There are limited options when looking for a prepaid Visa card in Canada.
The TD Prepaid Visa, CIBC and Scotiabank Prepaid Visa cards were discontinued in recent years, and the Visa Prepaid from Canada Post also got scrapped last year.
Best Visa Prepaid Cards in Canada
Read on to learn about the best Visa Prepaid cards in Canada, their features, benefits, downsides, fees, and more.
1. Simplii Financial Visa Gift Card
The Simplii Financial Visa Digital Gift Card is one of the Prepaid Visa cards you can easily buy online if you are a Simplii Financial customer.
Thinking about buying a gift to celebrate a birthday or occasion? This card has a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $250.
There are no fees to purchase the card, and you simply send it by email to the recipient. The recipient has up to 3 years to use the digital gift card. After three years, they get a replacement at no cost if the card has already been activated. Otherwise, the sender gets a refund.
Learn more about the Simplii Visa prepaid card in this review.
2. Vanilla Prepaid Visa
Vanilla Prepaid cards are issued by both Visa and Mastercard.
The Vanilla Prepaid Visa is a non-reloadable gift card offered in $25, $50, $75, $100, $150, $200, and $250 denominations.
You can purchase Vanilla prepaid gift cards in Canada at several retailers, including Walmart, 7-11, London Drugs, Shell, Best Buy, and Petro-Canada.
Those cards have an activation fee ranging from $3.95 to $7.95, and they cannot be used for withdrawing cash at an ATM or making payments at gas stations.
Learn more about them in this review.
3. CIBC AC Conversion Visa Prepaid Card
Note that this card is being discontinued in August 2024.
The CIBC AC Conversion Card is one of the best prepaid cards for travel and cash back rewards.
This prepaid card can be used to load 10 different currencies, including CAD, USD, EUR, GBP, MXN, HKD, AUD, JPY, TRY, and CHF.
When you spend any of these currencies using your card balance, you don’t pay foreign transaction fees.
The CIBC AC Conversion Card also offers 1% cash back on all purchases for a limited time.
There are no fees to order this card or to load it with funds.
You can hold cash up to the equivalent of $20,000 and can easily check your balance using the mobile app.
Service fees may apply in some situations, such as when you make ATM withdrawals outside Canada or replace your card.
Prepaid Visa Alternatives in Canada
The best alternative to the Visa prepaid cards above is the KOHO Prepaid Mastercard. It offers high cash back rates and several perks you won’t find in a regular prepaid card.
KOHO Account
Top Prepaid Card in Canada
Monthly fee: $0*
Free transactions: Unlimited debits and Interac e-Transfers.
Sign-up bonus: Earn $20 in cash back when you make a purchase within 30 days of registering (use CASHBACK offer code).
Interest earned on deposit: 5.00% interest rate on your entire balance.
On KOHO’s website
If you are looking for a credit card that is easy to qualify for and has no annual fees, you could check out these alternatives.
A. Neo Credit
The Neo Credit card has no annual fees and pays up to 5% cash back. Learn more in this review.
Neo Credit card
Rewards: Average of 5% cash back at 12,000+ partners.
Welcome offer: $25 welcome cash bonus.
Interest rates: 19.99% – 29.99% on purchases; 22.99% – 31.99% for cash advances.
Annual fee: $0 to $4.99 monthly
B. Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card
The Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card is one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada.
It has a 600+ credit score requirement, and you only need a $12,000 annual income to apply. Learn more in this Tangerine review.
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card
Rewards: Earn up to 2% unlimited cash back in up to 3 spending categories and 0.50% on all other purchases.
Welcome offer: Get an extra 10% cash back on up to $1,000 in spending in the first 2 months ($100 value); 1.95% balance transfer rate for 6 months.
Interest rates: 19.95% for purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances.
Annual fee: $0
C. Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card
This no-annul fee cash back credit card only requires a $15,000 annual income. Learn more about the card in this review.
Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card
Rewards: Earn 4% cash back at restaurants; 1.5% on gas & groceries, and 0.5% elsewhere (category spending limits apply).†
Welcome offer: Sign up for a Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa* Card by October 31 and get a $100 Skip Digital Gift Card after you spend $100 with your new Cash Back Visa card by November 30†.
