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Neo Secured Mastercard®

4.5/5

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$45

Neo Secured Mastercard®

$45 Cash Rebate From FinlyWealth

Apply Now

Rewards Calculator Algorithm

You can either estimate rewards by inputting your spending habits manually or creating secure bank connections through our trusted financial partner mx.com and letting Finly analyze your spending in the past year.

Finly factors in all the reward limits and fine prints of every single credit card.

Your Spending

Modify your spending numbers and click update to get the most accurate reward estimates.

$2,000

Restaurant, Fast Food & Coffee Shop

Grocery

Recurring Purchases (Bills, Subscriptions, Rent via Chexy)

Gas

Transportation

Entertainment (Movies, Concerts, etc.)

Foreign Purchases (Non $CAD)

Travel (Flights, Hotels, etc.)

Pharmacy

Online Shopping

Home Improvement (Renovation, Furniture)

Purchases at Canadian Tire, Sport Check, Lquipeur, Atmosphere, Party City, SportsRousseau, HockeyExperts, LentrepduHockey

Other Purchases Not Specified

25% Referral Cash Bonus

Share your unique referral link to the Neo Secured Mastercard® and earn a 25% rebate bonus. Learn more about the Finly referral program.

Card Details
Rewards
Neo Secured Mastercard® Cash Back Calculator
Insurance & Benefits
Pros & Cons
Neo Secured Mastercard® Review

Card Details

Based on $2,000 spending

First Year Value

$292.12

$247.12 in years after

Annual Rewards

$307.12

First Year Bonus

Finly Rebate

$45

Annual Fee

$60

First Year Value

$292.12

Interest Rates

Cash Advance: 22.99% - 31.99% (for Quebec 22.99% - 25.99%)

Purchase: 19.99% - 29.99% (for Quebec 19.99% - 24.99%)

Annual Fee

$60

Annual Income

Personal: N/A

Household: N/A

Credit Score

Poor

Welcome Bonus

N/A

Card Type

Secured Credit

Our Rating

4.5/5

Institution

Neo Financial

Rewards

1% cash back on grocery purchases up to $6,000 spending per year (1.5% cash back with $1k in a Neo everyday account, 2% cash back with $3k in a Neo everyday account, 3% cash back with $5k in a Neo everyday account, and 4% cash back with $10k in a Neo everyday account) - drops to 0.5% cash back after hitting spend cap

2% cash back on gas purchases up to $12,000 spending per year (1.5% cash back with $1k in a Neo everyday account, 2% cash back with $3k in a Neo everyday account, 3% cash back with $5k in a Neo everyday account, and 4% cash back with $10k in a Neo everyday account) - drops to 0.5% cash back after hitting spend cap
0% cash back on all other purchases with $0 in a Neo everyday account, however you get 0.5% cash back with $1-3k in a Neo everyday account, and 1% cash back with $5k+ in a Neo everyday account - drops to 0% cash back again after spending $20,000 in this "other" category
+5% earned on average at Neo Partners.

Note: our reward calculations use the assumption that you hold $1k in a Neo everyday account to earn 1.5% on grocery and gas, and 0.5% on everything else. Your true reward estimates may be lower or higher depending on the amount of money held in a Neo everyday account.

In addition, the extra cashback rate from transactions made at Neo partners has been estimated at 0.7% in the calculator.

Neo Secured Mastercard® Cash Back Calculator

Based on $2,000 spending

Rewards Ranking

Compare Using Calculator

Rewards Breakdown

Groceries

$65.79

Gas

$29.81

others

$211.52

All other purchases

Annual Fee

- $60

Net Annual Rewards

$247.12

(after fees)

Rewards Summary

Net Annual Rewards

$247.12

(after fees)

First Year Card Bonus

First Year Card Value

$247.12

Finly Rebate

$45

Insurance & Benefits

Insurance

Coverage

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)

Pros & Cons

Pros

Best Secured Credit Card in Canada voted by FinlyWealth.
Only Secured Card that you can earn rewards with!
Option to add additional benefits with a monthly fee.
Some benefits provided are exclusive to Neo Card holders.
Deposit of only $50 required to get started

Cons

Only reports credit activity to TransUnion® and not Equifax®

Neo Secured Mastercard® Review

The Neo secured credit card is Canada's Best Secured Credit Card, voted by the FinlyWealth Team. The card offers so much more than other secured credit cards, making it a no-brainer if you are looking for a secured credit card option.

