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Abid Salahi
Author3 min read
List was last updated Feb 2024
Neo credit cards have a cashback structure unlike any other credit card in Canada. The cashback you get is not only dependent on your purchase category (e.g., Food, Gas, etc.) but also based on whether Neo is a partner of that merchant.
Different partners can give you different percentages of cashback. More importantly, the cashback for each partner might have some extra conditions to release the cashback earned. For example, a Neo partner might require a minimum of $50 in order to qualify your purchase for the cashback bonus.
At the end of the blog, we will go into more detail about how we got the partner list and what happens if you buy from a merchant that is not a Neo Partner.
The Neo credit card works in two different ways, depending on the store. In some stores, it's like a savings game. Here’s how it works: Imagine you get a small bonus, like 5% of your purchase price, each time you buy something. But you don't get this bonus right away. You must buy things a few times, like 2 or 3 times, from the same store. After you've done that, you get all your bonuses added up and given to you at once.
In other stores, it's much simpler. Every time you buy something, you immediately get a small bonus, like 5% of what you spent. No need to wait or buy more things to get it.
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Our choice for: High cash back on groceries & gas
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$125
Interest Rates
19.99% - 26.99% (or 19.99% - 23.99% in Newfoundland and Quebec) / 22.99% - 28.99%
This card offers one of the highest cash back rates in Canada for gas (up to 4%), grocery (up to 7%) and recurring purchases (up to 5%) which is pretty hard to beat. While the cash back rates are very high, you need to mind the spend caps set for each category to see if your earning potential is really that high compared to most other credit cards. However, for a typical person who's spending is generally below $12k per year in grocery, $6k per year in recurring bills and $12k per year in gas then you'll be doing pretty well, especially with the great insurance and benefit offers.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Emergency Out of province Medical
Trip Cancellation
Trip Interruption
Flight Delay
Baggage Delay
Lost or Stolen Baggage
Hotel Burglary Insurance
Car Rental Accident
Car Rental Damage & Theft
Car Rental Personal Effects
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Benefits
Details
Airport Lounge - Dragon Pass
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99% (or 19.99% - 23.99% in Newfoundland and Quebec)□ / 22.99% - 31.99%
This card offers balanced rewards for everyday purchases and with the cash back boost of up to 4% on groceries, it can easily beat most other no fee cash back credit cards as long as you're willing to keep 10k in a Neo everyday account. There's a secured version of this card too which would be beneficial for those wanting to build credit and earn a very high cash back at the same time at only $5/month.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99%□ / 22.99% - 31.99%□
The Neo Credit Card is special because it earns rewards based on whether the merchant is a partner or not. Most of the time, the cashback earned at these partners is the highest possible compared to all other credit cards. However, we don't recommend using this card as your main credit card and suggest using it only at partner merchants. This is because the rewards at non-partner merchants are very small, and most merchants are not partnered with Neo.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Balance Protection
Benefits
Details
Neo Premium ($4.99/month)
Neo Travel Benefits ($4.99/month)
Neo Food Cashback boost ($1.99/month)
Neo Mind and Body Perks ($9.99/month)
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
Our choice for: Premium cashback for everyday spending
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$125
Interest Rates
19.99% - 26.99%□ / 22.99% - 28.99%□
This secured card offers the highest cash back rates in Canada for gas (up to 4%), grocery (up to 7%) and recurring purchases (up to 5%) which is pretty hard to beat. While the cash back rates are very high, you need to mind the spend caps set for each category to see if your earning potential is really that high compared to most other credit cards. However, for a typical person who's spending is generally below $12k per year in grocery, $6k per year in recurring bills and $12k per year in gas then you'll be doing pretty well, especially with the great insurance and benefit offers.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Emergency Out of province Medical
Trip Cancellation
Trip Interruption
Flight Delay
Baggage Delay
Lost or Stolen Baggage
Hotel Burglary Insurance
Car Rental Accident
Car Rental Damage & Theft
Car Rental Personal Effects
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Benefits
Details
Airport Lounge - Dragon Pass
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$60
$5 Paid Monthly
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99%□ / 22.99% - 31.99%□
Most secured cards give you very low to no rewards for using your card as you build your score over time. This card however offers balanced rewards for everyday purchases and with the cash back boost of up to 4% on groceries, it can easily beat most other no fee cash back credit cards as long as you're willing to keep 10k in a Neo everyday account. This is a fantastic card to help build your score while you also get to earn a high cash back rate.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
Our choice for: Guaranteed approval and earning cashback
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Rewards Rate
1% - 4%
Annual Fee
$60
$5 Paid Monthly
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99%□ / 22.99% - 31.99%□
If you have a poor credit score and are looking to rebuild it with a secured card, then the Neo Financial Secured Credit Card is the best card to go for. This card offers so much more compared to other secured credit cards on the market, including no monthly fees, a low deposit amount needed to get started, and it is the only credit card that offers some rewards on your purchases!
