Please note: All information about Meridian has been collected independently by Finder and products from Meridian are not available through this site.
There are three main types of Meridian credit cards available to customers: travel, cashback and US currency. Here’s a guide to the best Meridian credit cards available in Canada. Visa is the only type of card on offer, so you might need to look elsewhere if you’re in the market for a MasterCard or American Express.
Best Meridian credit cards
The use of terms ‘Best’ and ‘Top’ are not product ratings and are subject to our disclaimer. You should consider seeking independent financial advice and consider your own personal financial circumstances when comparing products.
cash back rewards Meridian Visa Infinite Cash Back
The Visa Infinite Cash Back Card lets you earn 4% cashback on gas and groceries, 2% on pharmacies and utility bills and 1% on everything else In the world of credit cards, this is a high return, which is why this card outcompetes both of Meridian's lower fee = lower points options, including the Visa Cashback and Platinum Visa Cashback cards. You'll have to pay a relatively large fee after the first year to keep your card, but the good news is you should be able to pay it down quickly with the money you save. For example, you can pocket as much as $40 on every $1,000 you spend so, in theory, it should only take 2-3 months to pay off the fee at this rate. Then, you get to keep the rest of the savings for yourself.
High return. You can earn up to $40 on every $1,000 in purchases
Visa Infinite Benefits. Get access to special events and exclusive offers with Visa.
Annual fee. You'll need to pay a $99 annual fee after your first year.
Lower rate on some purchases. The return on non-essential items is capped at
High minimum annual income. Your annual personal income will need to be at least $60,000 to qualify (or $100,000 household income).
Annual Fee
$0 intro annual fee for the first year ($99 thereafter)
Purchase APR
19.5%
Cash Advance Rate
21.99%
Balance transfer APR
N/A
Welcome offer
N/A
Rewards
Earn 4% cash back on gas and grocery purchases, 2% on pharmacy purchases and utility bill payments, and 1% on all other eligible purchases.
Get $25.00 when you apply for the Neo Credit Mastercard. Plus, get up to 15% cashback on your first purchases at Neo partners. Plus, you'll earn a solid cash back return on your everyday spending. Earn an average cash back of 5% (or 6% with the Premium plan) at local and national Neo partners including food delivery, streaming and rideshare services as well as restaurants, bars, cafes and retail stores. Earn a guaranteed 1% cash back (or 3% with the Premium plan) on gas and groceries. Premium plan holders earn 0.5% cash back on all other non-partner spending. You can sign up for 3 different Neo credit card plans: Standard, Plus and Ultra. The card you choose will depend on how much cash back you want to earn and how much you're willing to pay for your monthly fee.
Rewards. Up to 5% cash back
Choose between 3 card types. The Standard, Plus and Ultra.
Annual fee. You'll have to pay a monthly fee if you opt for the Ultra or Plus cards
No insurance. You won't get any additional perks like travel insurance, roadside assistance or purchase protection.
Annual Fee
$0
Purchase APR
Cash Advance Rate
22.99%-31.99%
Balance transfer APR
N/A
Welcome offer
Get $25.00 when you apply for the Neo Credit Mastercard. Plus, get up to 15% cashback on your first purchases at Neo partners.
Rewards
Earn an average cash back of 5% (or 6% with the Premium plan) at local and national Neo partners including food delivery, streaming and rideshare services as well as restaurants, bars, cafes and retail stores. Earn a guaranteed 1% cash back (or 3% with the Premium plan) on gas and groceries. Premium plan holders earn 0.5% cash back on all other non-partner spending.
travel points Meridian Visa Platinum Travel Rewards Card
If you're planning your next trip overseas and you want to lock in discounts on flights, hotels and more, then the Meridian Visa Platinum could be the right card for you. Earn one point for every dollar you spend in Canada and two points for every dollar spent in foreign currencies when you sign up today. This card has a lower fee than the Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards Card with most of the same benefits. These include price protection, extended warranty coverage, mobile device insurance and fraud protection. Unlike many travel cards, the Visa Platinum doesn't offer emergency travel medical insurance. One of the main perks of this card is that you don't need a minimum income to qualify, but you also earn less points than you would with a Visa Infinite Card.
2x the points overseas. Earn double the points when you make purchases in a foreign currency
Comprehensive benefits. Take advantage of purchase protection and mobile phone insurance, among other types of coverage.
