Envision Financial has introduced a new credit card to their portfolio with the launch of their Cash Back World Elite Mastercard. To the best of my knowledge this card only launched sometime over the past month or so and is listed as ‘new’ on Envision’s and other credit union websites. You can correct me if it isn’t actually that new but I don’t recall seeing the card three or so weeks ago when I was updating the Envision travel cards for our travel rewards card comparison charts.
Envision had short lived fame several years ago with their travel rewards World Mastercard as that card had a flat 2% return on all spending which was reminiscent of days gone by earn rates of the Capital One Aspire World Elite Mastercard. Not too long after that however they revamped the card to its current form to have some accelerated earn rates that equaled 2% and 3% but then a base earn rate of only 1% for all other spending.
The Envision Financial Cash Back World Elite Mastercard
Now we have a new cash back offering from them and at first glance it looks to be a decent offering. It has very good cash back earn rates, an average insurance coverage package and a middle of the road welcome bonus. The card is provided by Collabria which issues most of the credit cards for Canadian credit unions. (Thank to Daylen for the correction) The card is provided by Collabria which at one point in time seemed to issue pretty much all credit union cards but over the past few years we’ve seen some CU’s start to issue their own cards or move over to Brim. Collabria doesn’t have a stellar customer service reputation so do keep that in mind if you are considering this card.
$150 Welcome Bonus
The card offers a 15,000 point welcome bonus which is equal to $150 in cash back. The card does have an annual fee of $120 with no first year free waiver at this time so you would come out $30 ahead with the bonus.
The Cash Back Earn Rates
The cash back rewards are what make this card a compelling option. It has accelerated earn rates for several categories as follows:
Earn 4 points per dollar (4% cash back) for grocery and sustainable transit purchases. This category is capped at $20,000 annually which is similar to other 4% cards like the CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card and the Scotia Momentum® Visa* Infinite card
Next the card earns 2 points per dollar (2% cash back) for select recurring Bills, digital streaming, and dining. This category is also capped at $20,000 annually (Separate from the 4% cap though)
Finally all other purchases will earn 1 point per dollar which is 1% cash back including those from above if you go over the annual caps.
Redeeming for cash back
To receive the cash back you can request a statement credit towards your account. You can also request to have your cash back rewards deposited into an Envision Financial bank account (their accounts appear to have no fees). I was unable to find a minimum redemption amount for statement credits or to initiate a deposit.
Benefits and Insurance
As the card is a World Elite Mastercard it automatically provides free global Wi-Fi access with Boingo and airport lounge access membership with Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass.
For insurance it has 15 out of province emergency medical coverage (up to age 65), baggage coverage, auto rental CDW coverage, mobile device insurance, purchase protection and extended warranty.
Visa Infinite Version
Another thanks to our reader Daylen for alerting us to the Visa Infinite version of this card that has also launched. It offers the same cash back rewards and insurance coverage. It does not provide lounge access or global Wi-Fi like the World Elite card however it also only requires $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income versus the World Elite’s $80,000/$150,000. This card is available via the credit unions that issue Collabria Visa products such as Community Savings.
Wrapping it up
Envision Financial’s newest cash back credit card comes out strong with earn rates comparable to some of the Canada’s best cash back credit cards from the likes of CIBC, Scotia and other issuers. With 4% cash back on groceries and sustainable transportation, 2% cash back on dining, recurring bills and digital services this card easily finds itself ranking in the top 10 in terms of cash back rewards – in fact in might even crack the top 5! I’ll need to do a more thorough comparison in the near future but we definitely seem to have a new cash back competitor on our hands!
Click here to learn more about the Envision Financial Cash Back World Elite Mastercard
Note: As this card is issued by Collabria it does appear several other credit unions across Canada are offering or will offer this same card. We did find some like Raymore Credit Union and The Police Credit Union who had the listed on their sites while some other CUs did not.
Images via Envision Financial