For a lot of Canadian families, a car is the second most expensive purchase after housing expenses. While you can pay for a new vehicle with a car loan, some people prefer saving up and paying for a vehicle in cash. Would you be excited if you found out you could earn rewards towards a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac simply with your everyday shopping? With the new Scotiabank GM VISA Card, that dream is now a reality.
Scotiabank and GM have teamed up to offer two new co-branded credit cards that offer one of the richest rewards programs on the market. Scotiabank has a track record of coming out with credit cards Canadians love and these new offerings are sure to be a hit.
GM VISA Card Details
The premium version, the Scotiabank GM VISA Infinite Card, offers power spenders a 5% in GM Earnings on the first $10,000 of purchases annually, but comes with an annual fee of $79. Additionally, the Visa Infinite status brings discerning consumers enhanced benefits built right into the card.
The standard version offers the same rewards program, but lowers the 5% rewards earnings to a max annual spend of $5,000 VS. $10,000 for the Infinite version. However, this card does not have an annual fee. When considering either card for your wallet, analyze your spending habits to determine if the premium benefits outweigh paying an annual fee.
Why This May Be the Card For You
When MasterCard and Visa agreed to cap interchange fees at 1.5 percent, it was a good news, bad news story. While small businesses were happy with the lower fees, cardholders were concerned that credit card issuers would gradually reduce their favourite reward programs.
With the new Scotiabank GM VISA Card offering one of the richest rewards programs on the market, this doesn’t appear to be the case. While most rewards programs generally only offer a 1 percent rewards rate, 5 percent rewards from Scotiabank is very competitive, even with the annual spend cap.
Another major plus is that the rewards program is pretty straightforward and redeeming GM earnings is a breeze. There are no complicated formulas or point conversions. $1 in Earnings Rewards = $1 off a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac. Here’s a snipit from the gmcard.ca website:
To redeem the Earnings you have accumulated, visit gmcard.ca and select “My Earnings” or contact the GM Card Reward Centre at 1-888-446-6232 to verify your total Earnings available. Once verified, visit any authorized GM dealer and choose your eligible new vehicle. After you and the sales representative have discussed the sale or lease price of your vehicle, but before you sign the contract, tell the sales representative that you want to redeem your Earnings.
We like the simplicity of the rewards program and straightforward goal cardholders can work towards – to earn rewards towards a new vehicle. Unlike travel rewards programs like Aeroplan, you don’t have to jump through hoops to redeem your points.
Why This Card Might Not Be For You
While this credit card is great, it comes with one major obvious restriction. You can only use rewards towards the purchase or lease down payment of a GM vehicle (this includes Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac). This card will require patience. Clearly it will take time to earn enough rewards to make a dent in a new vehicle purchase. Also, if you’re not a fan of GM vehicles or you prefer to buy your vehicles second-hand, this probably isn’t the credit card for you.