Reasonable annual fee. The fee for this card is $49 after your first year. That's around half of the fee for the Visa Infinite card.
No minimum income. You won't need to earn a certain amount each year to qualify.
Less points. If you opt for the Platinum card, you'll only earn one point per dollar spent, unless you're traveling or making purchases overseas
No travel medical coverage. You'll need to arrange another form of travel insurance to protect yourself on short trips.
Regional exclusions. This card isn't available to residents of Quebec.
Annual Fee
$0 intro annual fee for the first year ($49 thereafter)
Purchase APR
19.5%
Cash Advance Rate
21.99%
Balance transfer APR
N/A
Welcome offer
Earn 1 travel reward point for every $1 of net purchases or earn 2 travel reward points for every $1 of net purchases in foreign currencies.
Rewards
Earn 1 travel reward point for every $1 of net purchases and 2 points for every $1 of net purchases in foreign currencies.
Alternative: Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card offers a sizeable welcome bonus along with a high rewards point earn rate. Earn up to 40,000 bonus Scene+ points and get the first year annual fee waived (that’s up to $1,300 in value in the first 12 months). Apply by July 1, 2024. Earn 30,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. Plus, earn an annual 10,000 Scene+ points when you spend at least $40,000 in purchases annually. This card also comes with a full suite of travel insurance, and other travel related perks including a complimentary DragonPass membership plus 6 free visits per year to over 1,000 airport lounges around the world.
Rewards points. Earn 3 Scene+ points on every $1 you spend at Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo, Foodland and more, 2 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery store, dining, entertainment and daily transit purchases, and earn 1 Scene+ point for every $1 spent elsewhere.
Bonus. Earn up to 40,000 bonus Scene+ points and get the first year annual fee waived (that’s up to $1,300 in value in the first 12 months). Apply by July 1, 2024.
Travel insurance. Get up to $1,000,000 in Emergency Medical Insurance. Plus, get trip cancellation, trip interruption and travel accident insurance for free when you charge at least 75% of your trip costs to your card. Benefits also include coverage for flight delays, rental car collision loss/damage, hotel/motel burglaries and delayed or lost baggage.
Car rental perks. Get up to 25% car rental discount + complimentary upgrades for Avis Preferred Plus members at participating Avis locations in Canada and the US. Plus get Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance coverage (up to $65,000).
Travel perks. Receive complimentary membership in the Visa Airport Companion Program plus 6 free visits per year to over 1,200 airport lounges around the world.
Annual fee. This card has an annual fee of $150.
Minimum income requirement. You'll need a minimum income of at least $60,000, or combined household income of $100,000, to qualify for this card.
Annual Fee
$0 intro annual fee for the first year ($150 thereafter)
Purchase APR
20.99%
Cash Advance Rate
22.99%
Balance transfer APR
22.99%
Welcome offer
Earn up to 40,000 bonus Scene+ points and get the first year annual fee waived (that’s up to $1,300 in value in the first 12 months). Apply by July 1, 2024. Earn 30,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. Plus, earn an annual 10,000 Scene+ points when you spend at least $40,000 in purchases annually.
Rewards
Earn 3 Scene+ points on every $1 you spend at Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo, Foodland and more, 2 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery store, dining, entertainment and daily transit purchases, and earn 1 Scene+ point for every $1 spent elsewhere.
If you regularly do business in the US or make frequent purchases south of the border, the Meridian Visa US Dollar Card could save you a hefty sum in foreign exchange rates. This card eliminates transaction fees on purchases made in the United States and other countries that use the US dollar as their official currency. To put this into context: the bank typically charges around 2.5% in foreign exchange fees, which means you'll end up paying an extra $25 every time you spend $1,000. If you spend $3,000 per month on purchases in the US, then you could stand to save around $75 every month, or $900 annually, by shopping with this card. You'll need to fork over some cash for the $65 USD annual fee after your first year, but you'll also earn one reward point for every dollar spent. This means, in addition to saving money on foreign exchange rates, you'll earn points to put towards travel, cashback or other rewards.
Save on US foreign exchange. You won't have to pay up to 2.5% on foreign exchange rates when you spend US dollars.
Flexible points. You can redeem points at any time for cashback or merchandise.
No restrictions. There are no restrictions on how many points you can earn, so you'll end up with one point per dollar, no matter what you purchase.
