Best Tangerine Credit Cards in Canada for 2021

Founded in 1997 as ING Direct, Tangerine was one of the first direct banking institutions in Canada. It allows Canadians to bank virtually, without the need for visiting a branch. This alternative to traditional banking results in reduced account fees thanks to Tangerine's lack of overhead costs. Additionally, the lack of overhead costs results in higher interest rates on savings accounts and investments and lower interest rates on credit products.

In 2012, ING Direct was acquired by Scotiabank, which relaunched the bank as Tangerine. Today, Tangerine is the most widely accessed online bank in the country. It offers a broad range of financial products, including chequing accounts, savings accounts, investments, and credit cards.

Best Tangerine Credit cards

Tangerine's credit cards come with $0 annual fees and offer card holders up to 2% back in rewards. The bank offers two Mastercards: the Tangerine World Mastercard and the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card.

Types of Tangerine Credit Card Rewards

Tangerine credit cards lean heavily on cash-back rewards. Cashback is used towards the card balance on a monthly basis or can be directly deposited into a Tangerine Savings Account.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

• Unlimited monthly cash back rewards
• Personalized rewards categories

Tangerine Credit Card Cash Back Categories:

• Grocery
• Furniture
• Restaurants
• Hotel-Motel
• Gas
• Recurring Bill Payments
• Drug Store
• Home Improvement
• Entertainment
• Public Transportation and Parking

Credit Card Insurance

Purchase Assurance and Extended Warranty. For most new purchases made anywhere in the world using your Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card, you may receive a lifetime maximum of up to $60,000 for the following insurance coverage:

• Purchase Assurance to automatically cover loss, theft or damage on most new insured items for 90 days from the date of purchase

• Extended Warranty which may double the period of repair services to a maximum of one year

Viewed as one of the best credit cards in Canada, Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card provides no annual fee, a lucrative 2% cash back in up to 3 merchant categories, and 0.5% on all other purchases with no caps, tiers or limits. It provides choice, value and convenience to beginner credit card users and even works great as a secondary credit card.

The most notable feature is the cash back rewards. Who wouldn't want to earn money while they spend! In order to determine an estimate of how much you'll earn using this card, take your total credit card spending per month and multiply it by 1%. Typically, these card users average out to 1% cash back on purchases between the special 2% categories and 0.5% on all other purchases. If you spend $1,000 a month, you'll earn $10 ($1,000 x 0.01)!


Tangerine's Money Back Credit Card has lower than average fees as well. In addition, they are an excellent bank to work with since they're owned by Scotiabank. More often than not, Tangerine's clients benefit indirectly from Scotiabank's services without paying the big bank fees. Overall it is a great credit card for those who would like to maximize the cashback they earn by choosing their spend categories to earn more cashback.

Tangerine World Mastercard

• Unlimited monthly cash back rewards
• Personalized rewards categories
• Boingo Wi-Fi for Mastercard
• Mastercardtravel rewards
• On-Demand and Subscription Services
• Rental car insurance
• Mobile device insurance
• Mastercard airport experiences from LoungeKey

Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance

Damage and theft protection for your car rental when you rent for up to 31 consecutive days and charge the full cost of your rental to your Card.

Mobile Device Insurance

Protection on new cell phones, smartphones or tablets when you charge the full cost to your Card, or when you purchase it through a plan and charge all of your wireless bill payments to your Card. Covers up to$1,000 if your mobile device is lost, stolen, accidentally damaged or experiences mechanical failure.

On-Demand and Subscription Services

Save on the things you love with your Tangerine World Mastercard. Enjoy special benefits and offers from a growing lineup of on-demand apps and subscription services made available to you as a Tangerine World Mastercard cardholder.

The Tangerine World Mastercard is a new addition to Tangerine’s financial products. As with the Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard, there is no annual fee, 2% cash back on three categories and 0.5% cash back on all other purchases. Some of Tangerine’s spending categories include restaurants, furniture, groceries, gas, home improvement and entertainment.

The World Mastercard offers new perks to their customers that are not available to Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard users. Mobile insurance of $1,000, rental car insurance worth $65,000 for 31 days and Mastercard airport experiences are perks that cardholders gain access to. Both of these insurance packages are beneficial for individuals who have a smartphone and renting cars often. In addition, with the Mastercard LoungeKey membership, you can access airport lounges all over the world at a discounted rate.

All in all, the Tangerine World Mastercard is an excellent choice because of the cash back rewards and other perks.

Tangerine Credit Cards Overview

Consumers who want to earn cashback based on their purchase amounts and not their purchase locations will find that Tangerine Credit Cards are the perfect match. In addition, Tangerine does not penalize low-income earners making this a great option for students and low-income earners who still want to be rewarded for their spending.

Benefits and Perks of Tangerine Credit Cards

Tangerine Credit Cards offer generous cash back perks. The Tangerine Money-Back credit card offers 2% cashback in up to three categories such as groceries, entertainment, gas, etc. This allows shoppers to choose where they want to be rewarded, which is very generous since most credit cards only offer select merchants within select categories. In addition, cardholders earn .5% back on all other purchases at all times.

Tangerine credit card balance transfer offer

Other benefits include a low balance transfer of just 1.95% for eligible applicants and no annual fee which makes it an affordable option for credit consumers.

Additionally, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card only requires an income of $12K so every household can enjoy its benefits.
The Tangerine World Mastercard requires a minimum personal income of 60k or a household income of 100k.

The Tangerine World Mastercard offers similar perks with 2% cashback in two shopping categories and .5% cash-back on everyday purchases. In addition, Tangerine credit cards do not place a cashback annual limit on potential earnings so if you keep spending you keep earning.

Tangerine Credit Card Cons

It should be noted that Tangerine credit card holders can only elect to change their categories every 90 days. Therefore, if you find that you are not spending as much as you thought within a category you will need to wait to change your selection. In addition, wholesale purchases do not count toward rewards totals. Frequent Costco shoppers therefore may not earn as much as they initially thought within the grocery category.