Rogers Red Mastercard®
Review

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  Balance Protection

  Minimum payments

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  No Cost roaming

  5 days

If you don’t qualify for the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard, then the Rogers Red Mastercard is nearly identical, minus a few perks. While this substitute is overall less valuable than its counterpart, it’s still a solid option for lower-income individuals with qualifying Rogers, Fido, and Shaw services.

How You Earn Rewards with the Rogers Red Mastercard

The rewards you earn on this card depend on one main factor: whether you have an eligible Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service.

According to the official Rogers website, eligible services include:

• Postpaid Rogers-branded consumer mobile plans (which include wireless home phone and tablet data plans). For these plans, users who have permission to make changes (i.e. a Level 1 Authorized User) are also eligible.
• Postpaid Fido-branded consumer mobile plans – primary account holders only (which includes wireless home phone and tablet data plans)
• Any Rogers, Shaw or Fido-branded internet, TV, home phone, home monitoring or satellite service – primary account holders only

If you have one of these qualifying services, then you’re entitled to:

• 2% unlimited cashback on all eligible non-U.S. dollar purchases if you have 1 qualifying service with Rogers, Fido, or Shaw. There is however a 2.5% foreign transaction fee to consider for these transactions.
• 1.5x more cashback every time you redeem for Rogers, Fido, or Shaw purchases.

If you don't have one of these services, you’ll receive:

• 2% unlimited cashback on all eligible purchases made in U.S. dollars.
• 1% unlimited cashback on eligible non-U.S. dollar purchases.

In general, this is an excellent card if you have a qualifying service, but it might not be the best card if you don't, as there might be other cards that could earn you more rewards. 

Redeeming your Rewards

While you can always redeem 2% cashback towards any purchase of your choosing, if you use it towards an eligible Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service, you’ll receive 3% cashback instead. 

If you earn more cashback than your monthly bill, consider using your extra rewards for a new phone, accessory, or other electronics from a qualifying service.

3 Benefits of the Rogers Red Mastercard

1. A great contender for most people

Since this card has a high cashback rate with eligible services, it’s a solid card for people who only want to carry around one card or even for those who aspire to carry multiple credit cards to maximize rewards.

For people who only want to carry one card, this is a Mastercard, the most widely accepted credit card network, and it also offers a good reward rate on both U.S. dollar and non-U.S. dollar purchases (especially if you have an eligible service and redeem towards an eligible service).

For people who want to carry multiple cards, this is a nice option because if one of your cards is an American Express card, then you would need to have another card as a backup card for times when merchants don't accept Amex credit cards (typically in places within Europe). In addition, there are many merchants that don't fall into a certain category (Like clothing or department stores), and in these scenarios, using the Rogers Mastercard would maximize your rewards as opposed to using a Visa or Amex card.

2. Unique benefits

The 5-day no cost roaming benefit is a unique benefit only available to Rogers cardholders. 

If you have travelled abroad, you know how expensive international calls can be. So by using this benefit, which is valued at up to $80, you can save a bit on this fee.

In addition, the card has balance protection insurance, which helps you pay off or minimize your credit card balance when the unexpected happens (like job loss or illness).

3. Easy Redemption

Many credit cards require you to wait a full year before accessing the cashback you’ve accumulated. However, the Rogers Red Mastercard allows you to access your cashback at any time once you reach a minimum threshold of $10.

2 Downsides of the Rogers Red Mastercard

1. Minimal perks

Although the Rogers Mastercard has a couple of unique perks, it doesn’t have many.

In fact, almost all free credit cards in Canada offer purchase protection insurance and extended warranty insurance, two protections this card lacks. Also, some free cards have other benefits in addition to purchase protection and extended warranty insurance.

So, if you’re looking for a card with generous benefits and don't care as much about rewards, then this card might not be the best option for you.

2. Not ideal for people with no qualifying service

If you don't have a qualifying Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service and you don’t meet the income requirements for the Rogers World Elite card either, your base rewards rate will drop substantially. Due to this decrease, you’ll likely find that there are other cards that can earn you significantly higher rewards.

Comparison to other popular cashback credit cards in Canada

If you’re still debating which cashback credit card is right for you, and you’re wondering whether the Rogers Red Mastercard is the right choice, we’ve devoted a section that compares the Rogers Red Mastercard to other popular cashback credit cards in Canada – including the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard. Use this tool to compare all cards!

Here’s a quick look at the comparisons we’ll be making:

Rogers Red vs Rogers World Elite

If you meet the high annual income requirements of the Rogers World Elite Mastercard, then it's a mistake to go for the Rogers Red Mastercard because you would be missing out on some free benefits.

Like the Rogers Red Mastercard, the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard also avoids annual fees, plus it has better reward potential, comprehensive insurance coverage (like trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance – which is rare for a no-fee card), not to mention an airport lounge Dragon Pass membership on top of no cost roaming.