The Rewards

One important thing about Neo Secured card is that it offers cashback rewards. If you compare the rewards to the other cards, you will find the reason this card has an excellent reward score.

Because other secured cards don't offer rewards on your purchases, this fact alone would make the card much better than the other cards already.

The Neo reward system is a bit different than standard credit cards.

In summary, Neo will give you cashback when you purchase from its partners. The rate could differ from partner to partner, and the rate could be anywhere from 1% all the way up to 15%.

If you buy at a Non-Neo partner and the merchant is a gas or grocery store, you will receive 1% cashback.

You will not earn any cashback on non-Neo partners (Except Gas and Groceries), but if your overall cashback rate on all your purchases (both Neo and Non-Neo partners) falls under 0.5%, then Neo will give you enough cashback so that you have at least a 0.5% Cashback Guarantee.

Even though the system is complicated, the reward rates are exceptionally good for a secured card because you will gain nothing with other Secured credit cards.

Approval

Because this is a secured card, Neo mentions that they instantly approve everyone. This is true for the majority of people, but there have been some rare cases reported that the approval was not instant, but that should not be of concern.

One other important note about Neo is that the deposit you can put in only starts with $50 whereas other secured cards require a much higher rate. This lower deposit requirement would help everyone get the secured card, without the need of locking a huge deposit.

2 Benefits of the Neo Secured Credit Card

1. No Annual Fee

Even though all secured credit cards already require a deposit, that does not mean that they don't have an annual fee. Most secured credit card options in Canada come with a yearly fee.

In cases that they don't require a yearly fee, they would at least require a bigger deposit.

And that's where Neo shines because it's the only exception. Neo is both free and requires a very small deposit, making it a better option than the other cards if you repay your card on time.

2. Option to buy benefits and perks

Other no-annual fee-secured credit cards don't offer many benefits. The ones with annual fees have a few extra benefits, but the price paid to access them is usually not justifiable.

One of the unique things about the Neo Secured Credit card is that it allows you to buy the perks that you think are the most useful to you for a monthly fee. The best part is that after you are done using a specific perk, you can cancel the subscription to that specific perk.

To give you a quick glance at the five perks, here is a summary:

Premium ($4.99/Month):

Boosts cashback rate, get cashback on all non-Neo partners, Priority Support, Purchase protection and extended warranty, and group life insurance.

Travel ($4.99/Month):

Lounge access pass, complimentary lounge access in case of a flight delay, boosted cashback on hotel and foreign transactions, and comprehensive travel insurance.

Food and Drink ($1.99/Month):

Boosted cashback (1.25x) at partner restaurants, cafes and bars, and food delivery apps.

Mind and body ($9.99/Month):

Boosted cashback (1.25x) on wellness services and products, free classes at Oxygen Yoga and Fitness, FitOn Pro, and Headspace Plus.

Mobile & Personal Protection ($9.99/Month):

Damage and Theft protection for mobile, $1 million dollar coverage for fraud and identity theft.

1 Downside of the Neo Secured Card

Maybe the only and biggest downside Neo Secured Card has compared to the other secured cards is that Neo only reports to TransUnion and not Equifax.

Suppose you are monitoring your credit score on Equifax. In that case, your credit score won't be updated as a result of your Neo secured card activity, and therefore, your credit score at Transunion could potentially be very different than what is at Equifax.

Also, many lenders pull from multiple bureaus, but in some cases, they might only pull from Equifax. In these cases, your Neo Secured card activity would not be reflected in your credit score. It is typical, however, for lenders to pull both Transunion and Equifax, so this should be less of an issue.

Final Verdict

If you are looking for a secured credit card, the Neo card should be your go-to option.

The only exception would be if you really want your credit score to be reported to Equifax. In those cases, you have to think whether the rewards and advantages of Neo are worth giving up in favor of reporting or not.