Pros & cons
Pros
- High earn rates.
- Slightly lower annual fee compared to other cards in its class.
- Good perks from being a World Elite Mastercard.
Cons
- No physical branches outside of Quebec and Ontario.
- No welcome bonus.
Your rewards
How you earn rewards
Each card earns rewards differently. Part of choosing your card is deciding what type of rewards you want to get. With Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard, here's how you earn rewards:
- 4% cash back on groceries
- 3% cash back on restaurants , entertainment , and transit
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
For all reward details click here.
How much your rewards are worth
The dollar value of your rewards depends on the specific rewards program ‒ and what you choose to redeem your points for. For Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard in particular, if you spend $2,000 per month, here's our estimated annual rewards earned depending on which reward you choose:
| Statement credits | $402 |
Calculating your annual rewards
$24,000 annual spending x 1.68% return on spending = $402 annual rewards
$402 annual rewards − $100.00 annual fee = $302 net annual rewards
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1x Award Winner
Details and eligibility
- Estimated Credit Score
- 760 - 900
- Personal Income
- $80,000
- Household Income
- $150,000
- Annual Fee
- $100.00
- Extra Card Fee
- $30
- Card type
- Credit
- Purchase
- 20.90%
- Cash Advance
- 21.90%
- Balance Transfer
- 21.90%
Insurance coverage
- Extended Warranty
- 2 years
- Purchase Protection
- 120 days
- Mobile Device
- $1,500
- Emergency Medical Term
- 3 days
- Emergency Medical Maximum Coverage
- $5,000,000
- Emergency Medical over 65
- 3 days
- Trip Cancellation
- $500
- Trip Interruption
- $1,000
- Baggage Delay
- $500
- Lost or Stolen Baggage
- $500
- Rental Car Theft & Damage
- Yes
Please review your insurance certificate for details, exclusions and limitations of your coverage, terms and conditions apply.
Learn more about the value of credit card insurance coverage.
Genius Rating
Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard's 3.2 Genius Rating is based on the weighted average of the following scores:
Methodology
All scores are produced by our math-based rating algorithm that takes into account over 126 credit card features.
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GC: $150
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GC: $100
Our review
Cash back credit cards sometimes get a bad rap for not having crazy-high rewards, but the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard has high earn rates across multiple categories and some nice perks for its lower-than-average annual fee. Let's take a look at what makes this card stand out, as well as some misses that it suffers from for a fair comparison.
Pros to the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard
As usual, we'll start with the good.
1. High earn rates
For a cash back card, one of the most important things to look out for is your earn rates. Maximize your category spending well, and you'll come out on top. Here's a quick list of the earn rates in the bonus categories:
- 4% cash back on groceries
- 3% cash back on restaurants, entertainment, and transit
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
With a good return on food, transportation, and entertainment, you'll be earning plenty of cash back rewards. And with the base earn rate of 1%, it's no worse than pretty much any cash back card in Canada.
How do you redeem your hard-earned rewards money? Your cash back will be automatically credited back to your account once you've accumulated $100 worth.
2. Slightly lower annual fee than average for a World Elite Mastercard
We'll get into the full comparison with the similar BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard in just a little bit, but one thing that this card has going for it is a slightly lower annual fee of 100. World Elite Mastercards often charge annual fees of $120 - $150 per year. Others with no annual fee, like the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard will have special conditions – with the Rogers one, you'll need to spend $15,000 per year to maintain eligibility. In that respect, the Desjardins card wins out.
3. World Elite Mastercard perks
World Elite Mastercards always have some extra perks, and the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard is no exception. In addition to 9 types of insurance, you'll also get a membership to 1,300 airport lounges across the globe through DragonPass (no free passes), car rental discounts, and more.
Cons to the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard
Let's move on to the areas that could be improved for this card.
1. No physical branches outside of Quebec and Ontario
Unless you live in Quebec or Ontario, you're likely miles and miles away from a physical branch. Your only real option is to phone in or go online for help.
2. No welcome bonus
For people who want to get a rocket-like boost in earnings, this card unfortunately does not have a welcome bonus offer. Normally, you'd see something like 10% cash back on everything for the first 3 months, but with this card, you'll only get the base earn rate from the beginning until the end of time (or whenever they decide to make changes on this card).
Comparison to the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
One card that comes to mind that's similar to the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard is the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard. It's also a cash back World Elite Mastercard and a previous award winner for best cash back credit card in Canada.
Here's a side-by-side chart for easy reference:
| Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard | BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| Rewards | * 4% cash back on groceries * 3% cash back on restaurants, entertainment, and transit * 1% cash back on all other purchases |
* 5% cash back on groceries, up to $500 in monthly spend * 4% cash back on transit, up to $300 in monthly spend * 3% cash back on gas, up to $300 in monthly spend * 2% cash back on recurring bills, up to $500 in monthly spend * 1% cash back on all other purchases |
| Average Earn Rate | 1.68% | 2.05% |
| Insurance Included | 9 types | 13 types |
| Special Features not had by other card | * Mobile device insurance * Save up to 25% off rentals at participating Hertz, Thrifty, and Dollar car rental locations |
* Major welcome bonus of up to $480 cash back in the first 12 months * Includes roadside assistance * Save up to 25% off rentals at participating National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car locations |
| Annual Fee | $100 | $120 |
As you can see, in pretty much all cases, the winner is the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard, other than the higher annual fee and the lack of mobile device insurance (though roadside assistance can be a much more valuable perk when you're stranded in a blizzard on the highway).
One big difference that makes the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard win out is that there aren't any spending caps to your cash back. Once you exceed the monthly caps on the BMO card, you'll be bumped down to the base earn rate of 1%.
Your own thoughts on the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard
What are your thoughts on the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard? After reading up on our comparison, would you be more willing to go for a big bank credit card with more returns? Or are you happy where you are with a more local credit union offer?
If you've had this card, let us know what your experience was like with a review in the section below.
FAQ
What does the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard earn for rewards?
You can see earn rates of up to 4% in cash back with this card on groceries, 3% back on restaurants, entertainment, and transit, and 1% back on everything else.
What perks are included with the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard?
This card comes with discounts at Hertz, Thrifty, and Dollar rental car locations, as well as mobile device insurance. You'll also get a free membership to DragonPass lounges.
Does the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard come with a welcome bonus?
No, the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard does not come with a welcome bonus at this time.
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User review
Reviewed by 1 Canadian
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This card was 5 stars until I received a notice this month that they are cutting back on their rewards effective Jan 1, 2024. You still get 4% on groceries and 3% on restaurants but there is now an annual spend limit of $10,000 for groceries and $6,000 for restaurants which will limit the rewards you can receive. Also they appear to be getting very "picky" about which stores qualify for groceries and they have cut back on other categories that will be included for rewards. Basically they are now "nickel and dimeing" us, making their rewards much worse. I'm now searching for another card.
$100 GeniusCash + Transfer points to Aeroplan and 7 other travel partners with Canada's #1 credit card.*