6,000 in spend per calendar year. Purchases made in these two categories after reaching $6,000 will earn 1%.
  • The 2% earn rate on alternative transportation and entertainment will remain uncapped however see the next bullet in regards to a change in the entertainment category.
  • They will no longer count sporting event purchases (including sports associations, gyms and other fitness centres) in the  2% entertainment accelerated earn rate category which means these purchases will only earn 1 %.

Desjardins Cash Back Visa / Desjardins Cash Back Mastercard / Desjardins Bonus Visa

  • The 2% earn rate for restaurants and Pre-Authorized payments will be capped at $3,600 in spend per calendar year. Purchases made in these two categories after reaching $3,600 will earn 0.5%.
  • The 2% earn rate on alternative transportation and entertainment will remain uncapped however see the next bullet in regards to a change in the entertainment category.
  • They will no longer count sporting event purchases (including sports associations, gyms and other fitness centres) in the 2% entertainment accelerated earn rate category which means these purchases will only earn 0.5%.

 

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Interest Rate Increases

On November 29, 2023 the interest rates on the majority of Desjardins card are being increased. The cards affected will move from 19.9% to 20.9% for purchases and from 19.9% to 21.9% for cash advances and balance transfers. These changes bring them in line with the majority of issuers who have been doing so for the past couple of years.

Wrapping it up

There is no good news in these changes from Desjardins. The bank has generally flown under the radar with their relatively strong earning cards that featured no spending caps but that is all changing now. And it’s changing big time as the most popular accelerated spend categories for most of their cards are being reigned in with some low spending caps.

For example the 3% grocery earn rate being capped at $10,000 annually on the Odyssey World Elite Mastercard is definitely one of the lower caps in the market – though not as low as seen on the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard. Interestingly enough though, in the end the two cards will equal out on their accelerated earn rates as BMO’s 5% earn is capped at $500 per month (or $300 cash back annually) and the Desjardins card will max out $300 cash back annually for the 3% rate at $10,000. Both of which are low compared to many other cards in the market.

And then to remove convenience stores from the accelerated grocery category on the cards? Come on, I don’t think convenience stores make up that big of piece of the pie….. I mean points maximizers are known to buy gift cards and prepaid cards at convenience stores but in the grand scheme of things that’s minor – and they’ll just shift that to grocery stores anyways. Plus if you are already capping grocery at this low of amount why pull convenience stores out of the category? It doesn’t make sense.

Overall. if you spend a lot on groceries (and convenience stores) you will be better off with cards like the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard, American Express Cobalt Card or the Scotia Gold American Express Card.

In the end, even though all the cards have retained the same earn rates and accelerated categories what we see here is a devaluation to the cards. The caps that have been put in place can and will seriously curb the amount of cash back or rewards earned for many people who have these cards (World Elite cardholders tend to be bigger spenders) as essentially any spend above the caps is being devalued. The shifting of some merchants out of accelerated categories means cardholders will earn less at those places, which is another devaluation. At least they didn’t touch the great base earn rate on the Visa Infinite Privilege card…..

Images via Desjardins