Interest rates: 20.99% on purchases and 22.99% on cash advances.
Annual fee: $0
†Terms and conditions apply. Click ‘Apply Now’ for complete details. This offer is not available for residents of Quebec.
Discontinued Visa Prepaid Cards in Canada
These Visa prepaid cards have been discontinued.
Wealthsimple Cash Card
The Wealthsimple Cash Card is a Prepaid Visa Card that offers 1% cash back rewards on all purchases. It is now offered as the Wealthsimple Cash Mastercard.
This no-fee Prepaid card is one of the best reloadable Visa Prepaid cards in Canada.
You can add funds to your card by linking a bank account.
While there are no transaction limits per day, the maximum spending limit per transaction is $5,000, and ATM withdrawals are limited to $500 per transaction.
The Wealthsimple Cash Card also comes with a virtual card you can use for online payments.
Mogo Visa Platinum Prepaid Card
Also referred to as MogoCard, this reloadable prepaid Visa card helps offset your carbon emissions when you spend. It is no longer offered.
You can add your Mogo Visa Platinum Prepaid Card to Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay to simplify payments while on the go.
The MogoCard is free; however, some transactions may incur fees, such as when you withdraw from an ATM ($1.50 domestic and $3.00 international).
You can carry a maximum balance of $10,000 CAD.
CIBC Smart Prepaid Visa Card
The CIBC Smart Prepaid Visa Card is available to CIBC customers. If you are not a client, you can also purchase one at GTA airport banking centres. It has been discontinued as of January 31, 2023.
It is not meant to work like a gift card and should only be used by the purchaser.
You can load your CIBC Smart Prepaid Card using online banking, or if you are not a CIBC client, you can load the card at a CIBC banking centre at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Unlike the CIBC AC Conversion Card, this card can only be loaded with Canadian dollars.
The maximum balance on the card is $10,000 CAD.
There is a $3.50 CAD fee for ATM withdrawals outside Canada, and card replacement costs $14.95. A standard foreign conversion fee of $2.50% applies to transactions in a foreign currency.
CIBC Smart Prepaid Travel Visa Card
An alternative to the CIBC Smart Prepaid Visa Card is the CIBC Smart Prepaid Travel Visa Card. It has been discontinued as of January 31, 2023.
This Visa prepaid card can be loaded with U.S. dollars, Euros, British Pounds, or Mexican Pesos. It does not accept Canadian dollars.
The maximum load amounts are:
- USD: $7,000
- EUR: €6,500
- GBP: £5,000
- MXN: $130,000
This prepaid card can help you save on FX fees.
ATM withdrawal fees abroad and card replacement fees may apply.
Related:
I certainly understand the advantages of using a foreign currency prepaid card in that you do not incur exchange rates when making purchases in the foreign currency but what charges are incurred when loading the card from your home currency bank account and are there any alternatives to avoid or minimize these charges such as loading the card with foreign cash acquired as a gift or at a lower rate than from the banking institution?
Also, do you get monthly statements for foreign currency cards such as the CIBC AC conversion card? The complicated method for loading this card could certainly be a show-stopper though.
Great posting BTW!
@Bill: Good point! One should watch out for the exchange rate offered when loading the card with FX. That’s where it could really become costly if the rate is significantly worse than the mid-market rate. And there’s no monthly statement, only a list of your transaction information via the website or mobile app.
FWIW CIBC is discontinuing all its various prepaid credit cards. The AC conversion card is the only option being offered to customers. I just found out that this is in no way an equivalent option because of this issue. The previous CIBC prepaid cards could be accessed and reloaded instantly from your CIBC banking app whilst the new AC conversion card is a completely different beast. It is loaded at arms length via a bill payment method that could take days to complete and load on the card. CIBC is doing a huge disservice to their customers IMO. They’d have been better to just discontinued them and let people look at their options rather than try to pass off this subpar product with the CIBC affiliation IMO. Maybe you can use this information to update your post.
@Dale: Thanks for this info. We will update the list. I wouldn’t call the CIBC AC Conversion Visa ‘subpar’, although I’d agree that it’s not as versatile as an everyday spending prepaid card like KOHO or Wealthsimple Cash. For foreign currency spending, it can be quite useful.