Can’t get enough of your Tim Hortons? Love your Tims Rewards? If that’s you, you now have an additional route to earning even more Tim Rewards points with the new Tims Credit Cards. Yes, Tim Hortons will once again have a co-brand credit card. No LEDs and buttons this time however as seen on their old CIBC Double Double card as this time they have teamed up with Neo Financial to provide the new cards.
Earn Rates on the new Tims Credit Cards
The new Tims Mastercard earns Tims Rewards points as follows:
- Up to 5 points per dollar spent on gas, transit and groceries
- Up to 5 points per dollar spent at Tim Hortons when you scan for Tims Rewards (They market it as 15 points per dollar but that includes your 10 points per dollar that is normally earned as a Tims Rewards member)
- 1 point per $2 spent on all other purchases.
They also offer the Secured Tims Mastercard version of the card (just as Neo does with their own cards) and the secured version earns points as follows:
- Up to 2 points per dollar spent on gas, transit and groceries
- Up to 2 points per dollar spent at Tim Hortons when you scan for Tims Rewards (They market it as 15 points per dollar but that includes your 10 points per dollar that is normally earned as a Tims Rewards member)
- 1 point per $4 spent on all other purchases.
Redeeming points & points value
Tims Rewards was revamped earlier this year (Further reading: Big changes coming to Tim Hortons Tims Rewards) which saw the program move to a points based model versus the previous per visit model. Members redeem those points for Tims products as follows:
- 300 points: Classic Donuts, Specialty Donuts, Hashbrowns, and Cookies
- 400 points: Brewed Coffee, Tea, Dream Donuts, Bagels, and Baked Goods
- 600 points: Hot Chocolate, French Vanilla, Iced Coffee and Wedges
- 800 points: Real Fruit Quenchers, Cold Brew, Classic Iced Capp, Box of 10 Timbits, Yogurt, Frozen Beverages and Espresso Drinks
- 1100 points: Breakfast Sandwiches and Soups
- 1300 points: Farmer’s Wrap, BELT, Lunch Sandwiches and Chili
- 1800 points: Loaded Bowls & Wraps
The value of the points earned when redeemed for Tims purchases will vary based on what you redeem for and where you are located as prices do vary from coast to coast to coast. On average though a Tims Rewards point is worth 0.5 cents (for example 400 points for $2 coffee) which puts the earn to burn ratio (value) of the Tims credit card points earning at:
- 2.5% return on gas, transit and groceries
- 2.5% return on Tims purchases (not including the points earned with your regular Tims Rewards loyalty card)
- 0.25% return on all other purchases
And for the secured card:
- 1% return on gas, transit and groceries
- 1% return on Tims purchases (not including the points earned with your regular Tims Rewards loyalty card)
- 0.125% return on all other purchases
For a no annual fee card, the non-secured version has a pretty decent earn-burn ratio on gas, transit, groceries and Tims purchases. There aren’t many no annual fee cards that can match that rate of ~2.5% but and this is a big but (Sir Mix-A-Lot would be proud) the base earn rate value of 0.25% is one of the lowest in the market for a rewards card – fee or no fee.
Statement credit redemption
When you have enough Tims Rewards Points in your account you can redeem them for a statement credit of $5 to $45 (available in increments of $5), every 7 days. The statement credit is applied to your credit card account for eligible transactions in your current billing cycle. Restrictions do apply and Neo states to see their Statement Credit Terms & Conditions for complete details
The redemption rate for this option is 1,250 points for a $5 statement credit. The minimum redemption is 1,250 points and maximum is 11,250 points every 7 days.
Insurance
The card will offer Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection insurance which is great to see as Neo doesn’t even included on their own cards unless you pay for a bundle that includes the coverage!
Wrapping it up
We now have even more cards to add to the already over crowded Canadian rewards credit card market! The Tims Mastercard and Secured Tims Mastercard mark the retailer’s return to the co-brand space. Partnering with Neo Financial to power their cards, the new offering actually provides a good value if you use the non-secured card for solely for gas, groceries, transit and Tims purchases. However the base earn rate is extremely low, even for a no fee card. Consumers who have a lot of purchases outside of the four accelerated categories will do better with any number of no fee cards that offer a 0.5% to 1% or higher return.
Click here to learn more about the new Tims Mastercard
Click here to learn more about the Secured Tims Mastercard
And that makes me wonder: when will we see a MyMcDonald’s Rewards credit card? 😉
Title image via Tims Financial