Rogers Red vs SimplyCash Preferred Card

While the SimplyCash Preferred Card doesn’t have any annual income requirements, it does have an annual fee.

That said, this yearly cost might be worth it if you’d like higher cashback rates on gas and groceries and a better overall base rate on all other eligible purchases without needing a Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service.

This contender also comes with a lot more insurance coverage, including hotel burglary insurance, mobile device insurance, and car rental damage and theft insurance.

As an Amex card, the SimplyCash Preferred Card provides cardholders with Amex Experiences, but it also has a lower global acceptance rate.

So, you’d likely pick the SimplyCash Preferred Card over the Rogers Red Mastercard if you want better cashback rates on gas and groceries and a catch-free base rate on all other eligible purchases, plus extensive insurance and exlcusive perks. Otherwise, the Rogers Red Mastercard is more affordable, widely-accepted, and still considerably valuable, particularly for those with an eligible Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service.

Rogers Red vs Neo World Elite Mastercard 

Similar to the SimplyCash Preferred Card, the Neo World Elite Mastercard is more lucrative than the Rogers Red Mastercard for specialized categories, in this case, groceries, recurring purchases, and gas.

The initial earning rates for the above categories are already high, but they can be boosted even further when you save $5k - $10k inside of a Neo Everyday Account or purchase from Neo Partners which you can find here.

The Neo World Elite Mastercard also comes with plenty of insurance categories, including trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance, car rental protections, and emergency out of province medical insurance.

Instead of no cost roaming, cardholders can expect an airport lounge Dragon Pass membership (minus any complimentary visits).

Unfortunately though, the Neo World Elite Mastercard comes with an annual fee and high annual income requirements – two obstacles the Rogers Red Mastercard avoids.

Therefore, you’d probably opt for the Neo World Elite Mastercard over the Rogers Red Mastercard if you’re a high-earning spender who wants the opportunity to boost grocery, recurring payment, and gas expenses – complete with tons of insurance and an exclusive perk. Alternatively, the Rogers Red Mastercard remains more affordable, accessible, and still beneficial for budget-friendly cardholders with a qualifying Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service.

Rogers Red vs Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card 

Another top no-fee cashback contender is the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card. Unlike the Rogers Red Mastercard, however, this card comes with some low annual income requirements.

Overall, the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card is best for eligible restaurant, bar, and coffee shop purchases. You can also pocket decent cashback on gas, groceries, drugstore, and pre-authorized payments (capped per year). That said, if you redeem your Rogers Red Mastercard cashback towards qualifying services, the cashback rate on all eligible purchases is actually higher than what you’ll receive on gas, groceries, drugstore, and pre-authorized payments, plus it’s much higher than the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card’s base rate.

Instead of balance protection insurance, the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card boasts standard extended warranty and purchase protection insurance. 

Unfortunately, the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card lacks benefits altogether.

So, unless you want to optimize dining purchases, there’s a chance that the Rogers Red Mastercard is still superior to the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card, especially if you’re an eligible Rogers, Fido, or Shaw customer who intends on using their cashback towards affiliated purchases.

Final Verdict

For many reasons mentioned throughout this review, whether you want to carry around one card or multiple cards to maximize your rewards, the Rogers Red Mastercard is an excellent card to have, especially if you have a qualifying Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service. 

If you have one of these services and a higher income, you should consider the upgraded Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard instead. 

If you don’t have any of the eligible services and don’t intend to, you can also consider one of the competing cashback cards mentioned in the comparison section.

FAQ

Is the Rogers Red Mastercard worth it?

Yes, if you have a qualifying Rogers, Fido, or Shaw service, then we absolutely recommend going for either this card or the World Elite version of it, if you qualify. That said, if you don't have a qualifying service, you might be better off with another cashback card.

Is the Rogers Red Mastercard accepted everywhere?

Given that the card is available through the Mastercard network – the most widely accepted network in Canada – you can expect it to work almost anywhere.

Is the Rogers Red Mastercard accepted at Costco?

Yes, Costco only accepts Mastercards, and since the Rogers Red is on the Mastercard network, it will work at Costco as well.

In fact, we consider the Rogers Red Mastercard and the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard to be the top two Costco credit cards in Canada.

What’s the main difference between the Rogers Red Mastercard and the Rogers World Elite Mastercard?

The main difference between Rogers’ two credit cards is that the Rogers Red Mastercard comes with no annual fee and no annual income requirements, whereas the Rogers World Elite Mastercard has no annual fee but high annual income requirements.

Still, the Rogers World Elite Mastercard has better overall value, coverage, and perks than the Rogers Red Mastercard – so it should be your first choice if you qualify!