It’s been a busy year in the credit card world in Canada. 2022 saw plenty of big changes to some popular cards – both positive and negative.
So, we’re going to close out the year with a look back at all the major changes that happened to some popular cards in 2022 in preparation for a new set of rankings in 2023.
But, we also said goodbye to many credit cards this year, and introduced some new friends.
Here’s our credit card recap of 2022.
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Credit cards we said goodbye to in 2022
There were quite a few credit cards that were discontinued in 2022, at least to new applicants. Some of you may still have them, but for how long, who knows (the banks themselves may not even know).
Here are the credit cards we bid adieu to in 2022.
- Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus Mastercard
- Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard
- Best Western Platinum Plus Mastercard
- Capital One Costco Mastercard
- Harley Davidson Platinum Plus Mastercard
- RBC Rewards Visa Preferred
- RBC Rewards+ Visa
- RBC Signature Rewards Visa
- Refresh Secured Visa
- Scotiabank Rewards Visa
- Scotiabank ScotiaGold Passport Visa
- Scotiabank GM Visa
- Scotiabank GM Visa Infinite
New credit cards we said hello to in 2022
We also said hello to a few new cards in 2022, helping to fill some of the void of what was lost.
Credit cards with major changes in 2022
On top of all the retirements and newcomers, a lot of credit cards saw some significant changes. Here’s the summary of what changed this year.
| Credit Card(s) | What Changed | Good or Bad Change? |
|---|---|---|
| BMO World Elite Mastercard | * Card name * Earn rates |
Not good |
| Scotiabank American Express | * Earn rates * Insurance |
Good |
| Scotiabank Platinum American Express | * Earn rates * Insurance |
Good |
| Scotiabank Gold American Express | * Earn rates * Insurance |
Good |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite | * Earn rates * Annual fee |
Mostly good |
| BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard | * Earn rates | Good, with an asterisk attached |
| Amex SimplyCash | * Earn rates | Beyond Good |
| Amex SimplyCash Preferred | * Earn rates * Annual fee |
Beyond Good |
| National Bank World Elite Mastercard | * Earn rates * Insurance * Change to a major perk |
Good |
| National Bank Platinum Mastercard | * Earn rates * Insurance * Decrease in annual fee |
Good |
| Stack Mastercard | * Fee changes | Terrible |
| TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite | * Earn rates * Insurance * New perk |
Good |
BMO World Elite Mastercard
- What changed: Card name, earn rates
- Any effect on the rankings? None
- More info: Say Hello To The BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard (And Goodbye To The BMO World Elite Mastercard)
BMO kicked off the year of changes with the BMO World Elite Mastercard.
First, they gave the card a new name – the BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard, and then coupled that with some new card art.
They also changed how you earn points. Here’s what it used to earn:
- 3 points per $1 spent on travel, dining, and entertainment, and
- 2 points per $1 spent everywhere else.
And it now earns this:
- 5 points per $1 spent on travel (up to 15,000 points earned per year),
- 3 points per $1 spent on dining, entertainment, and recurring bills (up to 10,000 points earned per year), and
- 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else.
How does that translate to annual rewards? Based on a $2,000 monthly spend, you went from $342 in annual rewards to $265.
And seeing how nothing else changed, we were not off to a good start this year. You lost rewards, and didn’t gain anything.
BMO largely hit on all their recent changes, but unfortunately, this was a big miss.
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Scotiabank American Express
- What changed: Earn rates, insurance
- Any effect on the rankings? A better ranking no annual fee card
- More info: Major Updates Here To Scotiabank American Express Cards, Big Time Sobeys Upgrade Coming To Scene+ Credit Cards
Every Scotiabank Scene+ credit card underwent some upgrades, largely in part (we think) to Sobeys joining the Scene+ program.
Let’s start with the no fee Scotiabank Amex.
First, the earn rates. In the past, it earned a simple 1 point per $1 spent.
As part of the July update, it then earned:
- 2 points per $1 spent on grocery, restaurant, entertainment, gas, daily transit, and select streaming services, and
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Then with the October update, you started earning 3 Scene+ points per $1 spent at Sobeys and Safeway stores.
It did see some changes in the insurance department. Gone are the travel insurance coverages, and in its place came mobile device insurance.
While not great news, overall you’re earning much more for rewards.
Scotiabank Platinum American Express
- What changed: Earn rates, insurance, interest rates
- Any effect on the rankings? A top low interest and insurance credit card
- More info: Major Updates Here To Scotiabank American Express Cards
The Scotiabank Platinum Amex got a revamped earnings structure along with new interest rates.
