Points Pulse for October 19, 2026: Capital One’s new card, Visa’s fee drops for small businesses, and Porter’s big birthday giveaway
In this week’s edition of NerdWallet Canada’s Points Pulse:
Capital One launches a contender for the best cash back card in Canada
Just when you thought Capital One was all about entry-level credit cards, they’ve burst on to the scene with a World Elite Mastercard that’s instantly a contender for one of the best cash-back cards in the country.
The Capital One Quicksilver World Elite Mastercard has no annual fee and offers 3% cash back on gas and groceries with a 1% base earn rate. The big story here is that, unlike many popular cash-back credit cards, this card has no limits on how much you can earn.
Here’s the part that’s actually wild: the welcome bonus is just as exciting in that you’ll effectively get an unlimited 6% back on groceries and gas, as well as 2% everywhere else. Spend $500 per month on gas and groceries, and you’ll get $360 back instead of $180.
Other exciting features include a 0% foreign exchange fee and some travel insurance coverage, although it lacks travel emergency medical insurance.
For those who don’t meet the card’s $80,000 (individual) or $150,000 (household) income requirement, there’s also the Capital One Quicksilver World Mastercard. It offers the same cash-back rates, first-year match and no foreign exchange fees, with a lower income requirement of $50,000 individually or $80,000 per household. Its purchase interest rate is higher, ranging from 21.9% to 29.9%.
Nerdy takeaway: Get this card now and take it grocery shopping. Not only can you get 6% cash back on groceries for the first year, its Mastercard badge makes it an option at Loblaws and its affiliates. Just keep in mind that Costco and Walmart don’t count as grocery stores where Capital One is concerned, so you’ll have to settle for the base earn rate at those retailers.
Visa lowers interchange fees for small businesses — will this bring costs down?
On October 24, 2026, Visa will expand its lower interchange rates to qualifying small businesses with up to $750,000 in annual Visa sales (up from $300,000). Rates will also fall for businesses already eligible for the program.
Of course, it’s not all good news — new credit card processing fees are in the cards. A new 1.8-cent USD fee is coming on all domestic transactions in April 2027.
Nerdy takeaway: Don’t expect lower prices across the board. How much businesses save depends on whether their payment processors pass along the lower interchange costs. Whether shoppers see any savings is another question. We have seen businesses pocket the difference on things like tax cuts, so don’t get too excited, and that’s not even counting the 1.8-cent transaction fee that’s on the horizon.
Porter giving away 20,000 points to celebrate 20 years in Canada
Porter is celebrating its 20th birthday and instead of a free meal at Denny’s, they’re celebrating by giving away 20,000 VIPorter points every day through November 3.
Canadian VIPorter members who have flown with Porter or redeemed points between October 1, 2025 and November 2, 2026 are automatically entered to win. Non-members can also join VIPorter and can submit a retroactive flight claim before 10 a.m. ET on November 3 to qualify.
We love contests where we don’t have to do anything to enter, and for VIPorter members, this may be a nice surprise to wake up to in the next couple weeks.
If you want to build your VIPorter points bank for the future, BMO has two VIPorter credit cards available, a World Elite version with travel insurance and round-trip companion pass, as well as the lower-fee BMO VIPorter Mastercard.
| Card | NerdWallet rating | Intro offer | Rewards rate | Apply Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMO VIPorter World Elite®* Mastercard®* | APPLY NOW on BMO's website | |||
 APPLY NOW on BMO's website | 4.9/5 | 70,000 Points + Round-Trip Companion Pass | 1x-3x Points | |
| BMO VIPorter Mastercard®* | APPLY NOW on BMO's website | |||
 APPLY NOW on BMO's website | 3.6/5 | 40,000 Points | 0.5x-2x Points | |
There’s also a no-purchase necessary mail-in entry method for those who don’t want to make an account. All it requires is a hand-written 50-word essay that details why you love flying with Porter (this is not a joke: you can read the official rules online). This is to comply with Canadian sweepstakes law. And if you were looking forward to avoiding math, we’re sorry to announce you’ll also need to solve a BEDMAS math problem to claim the prize. It turns out that our teachers were right in saying that these skills would be important in our futures.
Nerdy takeaway: If you were already planning to take a quick Porter flight somewhere between now and the contest closing date, you could still be entered to win. Doesn’t mean you should drop everything for a single entry in a contest that thousands of people would enter anyway, but it sure beats writing a handwritten essay.
Previous issues:
Points Pulse for September 8, 2026: Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons join forces
Points Pulse for August 24, 2026: Big changes to popular cash-back credit cards
Points Pulse for August 10, 2026: Mortgage rewards and hotel deals
Points Pulse for July 27, 2026: Aeroplan and Hyatt team up as WestJet strike risk grows
Points Pulse for July 13, 2026: Haventree enters everyday banking, Aeroplan rewards airport spending
Points Pulse for June 29, 2026: Concert tickets, plus deals and offers for July
Previous issues:
DIVE EVEN DEEPER
Athena Cocoves
Athena Cocoves