Credit Cards That Offer Priority Customer Service

creditcardGenius Team
updated on Apr 12, 2023
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Accuracy is important to us so this article has gone through a thorough 3-stage review process and fact-checked by our team.

Customer service is important.

It can really make or break an experience.

Being served by a cranky waiter at a restaurant, or dealing with a sales clerk that sighs or rolls their eyes when you ask for a different size in the dressing room, can really put a damper on your mood and your wallet.

Nobody wants sub-par customer service.

This is especially true when it comes to delicate subjects like our hard-earned money.

And it’s even more true when you’re paying high annual fees for certain premium cards.

Doing your research and reading user reviews should help weed out any banks that offer less than acceptable customer service, but there are cards out there that will actually give you specialized or priority customer service.

So, if poor customer service is a deal breaker for you, this list of credit cards with above-and-beyond customer service is a good place to start.

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BMO World Elite Mastercard

The BMO Ascend World Elite®* Mastercard®* offers exclusive priority queuing for its cardholders.

Simply:

  • call their main customer service line,
  • provide your credit card number, which will identify you as a BMO World Elite holder, and then…
  • you will be directed to a separate queue.

Although this information is not listed on the BMO World Elite card page, we did find mention of it in a press release. We then reached out to BMO customer service ourselves and confirmed that this is still a card benefit.

But wait! The card benefits don’t stop there. With the BMO World Elite Mastercard you’ll also enjoy:

  • one of the best credit card insurance packages on the market,
  • a Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass membership, and 4 annual complimentary passes,
  • flexible rewards that can be redeemed for travel, merchandise, gift cards, and investments,
  • a great sign-up bonus,
  • concierge service,
  • up to 25% off car rentals at select locations,
  • Mastercard World experiences, and
  • Mastercard World Elite Priceless Cities.

Not to mention, for a limited time, BMO is giving you this card for free for the first year.

Get all the details here:

3.9 Genius Rating
2.3 (52) User reviews
Annual fee
$150.00 $0
1st year waived
Welcome bonus
$670
100,000 points
Annual rewards
$262
GC Ends: Oct 31, 2025
Credit Card Genius Cash IconGC: $125
BMO Ascend™ World Elite®* Mastercard®*
Instant approval: Yes
Credit estimate:
3.9 Genius Rating
2.3 (52) User reviews
Annual fee
$150.00 $0
1st year waived
Welcome bonus
$670
100,000 points
Annual rewards
$262
GC Ends:
Oct 31, 2025
Credit estimate:
 (300 - 559)
Instant approval: Yes

American Express cards

American Express is known for having some pretty great perks included with their cards.

Priority customer service is no exception.

Generally, all of their agents are knowledgeable and there’s not often a long wait.

But a few of their premium cards go even further by offering higher-end customer service.

Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

The Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express® Card is a credit card for small businesses that offers enhanced customer service from more experienced customer service representatives for its cardholders.

A lot can be said for experienced agents.

I realize that everyone needs to start somewhere, but for a business owner who is dealing with suppliers and has employees counting on them, it would be nice to deal with someone who has a bit of experience backing them up.

Here is an excerpt from the SPG Business card page:

“Dedicated Customer Service: Get information about Card benefits or online account management from specially trained Small Business service specialists. Simply dial the number on the back of your Card and enter your Card number to reach a Business specialist.”

Related: Marriott Bonvoy Amex Canada Review & Point Value Analysis

And then there are 6 other cards…

If you thought that was it, you were wrong. As well as the BMO World Elite Mastercard and the 4 American Express cards we mentioned above, there is more.

PC Financial World Elite Mastercard

The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard offers enhanced service so your calls are answered faster, by more experienced agents.

Thanks to this faster and better customer service, the PC Financial credit cards were listed highest in customer satisfaction in a recent J.D. Power’s Canadian Credit Card Study.

Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard

The Triangle World Elite Mastercard is another retail store credit card that makes it to this list.

This card offers Enhanced Customer Service, aka priority queuing. This means you get special treatment to get ahead of the waiting queue whenever you call customer service.

However, if you don’t shop at Canadian Tire a lot, and you don’t have easy access to any Gas+ locations, this card may not be the best option for you.

CIBC Aero cards

CIBC has a few cards that offer a priority customer service feature:

…However, cardholders really need to jump through hoops to be able to take advantage.

This feature is only available when you’re calling the Aeroplan Call Centre, and you need to achieve Diamond status on your card first.

To reach Diamond status, you would need to earn 100,000 Miles between January 1 and December 31 each calendar year.

For example, with the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, on a typical spend, we estimate cardholders will earn 1.065 miles for every dollar spent.