Before, you earned up to 4 points per $1 spent on purchases, depending on the category. It’s now a simple 2 points per $1 spent everywhere. In the insurance category, it also gained mobile device insurance.
But the biggest change was to the interest rates. Instead of typical 20% credit card interest, it now has a low permanent rate of 9.99% on purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers. That makes it one of the best low interest credit cards in Canada.
Scotiabank Gold American Express
- What changed: Earn rates, insurance
- Any effect on the rankings? Maintain hold on foreign exchange fee cards, a top insurance credit card
- More info: Big Time Sobeys Upgrade Coming To Scene+ Credit Cards
The Scotiabank Gold Amex had a simple, yet effective update.
It gained 2 things. First, it started earning 6 points per $1 spent at Sobeys and Safeway stores, an increase of 1 point over the card’s typical grocery store earn rate.
On top of that, it also included mobile device insurance.
And those were all the changes – nothing taken away, no increase in annual fee.
×1 Award winner 
GC: $100
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Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite
- What changed: Earn rates, annual fee
- Any effect on the rankings? No
- More info: Big Time Sobeys Upgrade Coming To Scene+ Credit Cards
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite also saw 2 updates.
First, like the other Scene+ cards, this card started earning an extra point per $1 spent at Sobeys and Safeway (earning 3 points per $1 spent).
However, this card did see a small annual fee increase of $11, up to $150. Not a major increase, and for many it will be more than offset with the extra rewards at Sobeys.
GC: $150
BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard
- What changed: Earn rates
- Any effect on the rankings? Maintained hold on best Air Miles credit card
- More info: BMO Air Miles Update: Maximize The Increased Earn Rate At Grocery Stores
We’ll file this update under it looks good on paper, but there’s a major caveat involved.
It’s true, the BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard got a new earn rate – 2 miles per $12 spent on groceries.
But keep this in mind – Air Miles lost a major sponsor this year in Sobeys and Safeway. And at those stores, cardholders used to earn 3 miles per $12 spent. If you shopped a lot at those stores, you’re still earning less, but the increased rate on groceries helps lessen the blow.
So while a win on paper, it’s simply offsetting a major loss.
A similar update also happened to the no fee BMO Air Miles Mastercard. It got a new grocery earn rate of 2 miles per $25 spent, to help members earn more Miles.
×1 Award winner GC: $150
1x Award winner
Amex SimplyCash card
- What changed: Earn rates, card art
- Any effect on the rankings? A top no annual fee card
- More info: Big Changes for Amex SimplyCash and Amex SimplyCash Preferred: Increased Annual Fee And New Earn Rates
Amex revamped the SimplyCash line. We’ll start with the no fee SimplyCash card.
The earn rates have been increased. You still earn 1.25% cash back on everything. But on top of that, you’ll get 2% cash back on gas and groceries. Talk about increasing rewards while not losing anything.
And the new card art? Beautiful. All we have to say is bravo Amex, bravo.
Amex SimplyCash Preferred
- What changed: Earn rates, annual fee, card art
- Any effect on the rankings? A top cash back credit card
- More info: Big Changes for Amex SimplyCash and Amex SimplyCash Preferred: Increased Annual Fee And New Earn Rates
The SimplyCash Preferred card also got a big time upgrade.
Like its no fee sibling, the base earn rate remained untouched at 2% cash back. And now it also offers 4% cash back on gas and groceries.
What other cash back cards are offering 2% back on all purchases, and more on a few major categories? None.
With that said, the annual fee did increase, from $99 to $199.88, which gets charged out monthly. But that’s still in line with other premium cash back cards.
The new card art is exquisite, and is a favourite of many at the CCG team.
We can definitely call this the upgrade of the year.
National Bank World Elite Mastercard
- What changed: Earn rates, insurance, perks
- Any effect on the rankings? A top flexible rewards credit card
- More info: A Pair Of National Bank Mastercards Are Getting Big Overhauls
National Bank got in on the fun, and made changes to 2 of their travel Mastercards.
First, the National Bank World Elite Mastercard. It got a revamped rewards system, and some changes to insurance and its key perk.
First, the rewards. It’s a big improvement over what it used to offer:
- 5 points per $1 spent on groceries and restaurants,
- 2 points per $1 spent on gas, electric vehicle charging, recurring bills, and travel booked through NBC Rewards, and
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Quite a change, considering it used to offer only 1.5 points per $1 spent (on the first $40,000 in annual spend). In fact, based on a typical $2,000 monthly spend, you went from an average earn rate of 1.5% to 2.3%.
