Points Pulse for August 24, 2026: Big changes to popular cash-back credit cards
More devaluation coming to Rogers Red Mastercards
Only weeks after its new rewards caps took effect, Rogers has announced more changes to its credit card lineup.
The following changes are effective November 18, 2026:
No more redemption bonus for Rogers purchases. The 1.5x redemption bonus for eligible Rogers, Fido, Shaw or Comwave purchases is being discontinued.
Rogers purchases will earn 5% cash back. That’s up from the current 2% earn rate for cardholders with eligible Rogers services.
No more trip cancellation/interruption/delay insurance for World Elite cardholders. Coverage will still be available with the Rogers Red World Legend Mastercard.
Improved travel emergency medical insurance for World Elite cardholders. Among other minor changes, travellers under age 65 will see coverage maximum increase from 10 days to 15.
Additionally, the cards will see changes to the included Roam Like Home credits effective January 12, 2027. Instead of a fixed number of days, cardholders will now get roaming credits ranging from a cash value of $25 to $200 depending on their card tier. That’s a reduction in potential value for every tier except World Legend cardholders.
Some quick math shows that these changes add up to a big reduction in value for eligible Rogers customers who use the redemption bonus. Assuming $2,000 in other monthly purchases plus a $200 Rogers bill, a Rogers Red World Elite cardholder would get $66 per month in cash-back value under the current rules. After the changes, the same spending will generate $50 per month — a difference of $192 per year.
Nerdy takeaway: Rogers’ continued enshittification of its credit card lineup is frustrating, but these remain some of the best cash-back credit cards in Canada, especially when you consider that the core lineup has no annual fee. It may not be time to cancel your card yet but if you want to rage-quit, we won’t stop you.
RBC cash back cards get new categories — and new tradeoffs
Popular RBC credit cards will soon see changes. The bank recently announced updates to its Cash Back Mastercard and Cash Back World Elite Mastercard taking effect October 1, 2026.
The no-annual-fee RBC Cash Back Mastercard will drop its tiered cash-back formula in favour of a flat earn rate. The card will continue to earn 2% cash back on groceries and will now earn 1% cash back on gas, EV charging, transit and ridesharing. All other categories will earn 0.5% cash back.
The RBC Cash Back Preferred World Elite Mastercard is also dropping its tiered cash-back formula. The card will now earn 3% cash back on groceries, restaurants, takeout, gas, EV charging, transit, rideshare, streaming and gaming, as well as 1% cash back on all other categories.
Importantly, both cards will have no earning cap on cash-back rewards.
The RBC Cash Back Preferred World Elite Mastercard will also add travel emergency medical insurance, flight delay and delayed baggage insurance, and mobile device insurance. In exchange, cardholders will see the annual fee increase from $99 to $120, while additional cards will go from free to $50 each.
Both cards’ purchase interest rates will also increase from 20.99% to 21.99%.
Starting December 2, RBC will drop the minimum redemption amount from $25 to $1. It’s also cancelling the cards’ annual auto-redemption, requiring customers to use online, mobile or telephone banking to redeem cash back.
Nerdy takeaway: No cap on cash-back rewards is big news. The RBC Cash Back Preferred World Elite Mastercard has suddenly become the one of the best choices for families spending more than about $1,500 per month on groceries and its other 3% categories. But Costco and Walmart purchases will earn only 1%, so it won’t be an upgrade for every grocery-heavy household.
Scotiabank Momentum cards stop treating rent and taxes as recurring bills
Ok, you can still pay your bills using your Scotia Momentum Visa Card and get bonus cash back — but you’ll no longer get a bonus on rent and tax payments.
Cardholders were notified last week that, as of October 22, 2026, rental and tax payments will no longer qualify for bonus cash back as recurring bills on Scotia Momentum cards.
This change affects:
Scotia Momentum No-Fee Visa Card
Scotia Momentum Visa Card
Scotia Momentum Visa for Business Card
Why the change? Scotiabank hasn’t said.
But we can hypothesize. The fairly easy guess is that it wants to stop cardholders from using platforms like Chexy double up on rewards. It’s also suspicious that Scotiabank is partnered with another payment processor, Casa, and has promoted using it with other cards like the ScotiaGold Passport® Visa* Card.
Anyway, that’s just a guess, and the change is broader than any single payment platform.
Cloak and dagger aside, this change closes one of the most lucrative ways to earn credit card rewards on large, unavoidable expenses, particularly for people using third-party payment platforms. Before switching to another card, check both its earning terms and how the platform codes the transaction; the payment fee can easily erase the rewards.
Nerdy takeaway: It was good while it lasted. Scotia isn’t eliminating bonus rewards on recurring bills altogether, but rent and taxes were the categories capable of producing outsized returns. Your Spotify subscription survives.
» Are you paying attention to your subscriptions? One writer cancelled all of her apps — and saved over $800 a year.
Air Canada sells 25% stake in Aeroplan program
Hello, Dragons. I’m here to offer you 25% of my loyalty program in exchange for a small investment of $2.5-billion.
Mr. Wonderful said he’s out, but an investment group led by Blackstone and LaCaisse are in. The group purchased a minority stake in Aeroplan from Air Canada in a deal that values the program at $10-billion.
In its announcement, Air Canada assured members that it remains in control of the program and there will be no immediate changes. It also assured employees that their jobs remain safe and promised to maintain the status quo for partners.
It’s not like Air Canada wasn’t already beholden to its investors, but a significant private investment is sure to apply pressure to maximize profit from the program. Hopefully we won’t see any devaluation of the program as a result of the sale.
Nerdy takeaway: It’s interesting to see Aeroplan itself valued at $10 billion. That’s just one more piece of evidence that you should squeeze every drop of value you can out of these programs — they’re squeezing it out of you.
RANT BREAK: The following is less a news item than something our writer needs to get off his chest.
🗣️🔥 I think the massive PC Optimum giveaway misses the point
EQ Bank, whose parent company recently bought PC Financial, is wrapping up a contest giving away 25 million PC Optimum points this week. That’s a value of $25,000 in free groceries or a car wash every day for 6 years, 10 months and 10 days.
While one person will get a windfall, everyone is paying 3.1% more for groceries than just one year ago, Loblaw’s CEO met privately with Ontario Premier Doug Ford one day after the province rejected calls for new grocery-pricing rules, and my jar of pasta sauce has more water in it than tomatoes.
If you’re going to give away 25-million points, why not spread the love around? Why not have 250 winners of 100,000 points each? Why not give away 2,500 free carwashes? Why not give something to charity instead of asking me to do it every time I check out?
Why not do something for Canadians that will make a difference in their lives instead of dangling a carrot and telling us its caviar?
Nerdy takeaway: All I want is for us all to get a little break at the grocery store. Am I asking too much? If I had 25-million PC Optimum points, I’d share some with you.
Previous issues:
DIVE EVEN DEEPER
Shannon Terrell