100,000 miles / 1.065 miles = $93,896.71

To reach Diamond status, the average cardholder would need to spend at least $93,896 on their card annually.

And, with the future of Aeroplan still up in the air, this limited priority customer service might not be enough to sway you to get one of these cards.

Related: Visa Infinite ‒ Your Guide To Visa’s Premium Program

The truth of the matter is…

We all want really good customer service.

So, when it’s guaranteed, we’re going to take notice.

If you’re tired of 10-30+ minute waits when calling your credit card issuer, you may want to consider one of the cards mentioned above.

You’re welcome.

We would love to hear from you

Was there ever a time where you received customer service that was above-and-beyond?

Or have you ever received service that left a bad taste in your mouth?

Feel free to tell us about your experiences in the comments below, or leave a review on a particular card you really liked or really disliked.

creditcardGenius is the only tool that compares 126+ features of 229 Canadian credit cards using math-based ratings and rankings that respond to your needs, instantly. Take our quiz and see which of Canada's 229 cards is for you.

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Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone. No bank, credit card issuer, rewards program, or other entity has reviewed, approved, or endorsed this content. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website. Our credit card scores and rankings are based on our Rating Methodology that takes into account 126+ features for each of 229 Canadian credit cards.

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Showing 10 comments

Nelson Millar
Nelson Millar
December 16, 2022
Mastercard Canada has NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, they just forward you to the bank for your mastercard. This leaves me with no customer service as my issue is with a merchant that mastercard deals with, not with the purchace I made. I was robbed by the company.
Monica
Monica
September 6, 2022
BMO MasterCard is horrible! I'm on hold for 4 hours already to dispute a charge of $700 (so I can't hang up).
Nikita
Nikita
September 8, 2022
Hey Monica, We're sorry to hear about the long wait and fraudulent charge – we hope you were able to reach them and resolve this. If you haven't yet, BMO has a few ways to deal with this situation. You can lock your card, change your PIN, or report and replace it. Steps on how to do each of these can be found here. You can also visit your nearest branch or call us at 1-800-361-3361 to report your missing card. Hope this helps!
MARILYN HAND
MARILYN HAND
August 25, 2022
Someone is making fraudulent charges on my RBC Mastercard. I have now been on hold for two hours and still haven't talked to anyone. They say you can book an appointment on line but the only on-line appointments I found was for investment concerns. This is just now good enough for me. I will be looking for another card that offers more accessible service.
Nikita
Nikita
August 30, 2022
Hello Marilyn, I'm sorry to hear someone was making fraudulent charges on your RBC Mastercard. I hope you've been able to get a hold of them by now, but here is what RBC suggests: 1) Lock your card via the RBC Mobile app or RBC Online Banking. RBC Mobile app: Go to the credit card details page and select the "Lock Card" toggle at the top of the page. RBC Online Banking: Go to the "Profile and Account Settings" page and select the toggle beside the credit card you would like to lock. 2) Call the RBC Fraud Centre at 1-800-769-2512 so they can assist you.
JP
JP
July 26, 2022
I waited 5 hours and 1 minute to speak with BMO on May 31, 2022 when I called in, despite having a World Elite Cash Back Mastercard. There was no other option but to wait. My card got a (false alarm) fraud flag on it and wouldn't work until I reached someone there. All my pre-authorized payments would start to decline if I couldn't reach someone. They don't even offer a call back service or any kind of queuing or even online support for this issue. The exact same thing just happened again after I tried to pay for a rental car, so now I'm sitting on hold and researching better credit cards.
Liza
Liza
March 26, 2022
PC MC support has been terrible since CIBC left. it's my oldest card, so I can't cancel it but it now lives in a drawer.
Dave
Dave
August 31, 2021
I have a BMO world elite card, I called the "exclusive" number today, I was quoted a 3-4 hour wait to speak with someone. I waited almost an hour and gave up. The previous time I called I think it took about 90 minutes to speak to an agent. Does that sound like exclusive priority queing to you?
creditcardGenius Team
creditcardGenius Team
September 7, 2021
Hey Dave, That certainly doesn't sound like priority service. It's possible they were just having a really busy day, but it's definitely disappointing.
credview
credview
June 16, 2021
Agree Amex top of the list when it comes to customer service. BMO hit and miss. Not sure where you are getting the DP for PC WE CS but its one of the worst. Do you have a PC WE card? Have you call their contact center? Every calls send off to offshore or incompetent agent. Almost like pulling tooth out of an elephant to get help. All you get scripted agents sounds like robots. I don't own CT no comment.
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