There were a few insurance changes. Rental car personal effects went away, and in came mobile device coverage.
There was a big change to its major perk. It used to offer $250 in travel reimbursements for 3 categories (with an individual on each one).
It’s been reduced to $150. However, there are 5 things you can use it for, and there’s no individual cap on any one item.
Overall, we think National Bank scored a big win here.
National Bank Platinum Mastercard
- What changed: Earn rates, insurance
- Any effect on the rankings? No change
- More info: A Pair Of National Bank Mastercards Are Getting Big Overhauls
The low fee National Bank Platinum Mastercard saw a few changes as well.
It got a new rewards structure. Instead of earning 1 point per $1 spent on purchases, it now earns this:
- 2 points per $1 spent on groceries and restaurants,
- 1.5 points per $1 spent on gas, electric vehicle charging, recurring bills, and travel booked through NBC Rewards, and
- 1 point per $1.50 spent on all other purchases.
Despite the lower rate on everything else, this was an improvement on the card’s rewards.
As for insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance coverages were lowered, and the card gained mobile device insurance.
As for the annual fee? It got lowered – from $89 to $70. Overall, a positive change to the card.
Stack Mastercard
- What changed: Fees
- Any effect on the rankings? A lower ranking prepaid card
- More info: Foreign Exchange Fee Changes Coming To The Stack Mastercard, New Stack Prepaid Mastercard Fee Angers Canadians – Here’s How To Avoid Paying Them
It was not a good year for the Stack Mastercard. First, they axed the idea of not charging foreign exchange fees. Instead, if you spent more than $350 in foreign currency in 1 month, Stack would give you 2.5% cash back on those purchases. There was also a transaction limit of $1,000 to qualify.
So suddenly we lost an excellent option for those who didn’t want to pay foreign exchange fees.
But Stack wasn’t done – then came the other fees. The biggest was the Stack access fee. If you didn’t spend $350 in a month, Stack slapped on a $7.99 fee.
There were also these fees if you didn’t spend at least $350 per month:
- $0.99 for Interac e-Transfers,
- $1.99 ATM fee, and
- $1.99 cash load fee.
In short, if you only used your Stack Mastercard on occasion, you’re better off moving on to something else.
TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite
- What changed: Earn rates, insurance, perks, annual fee
- Any effect on the rankings? A better ranking flexible rewards card
- More info: Revamped TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Can Earn You Nearly $500 In Rewards Annually
Last but not least is TD, and their massive update to the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite.
Plenty changed – let’s start with the rewards. It used to earn 3 points per $1 spent on everything, and 9 points per $1 spent at Expedia For TD.
But now it’s this:
- 8 points per $1 spent on travel booked online through Expedia For TD,
- 6 points per $1 spent on groceries and restaurants,
- 4 points per $1 spent on recurring bill payments, and
- 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
What does that mean for annual rewards? Before, it was $396, and now we peg it at $432 – a modest upgrade.
But there’s one more way to earn rewards. There’s a birthday bonus. Every year on your birthday, you’ll get a 10% bonus on top of what you earned, up to 10,000 points (worth $50).
Get the max value, and your annual rewards are upped to $475, and that’s looking like a big improvement.
But there’s more. A new perk came along. Every year, you’ll get a $100 travel credit you can use at Expedia For TD. Just make a booking greater than $500 and you’ll save $100.
2 new insurance coverages were also introduced – flight delay and mobile device insurance.
The annual fee did increase a bit – from $120 to $139, but that’s more than offset by what is included.
GC: $20
What credit card change caught your eye in 2022?
There’s our (long) summary of credit card changes in 2022.
What change affected you the most? Which did you like the best?
Let us know in the comments below.
FAQ
What credit card issuers made changes to their cards in 2022?
Quite a few issuers made changes to their credit cards. They include:
- American Express,
- BMO,
- Scotiabank,
- National Bank,
- TD, and
- Stack.
Are there any cash back credit cards that saw big changes?
Amex upgraded their SimplyCash lineup. They kept the same base earn rates, but also added in bonus rewards on gas and groceries, making for perhaps what was the biggest change in 2022.
Did Sobeys joining Scene+ have any impact on credit cards?
Scene+ credit cards underwent several changes. Most notable was that most Scene+ credit cards now earn bonus rewards at Sobeys and Safeway stores.
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