Now that I'm going to be doing the IT purchasing at the company I work for I thought it would be a good idea to get one of them fancy rewards credit cards. My current card (and only one I've ever had) is a no frills no fee one. While I'm looking around I thought I'd ask here which would be a good one to get. A low interest rate isn't necessary as I pay off my bill every month. Travel would be nice as long as there are no restrictions. Cash dividends are okay too. Cards from companies like MBNA and Capital One are out. AMEX too. When I was first trying to get a card back in the mid '90s they refused me despite saying I was pre-authorized (which I later found out from a friend who was an AMEX CSR that pre-authorization is meaningless (which annoys me even more)) so if they didn't want my business back then they're not getting it now.

After getting a new card I'd either cancel the current one or drop the limit down to $500 for Internet and emergency uses. I don't like having a lot of credit hanging around. (Learned from the bad habits of my parents.)

My wife and I both have the CIBC dividend platinum cards. These give cash back at the end of the year. You can "only" charge up to $50,000 per year on a card, so that's why we have two separate accounts.

The two of us get about $1000 (total) back at the end of the year. We charge "everything" on the cards, of course paying it off every month.

http://www.cibc.com/ca/visa/dividend-platinum/dividend-plat-ftrs.html

There are the other premium benefits of owning a premium card. (Insurance, extended warranties, etc.)

Once I retire, we'll probably go back to one account (two cards) since we will likely not spend more than $50k/year at that time. (a significant portion of my expenditures is now related to business travel)

A few years back, these cards gave even more of a refund, but those heady days are gone, sadly.

Here is a link to a summary of No-fee rewards cards:

http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php/articles/credit6

Which is best for your depends on your spending habits and what kind of reward you are looking for. If you plan on buying a car in the next five years (new or used) the Citibank Drivers Edge is a good deal. 2% on everything you spend, balance cut back to you when you provide a lease or sales contract for a new or used vehicle.

The cards with fees my provide better rewards however you have to balance the annual fee with extra rewards.

Now that I'm going to be doing the IT purchasing at the company I work for I thought it would be a good idea to get one of them fancy rewards credit cards.Am I missing something... you're going to do company purchasing on your own personal credit card? STOP!!!!! If so, I have some important things to say about that, so I'll wait for your reply.

cheers, stampeder
Veteran IT manager

Am I missing something... you're going to do company purchasing on your own personal credit card? STOP!!!!! If so, I have some important things to say about that, so I'll wait for your reply.

Some of it will be done that way. We invoice some vendors that we buy frequently from. The others are usually done via credit card. What's the problem?

I have the same card as 57 and even though the cash payback at the end of the year isn't as high as it was a couple of years ago, dollar cash bucks is dollar cash bucks.

It was great when me two were into braces and now that my son is in college, I pay all the fees though the card.

Heck even buying groceries for a year alone cranks $10 large through the wire.

Some of it will be done that way. We invoice some vendors that we buy frequently from. The others are usually done via credit card. What's the problem?Among several: personally liable for those purchases (what if the order gets mixed up and my card gets maxed out when I'm on vacation somewhere?); corporate tax write-offs/credits will not apply to those personal purchases; import brokerage fees for non-commercial entities are huge, but are much cheaper for corporate importers; legal/ethical questions (if the equipment belongs to the company, why doesn't the company get those benefits that you got?); vendors/suppliers will keep sharpening their pencils to lower their prices if you pit them against eachother, so you should always use 2 or 3 of them and let them know in subtle ways that you are doing that; impossible to budget such purchases as a line item... I'll think of others but anyway I highly suggest that you not do what you're suggesting.

I have the ScotiaGold Preferred VISA Card which is working very well for me so far.

The scotia rewards program is where I get a pretty big chuck of points. Things like zip.ca and dominos pizza give 10X the points.

I did a comparison to the one 57 uses and I would make more with mine. I don't see any limits but I don't think I will spend 50,000 anyways.

First off, this is sanctioned by the CIO whom I report to. It's a policy in place ahead of me showing up earlier this year. In fact I'm splitting purchasing certain items with the CIO up till now and will likely continue with for the odd large purchase (several thousand dollars plus.) This is a small place and IT purchasing is small. I would prefer a company card but that's not going to happen. Down the road I may even assume the IT Manager role so I'll be doing the budgeting and approving.

