Credit Cards 2023 Year In Review – What Changed In The Credit Card World

2023 is drawing to a close. And for our last major post of the year, we're looking back at what happened in the credit card world.

There were no bigger changes than what Rogers Bank did with the Rogers Mastercard (formerly known as the Rogers Connections Card), but there were a few other changes as well.

There was also a mass exodus of credit cards, and we said hello to a few new faces as well. Here's our recap of 2023.

Credit cards we said goodbye to in 2023

A lot of credit cards were discontinued in 2023. Here are some of those cards.

First, American Express discontinued all of their Air Miles cards, which happened shortly after BMO acquired the Air Miles program. These cards include:

• American Express Air Miles,
• American Express Air Miles Platinum, and
• American Express Air Miles Reserve.

With RBC finalizing their takeover of HSBC, all of their Mastercards have been discontinued, at least for the time being. These cards are:

• HSBC World Elite Mastercard,
• HSBC +Rewards Mastercard,
• HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard, and
• HSBC Cash Rewards Mastercard.

MBNA discontinued their 2 Alaska Airlines cards, with plans to allow MBNA Rewards cardholders to transfer their points to Alaska.

• Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus Mastercard, and
• Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard.

Finally, here are a few other cards that left us:

• RBC Cathay Pacific Visa, and
• BMO Rewards Mastercard.

Prepaid cards that disappeared

Credit cards come and go. And with the exception of HSBC, all the above issuers still have credit cards to offer, they're just changing up their lineup.

But a notable trend happened – a few prepaid cards disappeared. First, the Stack Mastercard is no more. This wasn't really surprising as Stack added a bunch of hidden fees to this card in 2022.

Mogo also discontinued their Mogo Card. This card was in constant flux, and Mogo pulled the plug on it earlier in 2023.

However, there were a few replacement cards that took their place this year.

New credit cards we said hello to in 2023

There are a few new cards that came into existence in 2023. Here's a quick list of them:

• Tims credit card,
• Neo Cathay Pacific Mastercard, and
• BMO eclipse Rise Visa.

We also saw a few new prepaid cards in 2023. These are:

• EQ Bank Card, and
• Wealthsimple Cash Card.

Rogers Mastercard with a series of changes

No card made bigger changes this year than the Rogers Mastercard (formerly known as the Rogers Connections Mastercard).

They first switched it up by giving all members 1% back on all purchases, while earning 2% back on USD purchases. But if you had both Rogers home and wireless service, you could earn 2% back everywhere.

They also included these features:

• 5 free Roam Like Home days for Rogers Wireless customers, and
• 30% bonus cash back when rewards are redeemed towards Rogers services.

That last part made the Rogers Mastercard a very valuable card for Rogers customers, essentially getting you 2% back everywhere.

In September, they eased what qualified as a Rogers service to include Fido and Shaw, as well as only requiring cardholders to have 1 service to qualify for getting 2% back everywhere. It made the best deal this card available to more people (like yours truly).

There was one more change in store. In early December, they increased the bonus cash back when redeeming cash back towards Rogers services to 50% from 30%. That essentially gives this card a return of 3% cash back, everywhere. A hard deal to pass up for anyone who has a Rogers service of some kind.

American Express Platinum card updates

Finally, the American Express Platinum card saw a few changes.

First the annual fee was increased by $100 to $799.

In exchange for this annual fee increase, cardmembers were given an annual $200 dining credit, which can be used at select restaurants around the world (with around 200 in Canada). This is on top of the existing $200 annual travel credit.

However the earn rates did change, specifically around earning rewards at restaurants. It used to offer 3 points per $1 spent at restaurants, but now it's down to 2 points per $1 spent.

Your look ahead to 2024

Looking ahead to 2024, what are you hoping to see?

Any new products you have in mind, or changes you want to see on an existing card you have?

For me, as an MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard holder, I'm very intrigued at the possibility of transferring points to Alaska Airlines. I also wouldn't mind seeing Porter get into the credit card game.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.