The Ultimate No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card Portfolio

In this feature of Rewards Canada's Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate one for those who make lots of purchases in currencies other than the Canadian dollar. It looks at credit cards in the Canadian market that do not charge a fee of 2 to 3% on purchases made in foreign currencies.

It is the ideal portfolio for those traveling outside of Canada a lot, those shopping online from the U.S. and other countries and even business owners who are importing items that can be paid for with a credit card.

As we typically recommend, you should carry at least one Visa, one Mastercard and one American Express card, if not more of each in your wallet. This is standard with all of our Ultimate Wallets. The reason why is that there are benefits, promotions and earning potential unique to each brand of credit card.

In this portfolio we outline one card from each brand that will help you build up those travel rewards points all the while saving you a good chunk of change by not having to pay those pesky foreign transaction fees. Ultimately there are various options that could be utilized for such a portfolio but we look at one card from each issuing family that we feel are the best fit for this mission.

What is Rewards Canada's Ultimate No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card portfolio? It's the following three cards:

Prior to February 2024, this portfolio used to be a contender for the 'Ultimate' of Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios! It had a trifecta of cards for someone looking to have an amazing travel rewards portfolio. However with RBC's takeover of HSBC we lost the HSBC World Elite Mastercard which held the position for the Mastercard in this portfolio. There is no direct travel rewards replacement for that card so it was replaced with a very strong cash back card, the Brim World Elite Mastercard but then a few short months later Brim added an FX fee to card so here we are changing it again with the prepaid Wealthsimple Card taking the Mastercard spot.

All that being said you still have a pretty darn good portfolio if you go with these three cards. You have a card that is one of the strongest points earning cards in Canada and outside of Canada (the Scotiabank Gold Amex), one of very few Mastercard options that actually offer No FX fees, and a card that provides travel benefits like airport lounge access (the Scotia Passport card).

Related: No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians

Five Key Benefits of this portfolio

• All cards feature no foreign transaction fees
• Strong points earning potential
• Provides flexible travel and cash back rewards
• Great travel benefits
• Strong insurance coverage

Why you want to get each of these cards

The first card in the portfolio is the Scotiabank Gold American Express card. This card would be set as the main card in this portfolio and you would want to put all of your possible spending in Canada on the card and select spending outside of Canada on the card as well!

For Canadian spending the main reason why you want to put as much of your spending on it is because it is a Points Earning Machine! It earns 6 points per dollar at Sobeys, Safeway and other Empire group stores. Then it earns 5 points per dollar spent at eligible grocery stores, on dining and entertainment (in Canada), 3 points per dollar spent at eligible gas stations, daily transit and select streaming services (in Canada) and 1 point per dollar spent everywhere else. The key wording here is 'in Canada' as all purchases not made in Canadian dollars are only supposed to earn 1 point per dollar spent (but that has all changed - read on below). Those numbers translate to a 5%, 3%, and 1% return when redeeming for travel and since this is travel rewards card portfolio that is key.

As of sometime in 2024, data started trickling through that this card's 3x and 5x points multipliers were being awarded on some purchases outside of Canada. We have confirmed this with many of our readers and now track it on our Scotiabank Gold American Express Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations feature. The key word here is "some" as not all locations will earn the multipliers. So it will be up to you to decide if you pull this card out in hopes of earning up to 5x points if you are at a merchant not listed yet on the list or go with the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card and be guaranteed 2x points (at least for merchants that fall into the accelerated earn rate categories)

And when it comes to redeeming for travel this card is as flexible as they come. You book the travel how you want, when you want, with whomever you want and then when that travel charge shows up on your account you redeem your points against that charge. Want to book a flight directly with Air Canada, pay for it on this card and then redeem points for it! On top of that you'll still earn Aeroplan miles on the flight.

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card Quick Facts:

• Annual Fee: $120 primary card | $20 supplementary cards
• Receive up to 40,000 welcome bonus points
• Income requirements: $12,000 personal
• Apply for this card here.
• Click here to read our in-depth review of the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

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The second card in the portfolio is the Wealthsimple Cash Card which is a prepaid credit card that offers cash back rewards and no FX Fees. This card will only be used outside of the country when you are at a merchant that only accepts Mastercard. You can also use it at Costco but we would recommend getting one of the Top 5 Mastercard Cards to use at Costco for your warehouse purchases.

