Double dip on the promotional offer – MBNA Platinum Plus Smart Cash Card and Great Canadian Rebates

Update October 1st 2012: Great Canadian Rebates is now running a new promotion for this card with rebate of $60.00 again.
Incase you are looking for a referral here is My referral link.


I was in the market for a credit card and decided to do some research. I wanted to get MBNA Platinum Plus Smart Cash Card. My husband got this card last year and we really enjoy the card but problem is that I have to go for groceries with him or he has to get second card on his account. There is no additional incentive for spending higher amount on that card so I decided to get my own card.

I applied through the Great Canadian Rebates. They have a promotion of $60 rebate for MBNA cards approved up to March 31^st 2011 and I received the promotion through MBNA that I can earn 5% rebate on groceries and gas for next 6 months and after that it will be 3% rebate and all the other purchases will get rebate of 1%.

Here is the list of merchants (post 395) you would get 3% rebate (5% during the promotion). Please note some users have confirmed receiving 3% rebate. for Walmart Supercentre  purchases as well.

What I like:

• It has no fee but some insurance coverage (one of the best among the no fee credit cards).
• Account is updated real time. If you purchase something you will see the purchase as a temporary authorization. This helps to monitor your purchases and prevent errors posted in your account.
• 24 hr customer service. I had called them midnight to resolve issues.
• Can buy gift cards from grocery stores or Gas bars and use it at the other stores to get rebate.

What I don’t like:

• Some times you have to be on hold for long time to get customer service person. (This rarely happens)
• Most of the customer service staff are knowledgeable but some are not.  To resolve the issue you have to call again or request it to be escalated to a supervisor (I have used MBNA card for few years and this has happened twice).
• Rebate is issued as cheque instead of posting it to the account. There will be a time lag to get the rebate.

image of credit card from mbna.ca

Interesting websites and blogs I read last week

These some of the articles/ blogs I read this week and thought of sharing it.

• The best credit cards in Canada at howtosavemoney.ca
• Dealing With The $1.41 Trillion Burden Of Household Debt On Canadians at investingthesis
• 8 Things You Need to Know About Withdrawing Money From Your RESP Account at money.smarts
• Ways to Track your Spending at milliondollarjourney
• Hidden Costs When Buying A Home In Canada at mrsjanuary