The Periodic Table of Credit Cards

The table groups them into eight families: cash back, travel and points, no annual fee, low interest, premium, building credit (secured, student and guaranteed approval), business, and store or co-brand cards. Many cards fit more than one description, so each sits in the family that describes it most specifically, as set out in the method above.

Cash back cards return a percentage of your spending as money, so a dollar back is a dollar back. Points and miles cards pay in a loyalty currency whose value depends on how you redeem it, often more for flights and hotels. Points cards also tend to carry travel insurance and perks, and higher annual fees.

In our data, a premium card is one with an annual fee of $399 or more. Those fees usually buy richer perks such as airport lounge access, travel credits and broader insurance. They’re worth it only if you use enough of those perks to outweigh the fee.

A card whose purchase interest rate is well below the roughly 20% to 22% that most rewards cards charge. The table counts cards at 15% or less as low interest. If you sometimes carry a balance, the lower rate can save more than rewards would earn.

A card backed by a deposit that usually becomes your credit limit. It works like a regular credit card, and paying on time helps build your credit history, which is why secured, student and guaranteed approval cards sit together in the building credit family.

They’re payment networks. Your rewards, fees and interest come from the bank that issues the card, not the network. Visa and Mastercard are accepted at more Canadian merchants than American Express, and Costco’s Canadian warehouses accept only Mastercard as a credit card. Use the network filter to highlight each one.

Most Canadian cards add a 2.5% fee on purchases in a foreign currency. Turn on the “No FX fee” filter to light up the cards in our data that don’t charge one.

There’s no set number. Many people do well with one card for everyday spending and a backup on a different network, such as a Visa or Mastercard alongside an American Express. More cards can mean more annual fees and more to keep track of, and each application usually adds a hard inquiry to your credit file.

The atomic number is the card’s rank by estimated net rewards at our typical spending of about $2,000 a month: number 1 earns the most after its annual fee. The top-right figure is the annual fee, and the two letters are a symbol made from the card’s name.