Among several: personally liable for those purchases (what if the order gets mixed up and my card gets maxed out when I'm on vacation somewhere?);

Mistakes can happen even without me doing this. If I'm on vacation my card isn't getting used for this. Ahead of any vacation (of which I rarely take) I ensure I'm not going to have any $$$ issues.

corporate tax write-offs/credits will not apply to those personal purchases; import brokerage fees for non-commercial entities are huge, but are much cheaper for corporate importers; legal/ethical questions (if the equipment belongs to the company, why doesn't the company get those benefits that you got?);

That's the company's problem. They've set the policy and are fully aware that I can get benefits from this. Purchases that require import into canada are minimal. We do have a corporate shipping account which will be used for larger items.

vendors/suppliers will keep sharpening their pencils to lower their prices if you pit them against eachother, so you should always use 2 or 3 of them and let them know in subtle ways that you are doing that;

I do that already, hell I do that in my personal life sometimes.

impossible to budget such purchases as a line item... I'll think of others but anyway I highly suggest that you not do what you're suggesting.

All purchases, other than the the ridiculously small, go through the CIO beforehand for approval so that can be budgeted for.

Anyways, this is off-topic. I appreciate the warning but I don't think this is going to be an issue.

pretty big chuck of points.
If you use all the "points" you will be further ahead, however, the banks bank ;) on you not using all the points for the various "high point" cards...

I'm also sometimes concerned that points programmes change the amount of points required, businesses can go out of business, etc. That's why I use the "cash back" card where the money is guaranteed each year, even though I get slightly less.

It's good there's variety...

The points can be used for rewards or Cash.

If I didn't get any rewards points I think I would be further ahead with your type of program. however that is only because I would spend $20,000 or more/ year.

I guess it really comes down to how much you spend on the card per year and where you use it can determine what's best for you.

I am not even sure if I have what's best for me........its the best my bank has.

Anyways, this is off-topic. I appreciate the warning but I don't think this is going to be an issue.No, the first sentence of your opening post made it on topic ;) and what kind of person would I be if I didn't point out some reasons for alarm? Best wishes.

I'll third the CIBC Platinum mentioned by 57. Both my wife and I have them, and it's great to get that bonus cheque around Christmas time as I can usually buy all my gifts with it.

Regarding the CIBC Platinum Dividend:

It was last year IIRC that they increased each dividend percentage bracket; in a nutshell you don't get as great a year-end payment that you once did.

To add on to that, I used to pay for my work travel expenses with my card and expense them back - doing this along with my personal purchases was worth almost $800 a year or so back.

At this point this year I am near the fee level of dividends (only about $80 of dividend dollars) based on personal use alone.

If you do not wish to pay a fee, CIBC also offers a plain old dividend card which gives up to 1% cash back on purchases. The platinum includes insurance for car rentals at least so I think otherwise the cards are pretty much the same.

I would think one of those CIBC Aeroplan cards would be handy.

I have the TD Gold Elite Visa. 1% cash back plus lots of goodies like free auto club

I understand that RBC has a good one now (don't know name off the top) that gives back a lot of rewardpoints and has very good redemption value on goods and services

I know you don't like Amex, personally I had issues with them 15 years ago, but I sure do like getting my $500 cash back every year with my Costco Amex card. The only thing I don't like is Amex is not accepted at as many places as Visa or Mastercard.

Just wondering if anything new has popped up.

The card 57 mentioned looks to be the best for me now that I am spending ~40K. That card is the CIBC dividend platinum cards.

Any others? I am looking for either cash back or credit back on the card.

Thanks

My wife and I use the CIBC regular dividend card, since we just hate the concept of paying an annual fee. In your case, probably worth the annual fee to get the extra "up to" 2% rather than the 1% we get...

Sometimes those points can be tempting though...

I use the CIBC Aventura gold card. http://www.cibc.com/ca/visa/aventura-visa.html

I like to travel.. I put everything on this card that I can. Right now, I've got enough points to fly anywhere in the world. On top of air points, there are other benefits, such as life insurance when you use the card to book a flight, and premium car rental insurance when you rent a car using the card.

The card is good for over 100 Airlines. You book flights like you're using cash.. There are no blackouts or special conditions.. I've used the points to fly from Winnipeg to: Toronto (x2), Victoria BC, Las Vegas Nevada, and I'll be using it to go to Hawaii this coming February.