When travelling outside of Canada (or shopping online outside of Canada) you won't pay any foreign transaction fees with this card. This card also earns 1% cash back on every purchase including those made outside of Canada.

As it is a prepaid card you will not be making credit purchases rather you are limited to spending whatever funds you have deposited into your Wealthsimple Cash Card account.

Wealthsimple Cash Card Quick Facts:

• Wealthsimple does not charge ATM withdrawal fees
• Earn up to 3% interest
• No FX fees, monthly fees, or other hidden fees
• Apply for this card here.
• Click here to read our in-depth review of the Wealthsimple Cash Card

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Rounding out this portfolio is the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card. It was the first no foreign transaction fee card in Canada to be issued by a major bank. This card is very similar to its Gold American Express card sibling except for being a Visa card of course!

Its base points earning is the same at 1 point per dollar but then its category bonus rates are lower than the Gold Amex version and there is a good reason why. That higher earn rate of 2 points per dollar on grocery, dining, entertainment and daily transit is not limited to purchases in Canadian dollars. It is awarded on purchases in those categories made in any currency. So, if you are dining at a restaurant in Chicago you'll earn the 2 points per dollar and save your 2.5% thanks to the no foreign transaction fee. On the redemption side this card is exactly the same as the Scotiabank Gold American Express card - 1,000 points = a $10 credit on travel charges.

On the benefits side the key feature this card provides is a Visa Airport Companion Program membership with 6 free lounge visits which has a combined value of US$309 - and this is an annual benefit.

Related: Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class Lounge Access

All three cards also come with some really good welcome bonus offers that provide you with well over $800 in travel credits and varying travel and purchase insurance benefits.

Here's how you should split up your spending with this credit card portfolio:

• Grocery, Dining, Entertainment purchases (in Canada): Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
  (unless the merchant doesn't accept Amex - then use the Scotia Bank Passport Visa Infinite Card)
  
• Grocery, Dining, Entertainment purchases (outside of Canada): Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card (unless you see a confirmed 5x points merchant on our multiplier list)
  
• Drug Store Purchases: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card or Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
• Costco Purchases: EQ Bank Card one of the Top 5 Mastercard Cards to use at Costco
• Travel purchases: Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card thanks to its good insurance coverage
• Gas stations, daily transit* and select streaming services (in Canada): Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (unless the merchant doesn't accept Amex - then use the Scotia Bank Passport Visa Infinite Card for daily transit)
• Daily transit* (outside of Canada): Scotia Bank Passport Visa Infinite Card (unless you see a confirmed 3x points merchant on our multiplier list)
• All other purchases: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card or Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
  * - includes buses, subways, taxis, Ubers and more
  

Of note, both of the Scotia cards have a $50,000 annual cap on the category bonus spending. Should you reach that cap on one card move your spending to the other.

Here are the details on these three cards

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Other card options you could consider:

You do have several other card options you could look at in this portfolio - not a whole lot though seeing there are less than a dozen no foreign transaction fee cards in Canada.

For the American Express option you could look at using the Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card. This card earns a flat 2x Scene+ points per dollar spent on all purchases. That works out to a 2% return when redeeming for travel or at Scene+ partners. This card is ideal if you have lots of spending that doesn't fall into the accelerated categories on the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.

For the Mastercard side your next best option instead of the EQ Bank would be the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard but only if most of your foreign spending is in US$. It does charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fee but it rewards 3% cash back on US$ purchases (So you come out ahead by 0.5%) and if you are a Rogers customer that can be boosted to 4.5% cash back if you redeem the rewards towards purchases with Rogers.

Finally on the Visa side your next best option after the Passport Visa Infinite card would be the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Privilege Card. It is the next best Visa card in Canada with no foreign transaction fees and is ideal for someone who makes a lot of travel purchases. There is also the Home Trust Preferred Visa which offers No FX Fees and also does not charage an annual fee (This card is not available in Quebec). It does not offer rewards on non-C$ purchases but could be a good option for someone who may not utilize a Visa card outside of Canada. Later in 2025 we should also see the No FX Fee Wealthsimple Visa Infinite Card be released to the general public at which point it will become our recommended next best option for Visa.

This article was first posted on December 6, 2019 and is updated on a regular basis.