There have been some major changes to Neo Mastercards – and while the rewards have increased, there's a catch. You'll need to have $10,000 deposited into a Neo Everyday Account to get the best deal. Plus, the best secured credit card in Canada – the Neo Secured Credit – now has a monthly fee of $7.99.
Here's what Neo is now offering, and some alternative credit cards that you may want to consider.
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What the Neo Everyday Account offers
Everything you get with a Neo credit card is based on what you have deposited in a Neo Everyday Account, so this is where we'll start.
For each card, we’ll cover what you'll earn for rewards based on the amount deposited into your account – but to get the best deal, you'll need to deposit at least $10,000. The account interest rate has tanked, too, down to 0.1% from over 2% before.
The bottom line: To get more cash back on purchases, you’ll need to leave a substantial amount of money in an account that will earn very little interest.
There's one exception: Neo partners. The changes only affect general earn rates. Partner offers don't change based on your account balance.
Here are the maximum earn rates for this card:
- Up to 5% cash back at partner retailers
- Up to 3% cash back on gas and groceries
- Up to 1% everywhere else
The "up to" language is important here, since you’ll only receive the maximum earn rate with $10,000 in your account. If you have less than that, you'll earn less. Here’s what that looks like:
| Neo Everyday Account balance | $0 | $1,000 | $3,000 | $5,000 | $10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gas and groceries | 1% | 1.5% | 1.75% | 2% | 3% |
| Everything else | 0% | 0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% |
If you can leave $10K in your account, those are terrific earn rates for a no fee prepaid card. But if you have less than $3,000, you won’t earn rewards everywhere.
There's one last wrinkle: These categories have annual spend caps and once you reach them, you won’t earn any further rewards.
- Gas: $6,000
- Groceries: $6,000
- Everything else: $10,000
These caps are not applicable to Neo partner offers.
A note about our Genius Ratings: The ratings you see are based on an Everyday Account balance of zero. We gave each card a bonus for being able to increase the rewards through higher account balances.
Neo Mastercard changes
Next up is the Neo Mastercard. Here are the new earn rates for this card.
- Up to 5% cash back at partner retailers
- Up to 4% cash back on gas and groceries
- Up to 1% everywhere else
Of course, getting the maximum rates (except for Neo partners) required deposits into a Neo Everyday Account.
| Neo Everyday Account balance | $0 | $1,000 | $3,000 | $5,000 | $10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gas and groceries | 1% | 1.5% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Everything else | 0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | 1% |
This card also has annual spend caps:
- Gas: $6,000
- Groceries: $6,000
- Everything else: $20,000
If you can leave large sums of money in a Neo Everyday Account, you'll earn some excellent rewards. But even then, they're capped.
The Neo Secured Credit: no longer the best
The best secured credit card in Canada is, sadly, no more. There are two major changes to the Neo Secured Credit:
- Rewards. The card will still earn rewards, and they’re now identical to the Neo Mastercard.
- Monthly fee. This card will now have a monthly fee of $7.99 (or $95.88 per year). And since many other secured options are no fee, this is a big blow.
Alternative credit cards to consider
Unless you get lots of value from Neo’s retail partners, these changes may make you reconsider the cards.
With that in mind, let’s look at five of the best no fee credit cards available:
×1 Award winner 
Your options for secured credit cards are limited, but here are the choices for a no fee secured card:
Pro Tip: Check out our compare cards page for a full list of cards and with ratings tailored to what you want in a credit card.
Your thoughts on Neo's new changes
It's our opinion that Neo has downgraded their cards. Requiring a Neo Everyday Account with a large balance (that earns minimal interest) to get full rewards plus the annual caps is not a winning combination in our books.
But that's just us – what about you?
What are your thoughts on Neo’s changes? Let us know in the comment below.
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