Neo Mastercard®
2.7/5
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 Mastercard® and earn a 25% rebate bonus. Learn more about the Finly referral program.
Card Details
Based on $2,000 spending
First Year Value
$243.73
$183.73 in years after
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
$0
Annual Income
Personal: N/A
Household: N/A
Credit Score
Good
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Card Type
Cash Back
Our Rating
2.7/5
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 Mastercard® Cash Back Calculator
Based on $2,000 spending
Rewards Ranking
Rewards Breakdown
Groceries
$65.79
Gas
$29.81
others
$88.13
All other purchases
$0
Net Annual Rewards
$183.73
Rewards Summary
Net Annual Rewards
$183.73
First Year Card Bonus
$0
First Year Card Value
$183.73
Finly Rebate
$60
Insurance & Benefits
Insurance
Coverage
Balance Protection
optional add on
Benefits
Details
Neo Premium ($4.99/month)
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Neo Travel Benefits ($4.99/month)
Neo Food Cashback boost ($1.99/month)
Neo Mind and Body Perks ($9.99/month)
Pros & Cons
Pros
- High cash back on grocery and gas if you're willing to hold at least $5k in a Neo everyday account
- Unique cashback program which earns cashback based on partner instead of purchase category.
- Massive cashback at some partners that any other credit card couldn't beat.
- Unique benefit system where perks could be bought with a monthly fee and cancelled after use.
Cons
- Base Cash back is very low when you do not hold any money in a Neo everyday account
- No built-in purchase protection and extended warranty benefit.
Neo Mastercard® Review
So you may have heard about the Neo Credit Card!
Before we go deeper, I want to mention that there are two Neo Credit cards. Neo Credit is an unsecured card, and Neo Secured Credit is the secured version of this card. Here, I will be reviewing the unsecured version of the card, the Neo Credit!
If you want to learn more about the Neo Secured card, you can read more about it in the Neo Secured card page.
Now back to the Neo Credit review:
I have friends who told me that it's the best card they ever had and friends who absolutely hated it.
BUT...
After speaking with them, I found the reason. The Neo credit card isn't for everybody.
It's what I call a situational card. Some people must absolutely have it, and some might be better off with a different card.
In fact, I have Neo Credit, and use it to maximize the rewards I earn from my credit cards.
In this post, we will go deep into every aspect of the Neo credit card and review everything so you know if you should apply for this card or not. In case you decide to apply, the apply now buttons on this page will give you an extra signup bonus you wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
Should I get the Neo Credit or not?
The answer to this question is not that straight forward. To make things easier, I created this simple flowchart that you can follow to help make your decision.
Now if you reached a Neo Card, then the decision is easy.
If you reached "It depends", I will elaborate further to help you make the final decision.
Neo Credit Fee
One unique aspect of Neo credit cards is that they are FREE. So you don't need to worry about paying anything each month or whether the rewards you are getting are offsetting the cost of the card.
Neo Credit Cards Unique reward system
Neo Credit cards have a unique reward system.
And by unique, I mean there is not a single credit card out there in Canada that even comes close to what Neo offers.
Other credit cards give you cashback based on the category of your purchases. For example, a card may give you 1% cashback on all food and drink purchases.
But Neo is different. Neo's cashback differs from partner to partner. So, for example, if you go to a restaurant, you might get 5%, and if you go to another, you might get 0.5%. Neo has over 10,000 partners across Canada, from small businesses like your local coffee shop to massive stores like Walmart. The list includes many retail favorites in Canada, like Lululemon, Aritzia, Canadian Tire, and more.
This system has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The biggest downside of Neo Credit cards is that you don't get any cashback on your purchase if the merchant is a non-Neo partner. (Except In some rare cases, you might trigger a 0.5% cashback guarantee on your overall purchases, which does not happen often.
So there is not much incentive to use Neo Credit cards at non-Neo partners!
But the most significant upside is that if the merchant is a Neo partner, the cashback return will beat almost any other credit card. While with most free cashback credit cards, you get around 1%, and with paid cashback cards, you might earn 3% in some categories, with Neo, you can get an average of 5% when shopping with its partners, which is a massive win!