No minimum income. You won't need to earn a certain amount each year to qualify.
Less points. For other Meridian cards, you can earn 1 point per dollar on purchases
Exclusive to the US. You'll still have to pay foreign currency conversion rates on purchases made worldwide.
Additional card fees. You'll have to pay a fee for every additional card you want to add to your account.
Regional exclusions. This card isn't available to residents of Quebec.
Annual Fee
$0 intro annual fee for the first year ($65 thereafter)
Load up to 10 different currencies on the CIBC AC Conversion Visa Prepaid Card including CAD, USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, HKD, TRY, CHF and MXN. Pay no annual fee for the card and earn 1% cash back on all purchases for a limited time. Keep in mind this is a prepaid card, so you'll have to load funds onto it in order to spend.
Load up to 10 different currencies
No annual fee
Earn cashback
No foreign transactions fees
You won't incur any interest
Doesn't help you build credit
Must have the funds upfront to load the card
Only get 1 free international ATM withdrawal per month
You'll be charged every time you withdraw funds at a non-CIBC ATM in Canada
You'll face currency conversion fees
No basic or travel insurance
Monthly Fee
$0
Transaction Cost
$0
Foreign Transaction Fee
0%
Monthly Fee
$0
Rewards
1% cash back
Meridian Credit Union rewards program
Meridian Credit Union offers returns in the form of cashback, travel points and general rewards.
How to redeem points
For cashback, you can just sign in to your online banking to see how much you’ve earned and request to apply amounts onto your next bank statement. To redeem points, you just need to sign on to your Meridian rewards account to check your balance and use your points.
How much is money worth?
It depends on which card you choose. For the cash back card, you can earn up to 4% on gas and groceries, and 1-2% on just about everything else. For the travel card, around 260,000 points will get you a flight from Ottawa to Paris, which means you’ll have to spend at least $130,000 on your card to qualify for a round trip. For the US currency card, the real value is the money you save on US foreign exchange rates up-front, but you’ll also earn one point per dollar on all other purchases.
Typical card benefits and features of a Meridian credit card
Meridian Credit Union offers a number of different cards, designed to meet a variety of needs. While the cards serve different purposes, they also have several common features.
Contactless payments. Breeze through checkout faster with Visa payWave.
Secure online purchases. Protect your credit card information by creating a SecureCode for online purchases.
Fraud protection. Get instant notifications about suspicious activity with 24/7 fraud detection.
Visa global services. Take advantage of 24/7 assistance to help with everything from ordering an emergency card replacement to receiving an emergency cash advance.
How to apply for a credit card with Meridian Credit Union
You can apply for a credit card with Meridian through its website. Before you apply, make sure you meet the minimum eligibility requirements and prepare some basic information.
Eligibility criteria
You must be at least 18 years old.
You must be a Canadian citizen.
Required documents
Full name and date of birth.
Street address and phone number.
Valid email address.
Total annual income.
How does Meridian Credit Union keep my credit card information safe?
Meridian Credit Union provides enhanced protection for your card by asking for a SecureCode for online purchases. You’ll also be protected against fraud with Zero Liability protection, meaning only authorized transactions will be processed on your account.
Compare Meridian credit cards with other similar credit cards
Bottom line
Meridian Credit Union offers a variety of cashback, travel and currency conversion cards. The card that works best for you will depend on your unique set of circumstances, including whether you travel frequently, spend a lot of time/money in the US or want to get a higher return on gas and groceries. If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, feel free to check out some of the cards on offer from other big Canadian banks.
Frequently asked questions
Depending on what kind of card you settle for, you can exchange points for cashback, travel discounts or items from the gift catalogue (including gift cards).
You won’t earn cashback on cash advances, balance transfers, or additional charges like annual fees, foreign exchange transactions and insurance premiums.
It depends on the card. Most cards with Meridian charge a reasonable fee, and some even come with a welcome bonus that makes your first year fee-free.
Claire Horwood is a writer at Finder, specializing in credit cards, loans and other financial products. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies from the University of Victoria, and an Associate’s Degree in Science from Camosun College. Much of Claire’s coursework has focused on writing and statistics, with a healthy dose of social and cultural analysis mixed in for good measure. In her spare time, Claire enjoys rock climbing, travelling and drinking inordinate amounts of coffee.
Discover the features, fees and eligibility requirements of the most prestigious credit cards in Canada.
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