MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus® Mastercard® Review

Need a no-fee card to cover your most common expenses? The MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard earns its cardholders decent cashback on both gas and groceries.

For an annual-fee-free option, this contender also comes with solid insurance coverage and a couple of useful travel benefits.

To discover more about this budget-friendly MBNA option, keep scrolling.

How You Earn Rewards with the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard

First thing’s first, the rewards program.

Here’s how much cash you can pocket by tapping into this Platinum Plus option:

• 2% cashback on eligible gas and grocery purchases (until the total gas and grocery purchases in the applicable month reaches $500)
• 0.5% cashback on all other eligible purchases

Sure there are some cashback cards with the potential to earn you more rewards on similar earn categories, but those cards often come with annual fees or high annual income requirements.

Since this card is a Mastercard, you’ll also be able to earn cashback at retailers like Walmart and Costco. Typically, Walmart is considered a department store rather than an eligible grocery store on Amex and Visa Cards. As for Costco, Mastercard is the only credit card network accepted in-store.

Redeeming your Rewards with the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard

You have a few options when it comes to redeeming your cashback with the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard.

As soon as you accumulate $50 worth of cashback, you can apply this value towards:

• A statement credit
• A bank account
• A charitable donation

4 Benefits of the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard

In this next section, we’re going to cover all of the perks that make the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard stand out.

No Annual Fee

For starters, this everyday-errand-earner provides gas and grocery optimization for no annual fee.

On top of affordability, this card is also extremely accessible to any kind of applicant considering it has no annual income requirements.

A Cashback-Boosting Welcome Bonus

If you were pleased with the initial gas and grocery cashback rates on this no-fee contender, you’ll be excited to hear that you can earn more than double these initial reward rates in the first 6 months of membership. Keep in mind, however, that the monthly cap still applies during the promotional period!

Valuable Insurance Coverage

Most of the time, no-fee credit cards lack valuable insurance coverage. Luckily, this isn’t the case with the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard.

With this card, you can expect insurance categories beyond basic extended warranty and purchase protection insurance. In addition to these two coverages, you’ll also receive travel protections like car rental damage and theft insurance, car rental accident insurance, and car rental personal effects insurance, not to mention travel accident insurance.

Some Trip-Oriented Perks

On a no-fee credit card, you can’t necessarily expect too many perks. Thankfully though, the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard includes travel-friendly benefits like car rental discounts at Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car locations and trip and legal assistance.

2 Downsides of to the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard

There are also a couple of downfalls to the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard, such as:

A Low Base Rate

Unfortunately, if you plan on making other purchases besides gas or groceries, you’ll be subject to a below-average base rate with the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard.

In other words, if you want to optimize other earn categories, look elsewhere. There are even some alternative no-fee contenders with better base rates, so you can still complement your budget.

Cashback Caps

As mentioned, the monthly cashback caps on this card are constant – both during and after the promotional period. This means that once you hit the monthly spending limit, you’ll start to earn that below-average base rate, even when purchasing gas and groceries.

Comparison to Other No-Fee Cashback Credit Cards

To help you decide whether the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard is truly the right cashback card for you, we’re going to compare it against some of its close competitors.

Here’s a sneak peak at the comparisons we’ll be making:

MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard vs Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard

In all honesty, the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard is really only competitive against the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard in terms of gas and groceries if you have an eligible Rogers, Fido or Shaw account. With an eligible account, you can boost your cashback rate on non-U.S. dollar purchases to match the specialized gas and grocery cashback rate of the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard. This rate will also apply to categories beyond gas and groceries. If you don’t have a Rogers, Fido or Shaw account, you’ll earn slightly less cashback on gas and groceries with the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard, but more cashback on all other categories than you would with the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard’s below-average base rate.

When it comes to coverage, the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard substitutes car rental insurance categories for trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance, plus emergency medical coverages.

Instead of car rental discounts and trip and legal assistance, the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard boasts an airport lounge Dragon Pass membership (excluding complimentary visits) and an annual 5-day no-cost roaming mobile plan add-on.

Note that the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard has some high annual income requirements, something the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard avoids.

Overall, if you’re a Rogers, Fido or Shaw customer, or you simply want to optimize purchases other than gas and groceries, the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard is a top no-fee cashback option – as long as you can meet those annual income requirements! Otherwise, the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard offers better rates specifically on gas and groceries (especially during its promotional period) and has no annual income requirements.

MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard vs Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

Uniquely, the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card offers a customizable rewards program, enabling cardholders to earn decent cashback on their choice of 2 categories from the 10 offered by Tangerine. If you happen to opt into having your rewards deposited into a Tangerine Savings Account, you can also unlock a third earn category with the same cashback rate.

Currently, the applicable 10 categories are:

• Grocery
• Furniture 
• Restaurants
• Hotel-motel 
• Gas
• Recurring bill payments
• Drug store
• Home improvement
• Entertainment
• Public transportation and parking

As you can see, both gas and grocery purchases are an option here, offering up the same cashback rate on these two categories as the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard. The base rate on all other purchases on the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card is also identical to the base rate on the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard.

The Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card even comes with a cashback welcome bonus that offers double the amount of extra cashback provided by the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard. The only catch is that the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card’s bonus only lasts 2 months instead of 6 and is capped at $100 rather than $500.

This contender is also lacking in coverage and benefits, providing members with basic extended warranty and purchase protection insurance, plus no extra perks whatsoever.

So, if you’re looking for a cashback card that offers gas and groceries as its specialized earn categories, plus the opportunity to optimize an additional category of the 10 offered by Tangerine, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card is a great option. However, if you’re just looking to optimize gas and groceries and you’d like better coverage, perks, and a superior promotional period, stick to the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard.

MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard vs SimplyCash Card by American Express

For no annual fee and no annual income requirements, you can also apply for an Amex cashback contender. 

The SimplyCash Card by American Express provides the same cashback rates on gas and groceries as the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard, plus an even better base rate on all other eligible purchases. Still, unlike the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard, you won’t be able to use the SimplyCash Card at Costco and Amex doesn’t typically consider Walmart to be a grocery store in terms of rewards.

For the first few months, members will also receive bonus cashback on top of their everyday earn rates, which is more valuable than the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard’s welcome bonus, but the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard’s bonus lasts longer.

The SimplyCash Card also has less impressive insurance coverage, but still includes extended warranty insurance and purchase protection insurance.

As for benefits, cardholders will only receive Amex Experiences.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a no-fee cashback card that earns you solid cashback on gas and groceries plus an above-average base rate on everything else, the SimplyCash Card by American Express should be your top pick. Alternatively, if you want more benefits and coverage on top of your cashback on gas and groceries, plus the opportunity to optimize grocery payments at Costco and Walmart, apply for the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard instead.

Final Verdict

All things considered, the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard is a great gas and grocery no-fee cashback card for those who want to avoid annual income requirements, enjoy a valuable welcome bonus, and pocket important coverage and helpful travel perks.

If you want something with a similar cashback rate on gas and groceries and a better base rate on all other earn categories, check out the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard (specifically if you have a Rogers, Fido, or Shaw account) or the SimplyCash Card by American Express. 

If you'd like the opportunity to add another specialized earn category of your choosing alongside gas and groceries, you can also take a peek at the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card.