Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card

 

Frequently Asked Questions

• We are refreshing our award-winning Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.

• Effective August 1, 2019, the following changes will apply to the Account:

• Annual Fees are changing. See question #9 for additional details.

• The Scotia Rewards^®* Program (the “Program”) for your Account is changing as follows:¹

  • Earn rates on purchases you make in certain existing categories are changing;

  • Earn 5 Scotia Rewards points for every $1 charged to the Account for purchases at merchant locations classified in the following categories: Grocery and Dining and Entertainment

  • We are also introducing two new earn rate categories for “Daily Transit” and “Select Apps & Streaming” for which you can earn 3 Scotia Rewards points for every $1 charged to the Account for purchases in those categories.¹

  • Note: You will only earn the accelerated Scotia Rewards points (5X or 3X as applicable) under the Program if you make purchases in Canadian currency. For all purchases that are made in foreign currency, you will earn 1 Scotia Reward point for every $1 charged to the account.¹

    • For example, a purchase made in Canadian currency at a grocery store outside Canada will earn at the applicable accelerated earn rate. However, a purchase in foreign currency at a grocery store outside of Canada, will only earn 1 Scotia Rewards points for every $1 charged to the Account.

    • Note that the accelerated earn rate is only applicable to the first $50,000 in purchases annually. After that, for the remainder of that calendar year, you will earn 1 point per $1 in purchases.

• The Foreign Currency Conversion fee is changing from 2.5% to 0.00%. The exchange rate will continue to apply when you use the Account for foreign currency transactions.²

• Insurance benefits are changing. See question #12 for additional details.

Click here for a copy of the notice with full details about these changes.

Please also remember to review the Scotia Rewards program here for full details about the program.

• Earn 5 Scotia Rewards points for every $1 charged to the Account for purchases in Canadian currency at merchant locations classified in the following categories: Grocery and Dining and Entertainment.¹

• Earn 3 Scotia Rewards points for every $1 charged to the Account on purchases in Canadian currency at merchant locations classified in the following categories: Gas, Daily Transit and Select Apps & Streaming.¹

  Note: for the above categories (5X and 3X rates), you will only earn these additional Scotia Rewards points if your purchases are made in Canadian currency.

• For all other purchases, you will earn 1 Scotia Rewards point for every $1 charged to the Account on all other eligible purchases whether made in Canadian or foreign currency (after the purchase has been converted to Canadian dollars).¹

• No, there are no changes to the existing accelerated earn rate caps.

• The accelerated earn rates (5x and 3x as applicable) will apply to the first $50,000 in purchases annually on the Account, at merchants qualifying for the accelerated earn rate, which will be calculated from January 1^st to December 31^st each year. Once you exceed this threshold, you will continue earning points at the regular earn rate of 1 point per $1 in purchases.

• Yes, a purchase made with an additional card will earn Scotia Rewards points towards the rewards points earnings on your Scotiabank credit card account.

• Please remember if you are the primary borrower (or a co-borrower), you are responsible for all transactions made by a supplementary cardholder including purchases.

• The accelerated points will be awarded to the first $50,000 in purchases annually. This includes purchases made by the supplementary cardholder.

• Select Streaming Services¹
  Includes merchants classified under the American Express network under the following qualifying codes [iMerchant Code: 4899, 5967, 5969, 7399, 5961, 5815, and 5817} and whose primary business and related services as identified by Scotiabank are eligible streaming services (excluding gaming). Eligible streaming service merchants and these merchant category codes are subject to change.

• Daily Transit 
  Includes merchants classified under the American Express network as Local and Suburban Commuter Passenger Transportation, including Ferries, Passenger Railways, Ride Share, Taxicabs and Limousines, Bus Lines, Transportation Services. (Merchant Code: 4121, 4111, 4112, 4131, 4784, 4789).¹

The “Foreign Currency Conversion fee” is the fee (or “mark-up”) that is charged on transactions that are made on a Scotiabank credit card account in a foreign currency. This could happen when you buy something while traveling abroad, or by placing an online order with a foreign merchant. It could also happen for a cash advance at an ABM in another country. Most major banks in Canada charge a 2.5% foreign currency fee (plus the exchange rate applies). 