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Benefits
Details
Neo Premium ($4.99/month)
Neo Travel Benefits ($4.99/month)
Neo Food Cashback boost ($1.99/month)
Neo Mind and Body Perks ($9.99/month)
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
Not being a NEO partner does not mean you don't earn any cashback.
At first glance, nothing gets earned when someone uses their Neo Card with non-Neo partners, which is a false assumption.
If the place that you are purchasing from is a gas station or a grocery store and is a non-Neo partner, your cards also gives you cashback on those categories.
Unfortunately, Neo doesn't share the complete list of all their partners online, and you can only access the merchants on the app or website when you login case by case.
So what did we do?
We went through the list of top chains in Canada for different categories on the app and wrote the details of each merchant for you. We got a list of top merchants in each category, went through the app, and documented the merchants that had partnered with Neo.
So, any merchant that is not listed here either is not a partner or was not checked because they were not a top merchant.
Now that you have seen the Neo Partner list, you might be thinking about whether you should get this card or not, considering there are some other factors you need to consider as well.
Our choice for: High cash back on groceries & gas
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$125
Interest Rates
19.99% - 26.99% (or 19.99% - 23.99% in Newfoundland and Quebec) / 22.99% - 28.99%
This card offers one of the highest cash back rates in Canada for gas (up to 4%), grocery (up to 7%) and recurring purchases (up to 5%) which is pretty hard to beat. While the cash back rates are very high, you need to mind the spend caps set for each category to see if your earning potential is really that high compared to most other credit cards. However, for a typical person who's spending is generally below $12k per year in grocery, $6k per year in recurring bills and $12k per year in gas then you'll be doing pretty well, especially with the great insurance and benefit offers.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Emergency Out of province Medical
Trip Cancellation
Trip Interruption
Flight Delay
Baggage Delay
Lost or Stolen Baggage
Hotel Burglary Insurance
Car Rental Accident
Car Rental Damage & Theft
Car Rental Personal Effects
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Benefits
Details
Airport Lounge - Dragon Pass
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99% (or 19.99% - 23.99% in Newfoundland and Quebec)□ / 22.99% - 31.99%
This card offers balanced rewards for everyday purchases and with the cash back boost of up to 4% on groceries, it can easily beat most other no fee cash back credit cards as long as you're willing to keep 10k in a Neo everyday account. There's a secured version of this card too which would be beneficial for those wanting to build credit and earn a very high cash back at the same time at only $5/month.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
go to Neo Financial's website
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Annual Fee
$0
Interest Rates
19.99% - 29.99%□ / 22.99% - 31.99%□
The Neo Credit Card is special because it earns rewards based on whether the merchant is a partner or not. Most of the time, the cashback earned at these partners is the highest possible compared to all other credit cards. However, we don't recommend using this card as your main credit card and suggest using it only at partner merchants. This is because the rewards at non-partner merchants are very small, and most merchants are not partnered with Neo.
Pros
Cons
Rewards
Note: our reward calculations use the base cash back rates assuming you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account to earn the higher tier (boosted) cash back rates, otherwise the reward estimates may be higher.
Insurance
Coverage
Balance Protection
Benefits
Details
Neo Premium ($4.99/month)
Neo Travel Benefits ($4.99/month)
Neo Food Cashback boost ($1.99/month)
Neo Mind and Body Perks ($9.99/month)
Eligibility
Credit Score
Annual Income
Neo Credit cards don't have very high coverage on Restaurants and Fast Food chains, and their coverage is around 25% out of the top merchants that were checked. On clothing, subscription, and Gas purchases, on the other hand, they have a much higher coverage.
One important thing is that on some of the partners, the cashback rate is significant and can't be beat by using any other credit card so one of the best things to do is to use another card when the merchant is not a Neo partner and when the merchant is a Neo partner, you can check the cashback rate and if it makes sense use that card.
The Neo app is really great for checking for available cashback partners around you.
Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card
BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard®∗
Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite* Card
BMO VIPorter Mastercard®∗
Neo World Elite® Mastercard® Secured