With the weakening of the Canadian dollar, and travel coming around the corner, Canadians are looking for the cheapest way to travel and buy goods from the United States. We also determined the best Canadian credit card for foreign transactions.

Neither network makes its foreign exchange methodology public. As the chart clearly depicts, MasterCard charges a lower exchange rate than Visa a vast majority of the time. Moreover, it wins by a greater margin, more often than Visa. As a result, if you were to have used both cards on each of the 52 days measured, you would have saved. Given that the difference between Visa and MasterCard exchange rates were only.

That said, we still do not know what methodology either network uses to determine their exchange rates. There does not seem to be a consistent margin or discernable pattern, which is slightly disconcerting when pricing and fee transparency, ought to be the goal. Oddly, Visa does appear to charge below the spot rate on several occasions. We could not figure out how or why.

Despite the fact that both Visa and MasterCard charge more than the spot rate, they still charge a lot less than retail banks do. The lesson remains that one of the most cost effective ways to exchange money is through no foreign transaction fee credit cards. With exchange rate fees between 55 and 95 basis points, they are more competitive than most retail bank rates and currency exchange specialists.

However, if you use a credit card with a foreign transaction fee, which in Canada is usually around 2.

We now recommend people use the no-fee Rogers Platinum MasterCard for US Dollar transactions. Thanks for the kind words! Our analysis only compared the foreign exchange rates of MasterCard versus Visa with respect to the Canadian dollar versus the U. We would have to do a separate analysis to form a conclusion as to which network provides a better exchange rate for the CDN dollar versus other international currencies.

MasterCard or Visa For Foreign Purchases - Which is Cheaper for Canadians? - GreedyRates

Thanks for the info on the Rogers Mastercard, saw the info on your site and applied and received the card a month ago. Wanted this card for travel to the US, Already received the Seems like the best option plus where I use telephone banking I can stay on top of payments usually two days from my bank to the card. Dont have to worry about exceeding the limit and any over limit charges. When travelling in Europe where master card is accepted, is it still better to use the Rogers master card, instead of cash?

If the alternative is for you to exchange your Canadian dollars for Euros at a retail bank or worse at an airport, hotel or foreign currency exchange booth , then you will get a better currency conversion rate with your Rogers MasterCard, and it will be the preferred method. You will still be charged fairly close to the spot interbank rate when using the Rogers MasterCard in Europe, with no additional foreign transaction fees from Rogers.

When converting your Canadian dollars to Euros at the bank you will likely get charged a fee closer to 2. Couple of important facts that have been omitted in the comparison, specifically between the Rogers MasterCard and the Amazon Visa. The Rogers cash-back can only be applied to purchases in the Rogers store or towards a Rogers bill. If you are not a Rogers subscriber, not of much use. The Amazon Visa has no annual fee.

The Rogers card could be good as long as you are a Rogers customer, otherwise the Amazon Visa is clearly superior. This is not the conclusion reached by the article. The Rogers cash back can be applied as a statement credit against any purchases, not just Rogers purchases. We are not sure why Rogers does not highlight this point, although we imagine they want to encourage people to redeem for Rogers goods and services.

That said, we have verified with Rogers directly that you can indeed redeem your cash back as a statement credit — not just for Rogers goods and services.

You are correct with respect to the annual fee. Obviously for Rogers customers there is no annual fee if they put their bill on pre-authorized payment. For non-USA travel, I see how the Rogers card can be beneficial, however for USA travel, why not just get a USD denominated credit card? The reason why the Rogers card is better than using a USD card for USA travel, is because it offers a better exchange rate. When using the USD card, you still have to exchange your Canadian dollars to US dollars in the bank, and then pay your USD credit card statement in US dollars.

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Rewards Credit Cards Travel Credit Cards Cash Back Credit Cards No Annual Fee Credit Cards Low Interest Rate Credit Cards Low Balance Transfer Rate Credit Cards Student Credit Cards Establish Credit Repair Credit U. Top Rewards Credit Cards Top Low Interest Credit Cards Top Cash Back Credit Cards Top Student Credit Cards. Home Credit Card Reviews Articles Credit Card News Credit Card Guides. TD Enhances Credit Card Travel Insurance Coverage For Cardholders. GreedyRates July 22, at 2: Gil April 23, at 5: Norah April 15, at GreedyRates April 15, at 4: Hi Norah, Great question.

Bill April 13, at GreedyRates April 14, at Hi Bill, Your comment raises a common misconception with respect to the Rogers MasterCard: Hope that helps, GreedyRates Staff. Bobbob April 13, at 9: Hi Bob, The reason why the Rogers card is better than using a USD card for USA travel, is because it offers a better exchange rate.

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