The best Visa credit cards in Canada

Visa is the largest of the three major credit card companies in Canada. Unlike American Express, Visa doesn’t issue credit cards on its site, nor does it offer any credit cards that are solely under the Visa name. Instead, your Visa will be issued by a bank, credit union or retailer, meaning you’ll see the issuer’s logo + the Visa logo on your card.

With that being said, Visa does divide its credit card products under four categories: Classic, Gold, Platinum, Infinite, and Infinite Privilege.

• Visa Classic is an ideal first credit card for you to get, either as a student, young professional or someone trying to establish credit. They don’t typically come with many perks or rewards, but their benefits include zero liability and lost/stolen card reporting. Visa Classic cards also typically have a low or no annual fees and little to no income requirements.
• Visa Gold is the next step up in Visa card offerings. They typically have an annual income requirement and come with a $5,000 minimum credit limit. Visa Gold benefits include: zero liability, lost/stolen card reporting, car rental insurance, travel and emergency insurance policies, and emergency cash and card replacement.
• Visa Platinum comes with the same income requirements and minimum credit limits as Visa Gold, as well as the same list of benefits. However, they often charge higher annual fees (hovering around the $89 mark) for greater rewards – and offer some extra prestige, if that’s what you’re looking for.
• Visa Infinite offers all the same great benefits as both Visa Gold and Visa Platinum, but also includes added benefits (i.e. comprehensive travel insurance), higher earn rates for its cardholders, and more exclusive perks (read more about the Visa Infinite program in the next section). A personal income of $60,000 (or $100,000) is usually required to be approved for these cards.
• Finally, Visa Infinite Privilege represent the most exclusive Visa credit cards and offer a suite of perks that often include access to airport lounges with a membership to Priority Pass, companion travel tickets, a higher volume of rewards per dollar, and huge sign-up bonuses. Visa Infinite Privilege usually have a higher barrier to entry with annual fees of $499 or more.

 

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Visa Infinite program

There are well over a dozen Visa cards attached to its unique brand recognition program: Visa Infinite. Visa Infinite cardholders have access to special offers and unique opportunities, such as a long list of hotel upgrades, invitations to dinners hosted by renowned chefs, advance tickets and VIP lounge access at TIFF, discounts on tickets to sporting events and complimentary concierge services. They also come with travel insurance policies, travel medical insurance, zero liability, emergency card replacement and cash service, and more. Before you make a purchase with your Visa Infinite card, check out the Visa Infinite website to see if there are any offers you can take advantage of first!

 

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Visa credit card partnerships

Aside from the Visa Infinite program, some of Visa’s current credit card partnerships include:

• Aeroplan: CIBC and TD offer a total of 7 personal Aeroplan Visa travel rewards credit cards (4 and 3 respectively). CIBC offers two entry-level Aeroplan Visa Cards for students and general cardholders, TD offers the mid-tier Aeroplan Visa Platinum, while both banks provide near-identical versions of the Aeroplan Visa Infinite and Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege.
• SCENE: The Scotiabank SCENE Visa Card comes with 2,500 SCENE points (worth 2 free movies), and lets you earn 5 SCENE points per $1 spent at Cineplex and 1 SCENE point per $1 spent everywhere else.
• British Airways: The RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card comes that lets you earn triple Avios for every $1 spent on British Airways purchases and 1.5 Avios for every $1 spent anywhere else. Avios can be redeemed for travel anywhere British Airways flies
• Cathway Pacific: The RBC Cathway Pacific Visa Platinum card comes with a complimentary Green Tier membership into the Marco Polo Club, and lets you earn double Asia Miles for every $1 spent on Cathway Pacific purchases and 1 Asia Mile for every $1 spent anywhere else. Asia Miles can be redeemed for flights, upgrades and more.

Remember that all of these credit cards will be issued by a bank, credit union or retailer – not by Visa itself. As well, some Visa credit cards may also help you earn points specific to a bank’s own branded rewards program (like CIBC Aventura or RBC Avion), of which there are too many to list here.

 

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More on Visa

Headquartered in Foster City, California, Visa is the largest credit card company in the world. In fact, The Nilson Report showed that Visa held 60.5% of the market share of purchase transactions made worldwide in 2013. Today, Visa operates in more than 200 countries, and is well known for its Visa credit card and Visa debit card products.