National Bank offers several Mastercard credit cards that fall into popular categories, including cash back, travel rewards, no-fee, and low-interest rates.
Whether your needs require a premium credit card with VIP perks or you prefer paying no-annual fees, National Bank offers a credit card that’s likely to meet your preferences.
This National Bank Credit Card review covers its best card offers in each category, its reward program, fees, and more.
Who is National Bank?
The National Bank of Canada (NBC) was founded in 1859 and is the sixth-largest bank in the country. It is also the largest bank in Quebec.
National Bank offers a complete suite of financial services and products, including personal banking, investments, brokerage services, and credit cards.
Best National Bank Mastercard for Travel Rewards
Looking for a credit card that makes your travelling more comfortable and rewards your purchases? Take a look at the NBC World Elite Mastercard.
1. National Bank World Elite Mastercard
- Annual fee: $150
- Purchase rate: 20.99%
- Cash advance and balance transfer: 22.49%
The National Bank World Elite Mastercard rewards earn rate on purchases is based on your spending over 12 months as follows:
- $0-$40,000: 1.5 points per dollar spent
- $40,001-$80,000: 2 points per dollar spent
- $80,001+: 1.5 points per dollar spent
In essence, you can earn up to 2 points per $1 and redeem your points for travel-related purchases, electronic gift cards, or as a payment on your credit card balance.
This National Bank Mastercard offers a comprehensive suite of insurance benefits, including trip cancellation and interruption, medical, rental vehicle, flight delay, baggage, extended warranty, and purchase protection insurance.
In addition to the above, you and a guest enjoy unlimited access to the National Bank Lounge at the Montreal-Trudeau Airport.
To qualify for the National Bank World Elite Mastercard, you need a minimum personal income of $80,000 or $150,000 if applying with a partner.
Two other National Bank credit cards you can consider for travel rewards are:
- National Bank World Mastercard
- National Bank Platinum Mastercard
Best National Bank Mastercard for Cash Back
With the pandemic’s impact on travel, you may prefer to earn cash back rewards you can easily use to pay off your balance.
National Bank’s top cash back card is the ECHO Cashback Mastercard.
2. National Bank ECHO Cashback Mastercard
- Annual fee: $30
- Purchase interest: 20.99%
- Cash advances and balance transfers: 22.49%
The National Bank ECHO CashBack Mastercard offers 1.50% cash back on everyday purchases, including gas, grocery, and online purchases1.
On all other purchases, you earn an unlimited 1% cash back.
On the insurance benefits front, it comes with purchase protection for up to 90 days and extended warranty coverage for up to one extra year.
You can redeem cash back earned as a statement balance starting at $10.
To apply for this card, you must be a Canadian resident and be the age of the majority in your province or territory.
Take a look at some of the best cash back credit cards in Canada.
Three other NBC cards offering cash back are:
- Mycredit Mastercard
- Allure Mastercard
Best National Bank Mastercard for Low-Interest Rate
If you carry your credit card balance from month to month, a low-interest rate card can save you on interest fees.
The NBC credit card that falls into this category is the Syncro Mastercard.
3. National Bank Syncro Mastercard
- Annual fee: $35
- Purchase interest: 4% + prime2 (min. 10.95%3)
- Cash Advances: 4% + Prime2 (min. 14.95%3)
The National Bank Syncro Mastercard has a much lower interest rate on purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers.
It also offers a basic insurance package, including purchase protection and extended warranty coverage.
Here are some other examples of low-interest balance transfer cards.
Best National Bank No-Fee Credit Card
A no-annual fee credit card means you won’t have to worry about annual fees even if you don’t use it.
The best ones also offer rewards (e.g. cash back) and insurance benefits.
4. National Bank MyCredit Mastercard
- Annual fee: $0
- Purchase interest: 20.99%
- Cash advances and balance transfers: 22.49%
The mycredit Mastercard offers cash back rewards starting with unlimited 1% cash back on restaurant purchases and recurring pre-authorized payments. You also earn 0.50% cash back on everything else.
In addition to getting cash back when you spend, this card offers mobile device insurance with coverage of up to $1,000 against loss, theft, or brokerage.
Lastly, cardholders also enjoy basic purchase protection and extended warranty coverage.
To apply for this card, you must be a Canadian resident and be the age of the majority in your province or territory.
National Bank Rewards Program
The points you earn through National Bank’s À la carte Rewards Plan can be redeemed for:
- Gift cards
- Travel discounts and bookings
- Credit card payments
- Merchandise and more
Vacation packages and airline tickets can be booked online using the À la carte Travel Agency. When redeeming your points using this option, 10,000 points are equivalent to a $100 discount.
Points can also be used to pay for car rental and hotel bookings.
Related reading:
- Best Scotiabank Credit Cards
- Best Tangerine Bank Credit Cards
- Best Student Credit Cards
- Best RBC Cash Back Credit Cards
Legal notes :
1 All eligible purchases qualify for 1% cashback when your account is in good standing. Your account is in good standing when you comply with the obligations of your cardholder agreement (e.g., making your minimum payment by the due date). The cashback will be paid as a credit applied to your account and cannot be paid in cash. An additional cashback of 0.5% is granted on the first $25,000 of eligible gas, grocery, and online purchases charged annually to your credit card account. The additional cashback of 0.5% does not apply when the total of your annual eligible purchases exceeds $25,000. After that, the cashback equals 1% of eligible purchases, regardless of the type of purchase. For conditions and restrictions that apply to cashback rewards and a full list of codes associated with eligible merchants, refer to the cashback accumulation table [PDF] and the applicable rules [PDF].
2 The prime rate means the annual variable interest rate posted by National Bank, from time to time, and used by the Bank to determine the interest rates on the demand loans it grants in Canadian dollars in Canada.
3 The interest rate for the SYNCRO card consists of a variable prime rate set by National Bank plus a fixed adjustment rate of 4% for purchases and 4% for balance transfers and cash advances. Please note that the annual interest rate for the SYNCRO card will not be less than 10.95% for purchases and 14.95% for balance transfers and cash advances.
®Mastercard, World Mastercard and World Elite are registered trademarks, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Authorized user: National Bank
® ECHO is a registered trademark of National Bank.