• Starting August 1, 2019, we will no longer charge the 2.5% Foreign Currency Conversion fee (the markup) that is typically charged on foreign transaction purchases on the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card. Only the exchange rate will continue to apply. See the Foreign Currency Conversion section of your disclosure statement for your account and your Revolving Credit Agreement for more details about the foreign currency conversion fee and foreign transaction.

• For transactions that you request to convert into Canadian dollars with a merchant located outside of Canada:

  • Before August 1, 2019, the Foreign Currency Conversion fee will be charged to the Account on that transaction when converted into Canadian dollars, which is 2.50%.

  • After August 1, 2019, this fee will no longer be charged by Scotiabank. Only the exchange rate will continue to apply.

  • See questions #6 and #7 for more details.

Yes, annual fees are changing as described below: 

• The new annual fees will be charged to the Account upon the Account anniversary date after August 1, 2019 (every 12 months from your account open date).

• There is no change to interest rates. The interest rates on purchases and Cash Advances (including Balance Transfers, Scotia Credit Card Cheques and Cash-Like Transactions) remains unchanged.

• Annual fee(s) are charged on your anniversary date (each 12 months from your account opening date) and appear on your statement.

• If your anniversary date occurs prior to August 1, 2019 you will be charged the annual fees that apply until July 31, 2019 of $99 for the Primary Cardholder and $29 for each Supplementary Cardholder on your anniversary date.

• If your anniversary date occurs on or after August 1, 2019, you will be charged the new annual fees of $120 for Primary Cardholders and $29 for Supplementary Cardholders on your anniversary date.

• If you make a purchase on the Account on or before July 31, 2019 (based on the transaction date that appears on your statement) you will earn 4X Scotia Rewards Points in the accelerated categories of Grocery, Dining, Gas and Entertainment.

Note: Any refunds or credits applied to the account will be refunded at the original accelerated earn rate.

• Purchases that are made on the Account on or after August 1, 2019 (based on the transaction date that appears on your statement) will earn the new accelerated earn rates.

• There are changes to the Travel Emergency Medical Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Insurance and Price Protection Service as described below. These changes are effective August 1, 2019.

• Travel Emergency Medical Insurance⁴ for eligible persons age 65 and over 
  Coverage will be reduced from 10 consecutive days to 3 consecutive days for eligible persons age 65 and over. Claims for events that occur during trips that begin immediately prior to August 1, 2019 will be considered provided the trip does not exceed 10 days.

• Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance⁵ 
  Coverage will change from $2,500 per person for eligible expenses (max $10,000 per trip) to $1,500 per person for eligible expenses (maximum $10,000 per trip). Cardholders will continue to have existing Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance if you booked your trip prior to August 1, 2019 and charged at least 75% of the eligible expense to your Card provided the trip is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2019.

• Price Protection Service³ will no longer be offered for items purchased after August 1, 2019. You will continue to receive coverage if you purchased an eligible item prior to August 1, 2019 and charged the full cost of the item to your Card.

• There are no changes to the account number. Cardholders can continue to make purchases and set up pre-authorized payments with their existing Card or account number.

• There are no changes to how you redeem Scotia Rewards points or the redemption values as a result of these August 1, 2019 changes.

• You will continue to redeem Scotia Rewards points the same way that you do today.

• There are no changes to redemption rates for the Scotia Rewards program. For full details please visit www.scotiarewards.com

• 10,000 points is still equal to $100 in travel value.

• You can track how many Scotia Rewards points you have earned via your statements. You can also see your rewards points earnings balance via Scotia Online and www.scotiarewards.com