Pros & cons
Pros
- No currency exchange fees on U.S. dollar purchases.
- Includes 8 types of insurance.
- 1 point per $1 spent on purchases.
Cons
- Relatively high annual fee of US$65.
Your rewards
Getting your welcome bonus
Based on $2,000 in monthly spending, you can get up to an estimated $30.◊
For all welcome bonus details click here.
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 RBC U.S. Dollar Visa Gold, here's how you earn rewards:
- 1 point per $1 spent on all 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 RBC U.S. Dollar Visa Gold in particular, if you spend $2,000 per month, here's our estimated annual rewards earned depending on which reward you choose:
| Charity donations | $240 | |
| Transfer points to WestJet Rewards | $240 | |
| Merchandise | $209 | |
| RBC financial products | $199 | |
| Gift Cards | $173 | |
| Travel through RBC Rewards | $139 | |
| Statement credits | $139 |
| Redemption Option | Point Value | Total Value |
|---|---|---|
| Charity donations | 1 cent | $10 |
| Transfer points to WestJet Rewards | 1 cent | $10 |
| Merchandise | 0.87 cents | $9 |
| RBC financial products | 0.83 cents | $8 |
| Gift Cards | 0.72 cents | $7 |
| Travel through RBC Rewards | 0.58 cents | $6 |
| Statement credits | 0.58 cents | $6 |
Calculating your annual rewards
$24,000 annual spending x 1.00% return on spending = $240 annual rewards
$240 annual rewards − $65.00 annual fee = $175 net annual rewards
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1x Award Winner
Details and eligibility
- Estimated Credit Score
- 760 - 900
- Personal Income
- N/A
- Household Income
- N/A
- Annual Fee
- US$65.00
- Extra Card Fee
- $30
- Card type
- Credit
- Purchase
- 20.99%
- Cash Advance Δ
- 22.99%
- Balance Transfer
- 22.99%
Insurance coverage
- Extended Warranty
- 1 year
- Purchase Protection
- 90 days
- Travel Accident
- $500,000
- Trip Cancellation
- $2,500
- Trip Interruption
- $2,500
- 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
RBC U.S. Dollar Visa Gold's 2.8 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.
Top cards from Visa
GC: $150
Our review
U.S. dollar credit cards are great if you make a lot of purchases in U.S. funds, either online or in person. Not to be confused with foreign exchange credit cards, they're in American currency, so you aren’t charged foreign transaction fees, but that also means you need to make your payments in U.S. currency as well.
Because of this, U.S. dollar credit cards only really make sense if:
- you make a lot of purchases in U.S. currency,
- you spend a lot of time in the U.S,
- you have a U.S. bank account, or…
- you earn some (or all) of your income in U.S. currency.
For most U.S. dollar credit cards, that's where the benefits stop. However, the RBC U.S. Dollar Gold Visa goes beyond that, which is why we named it the best U.S. dollar credit card for 2020. (Check out all the "Best of" cards here.)
One thing that really sets this card apart from the competition is that it allows you to earn 1 point for every $1 USD spent on the card – making this the only U.S. dollar credit card that is also a rewards credit card.
On top of that, this card comes with a comprehensive insurance plan that includes 8 types of purchase and travel insurance.
However, if you would prefer a U.S. dollar card with a lower annual fee, the
Key benefits
User reviews
Reviewed by 5 Canadians
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RBC has changed their rewards policy to only reward in Canadian Dollars. No, they do not pay any exchange value they just give a zero based exchange for your points in Canadian Dollars......so you lose about 40% as compared to their previous policy.
If you are in Canada, pick another US bank and do not be fooled any more with RBC. They have introduced all new policies in 2023 that are directed at ripping off their old customers.
You'll want to be careful with this card if you make a significant purchase and then experience a refund. If you want that money returned to you as a cheque, the process can take almost 2 months. Incredulously horrible customer service.
When I travel stateside, or sometimes in Europe, I use this card as well as a US$ Mastercard. I never travel with only one US$ card just in case of fraud. RBC has been excellent in handling card replacements and in dealing with insurance claims. One claim on vehicle damage paid for the card for 10 years. A claim on a damaged cell phone saved us $200.00. As well, we have saved thousands using RBC points to purchase travel with our agency.
The biggest issue with US$ cards, is that you'll have to deal with the bank directly, whereas if you have an RBC Cdn $ card, you can pay that card from any bank. For example, you could have a TD US$ acct, but they won't pay another bank's US$ card from that account. The Canadian banks are stuck in the 70's in this regard.
You have to be careful that although you get 1 RBC Reward per $1, all RBC Rewards points are not the same. You can only transfer these points to Westjet. You cannot transfer these points to BA, Air Canada or the others.
has worked well for me but annoying to pay an extra annual fee when I don't use the card regularly and all my other cards are from RBC. Very tired of being fee'd to death. Guess I'll have to buy bank stocks.
$100 GeniusCash + Transfer points to Aeroplan and 7 other travel partners with Canada's #1 credit card.*