To help you find Neo partners and see what their cashback rates are, we have listed the top merchants in Canada in different categories and added if they are Neo partners or not and what their cashback rate is here.
Now, with this in mind, let's answer some of the questions that might not have been answered in the flow chart.
Should you get the Neo Credit if you only shop with one credit card?
The easy rule is that if 30% of your purchases are from Neo partners, then you are averaging around 1.5% cashback on all your purchases.
If your current card is a cashback card and you are not getting a 1.5% return on average, then go for Neo.
If you shop with multiple credit cards, should you get Neo Credit?
If you are using only cashback or Free credit cards, then the answer is definitely yes.
The cashback rate you get on most Neo partners beats the cashback rate you can get from any other card.
But suppose you are a person that uses point-based cards, especially a paid one. In that case, you have to decide whether carrying a new card that you occasionally use for a marginally higher return in some cases is worth it or not.
Neo Credit Card - Benefits at a Premium
Similar to Neo's reward system, their benefits system is also unique.
They have a series of perks that you can subscribe to for a monthly fee. Here's a small summary of their different perks and benefits:
The main difference between Neo benefits with other cards is that other cards have fixed benefits. Meaning that from the moment you get them, the benefits don't usually change. Because of this, some of the better benefits are only available with the more expensive cards.
But with Neo, you have the option to subscribe to a benefit, and when you are done using it, cancel your subscription! This will give you the highest return on your money.
Before we go into the benefits you can subscribe to, I have to point out one of the biggest disadvantages of Neo credit cards. While almost every free and paid credit card comes with purchase protection and extended warranty insurance, Neo credit cards don't have that, and there isn't even an option to subscribe to them.
Now most people I know have never used either of their benefits in their life, so if you are part of this group, then you don't need to worry.
But if these two benefits are crucial to you then Neo might not be for you!
Neo has five perks: Premium, food and drink, Mind and Body, Travel, and mobile & personal protection.
1. Premium
For $4.99/Month, you basically upgrade your card so that you get some extra features and cashback. With this benefit, you get cashback (0.5%) on all your purchases and not only on the ones that are Neo partners, and you also get Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty.
I would say these are not as impressive because there are many other free cards out there that offer these.
The part that is more interesting is the boosted cashback rate across the Neo partner network, especially on food and services. If you buy a lot at these Neo partners, you will get a big increase, making the $4.99/Month more than worth it.
Based on this information, you can decide whether this perk is worth it for you or not. It might be an absolute must-have for some and something not that impressive for others.
2. Travel benefit.
For $4.99/month, you get access to so many travel-related benefits and insurance. So before you go on your trip, you can simply subscribe to these benefits, and once you come back from your trip, go ahead and cancel it.
What's more impressive is that the travel insurance even has trip cancelation and trip interruption insurance on top of the other coverages.
Travel cancelation and trip interruption benefits are rare benefits that even some paid cards don't offer, and being able to get this for only $5 is an absolute win if you already don't have this insurance.
So that's why if you travel a lot and none of your cards have travel insurance, then you can get Neo and use this benefit when you are traveling!
Neo Credit card - Pros and Cons summary
What are the real benefits/pros of the Neo Credit card?
- Average of 5% and guaranteed minimum of 0.5% cash back at Neo partners
- Relatively easy to get approved (low credit score, no income requirement)
- No monthly fees (unless you opt-in for subscriptions)
- Top-of-the-line mobile app that helps track your spending, rewards, and card status
- Access to cashback instantly (can redeem cash back at any time)
What are the real cons to the Neo Credit card?
- No included insurance coverage or consumer protection. However, add-on subscriptions can be purchased for a certain monthly fee, and can also be canceled at any time.
Neo Credit Card - Conclusion
Neo Credit cards are definitely a unique credit card to have, but they are not for everybody.
If you only use cashback or free cards, then Neo is something you want to have in your arsenal.
In addition, if none of your current credit cards offer any travel insurance, Neo credit cards offer travel insurance for a very small fee.