On the morning of March 15 Rewards Canada contributor Jeff W. caught wind of some major changes to the Brim Mastercards. Gone are the No Foreign transaction fees and the earn rates have been lowered. They have also cut the annual fee on the World Elite version to better match what the card offers or should I say, doesn’t offer now.
TLDR It’s official, even existing cardholders prior to March 14 will be receiving the lower earn rates and will charged the 1.5% FX fee as of May 18, 2024.
Introduction of Foreign Transaction Fees
Both the no fee and fee based Brim Mastercards now charge 1.5% in Foreign Transaction Fees. The No Foreign Transaction fee on these was one of the most popular reasons people got the Brim Cards. Most cards in Canada charge around 2.5% so the 1.5% is lower but still won’t be welcomed with open arms.
UPDATE: It is has been officially confirmed that existing Brim Mastercard and Brim World Elite Mastercard holders will NOT BE grandfathered with No FX Fees – see the update section below for details
To see what cards still offer No FX fees please visit our Guide to No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians
Replacement options in terms of true No FX Fee cards:
- Scotiabank Gold American Express card ($120 Annual Fee)
- Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card ($150 Annual Fee)
- Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card ($399 Annual Fee)
- Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Business card ($199 Annual Fee)
- Home Trust Preferred Visa (no annual fee – not available in Quebec) – No cash back rewards offered on foreign transactions
- EQ Bank Card (Prepaid Card, no fees)
- Koho Premium Prepaid Visa (Prepaid Card – $9 monthly or $84 Annual Fee)
- Wealthsimple Cash Card (Prepaid Card, no fees)
Lower Earn Rates
The Brim World Elite Mastercard was also very popular as a 2% cash back card (on the first $25,000 in spending annually) and now it’s earn rate has been cut in half to only a 1% card. The no fee card is also cut in half from 1% to 0.5%.
This means the Brim World Elite Mastercard will lose its first place position in our Top 5 Mastercards to use at Costco! Watch for that and many other articles that feature this card to be updated very soon as this card will drop down the ranks.
UPDATE: It is has been officially confirmed that existing Brim Mastercard and Brim World Elite Mastercard holders will NOT BE grandfathered with their old earn rates – see the update section below for details
Wrapping it up
This is developing news that I will provide more feedback on shortly but with these changes the cards become extremely mediocre and lose a lot of their competitiveness. Details are still sparse about these changes as to whether this affects only new cards or existing cardholders as well. And a question for those who have Brim cards, have you received any notice of changes?
UPDATES:
March 17 9:55am MT: It is has been officially confirmed that existing Brim Mastercard and Brim World Elite Mastercard holders will NOT BE grandfathered. Emails have been sent out to cardholders advising them these changes are also being made to their cards effective May 18, 2024. Details can be found in this notice of change PDF
March 15 5:02pm MT: Further examination of the disclosure statements posted on their site also has separate disclosures for Rewards and they also have these for accounts opened prior to March 14 and for those opened on or after March 14. It now appears that card issued prior to March 14 retain their rewards terms from 2019 which would mean the World Elite would still earn 2 points per dollar up to $25,000 and then 1 point after that. The no fee card would retain a 1 point per dollar earn rate.
However this points grandfathering may only last for two months until May 13, 2024 as the terms for accounts made from March 14 have an legal note:
They contain important information about the Program, including how to earn and redeem your Rewards. This version is current and effective as of May 13, 2024
There would be no need for this disclaimer for new cards however for existing cards they have to give 60 days notice of changes (for Quebec at least) and 60 days would take them to May 13, 2024. Perhaps I’m wrong in the legalities of it (I’m not a lawyer) but that’s what it seems like to me.
March 15 1:00pm MT: Brim has disclosure statements posted on their site for accounts opened prior to March 14 and for those opened on or after March 14. The ‘prior’ still lists 0% FX Fees while the ‘new accounts’ lists the new 1.5% FX Fee. There is no mention to earn rates. From this we may be able to assume the 0% FX fee will be grandfathered to existing cardholders (We’ll try to see if we can get absolute confirmation on this) but as there is no mention of earn rates we may be able to assume all cardholders, existing and new, will be subject to the new earn rates.
March 15 9:47am MT: It appears existing cardholders will not have the No FX fee benefit/earn rates grandfathered. This is per StarStrike on RFD:
“When I called, they said it was effective immediately and no grandfathering. Everyone is affected. Looks like I will be cancelling this card. Scotiabank Visa Infinite Passport is probably the better choice now.”