Brim Financial Review

There’s a new player in town. Brim Financial is offering its own spin on Mastercards, each of which comes with unique features and perks that you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in the world of credit cards. 

Brim’s credit cards are flexible, they reward you with points, and they offer a slew of insurance products so you can avoid having to take out separate policies in many cases. 

Let’s take a closer look into what Brim Financial has to offer in terms of its new lineup of Mastercards.

Brim Mastercard

The Brim Mastercard is the credit card issuer’s no-fee offering that allows users to earn unlimited rewards. You will earn 1 point for every dollar you spend on any purchases. 

There are also a variety of retailers where you can earn additional bonuses of anywhere from 3% to 30% on purchases, depending on the retailer. You only need $1 worth of rewards (or 100 points) to redeem your points, and there are no annual or foreign transaction fees. 

For purchases over $500, you have the option to use Brim’s Installment Pay feature where you can select a payback period from 12 to 24 months. There are, however, some fees associated with this feature: you’ll be charged a one-time fee of 7% on the purchase price, plus a fee of 0.475% of the purchase price every month until it’s paid off.

You’ll also have access to an interactive budgeting tool to help you keep tabs on your spending, as well as access to complimentary Boingo Wi-Fi. Plus, you can earn as much as $200 worth of rewards after your first purchases at participating retailers as a welcome bonus for a limited time. 

The Brim Mastercard also comes with 5 types of insurance coverages, including the following:

• 1 year extended warranty
• 90-day purchase protection coverage
• $500 mobile device coverage
• $1,000 in event ticket cancellation coverage
• $300,000 in travel accident coverage

To be eligible for this card, you need to earn an income of least $15,000.

Need travel insurance? Check out our list of the best travel insurance providers.

Brim World Mastercard

The Brim World Mastercard offers additional features compared to the basic Brim Mastercard, including higher rewards earnings, complimentary LoungeKey membership, and a more comprehensive insurance package. In fact, there are 13 different types of insurance offered with this card, including the 5 types offered with the basic Mastercard:

• 1-year extended warranty 
• 90-day purchase protection coverage
• $1,000 mobile device coverage
• $1,000 event ticket cancellation coverage
• $500,000 travel accident coverage
• 8 days in emergency medical term coverage
• $500 in-flight delay coverage
• $1,000 in baggage delay coverage
• $1,000 in lost or stolen baggage coverage
• $500 in hotel burglary coverage
• Rental car theft and damage coverage
• $300,000 in rental car accident coverage
• $2,000 in rental car personal effects

You’ll earn 1.5 points for every dollar spent on the initial $25,000 in annual expenditures, then 1 point for every dollar after that. You can also earn up to $300 worth of rewards as a welcome bonus after your first purchases at participating merchants. 

Like the Brim Mastercard, there are no foreign exchange fees, though there is an annual fee of $99. To be eligible for this credit card, you’ll need an income requirement of $60,000 (or $100,000 for a household).

Check out the Drop app to earn more rewards. 

Brim World Elite Mastercard

The Brim World Elite Mastercard is the company’s premium credit card offering. In addition to the features that come with the World Mastercard – such as 0% foreign exchange fees, Boingo Wi-Fi, and complimentary LoungeKey membership – you can earn 2% in rewards for every dollar you spend on any purchase on the first $25,000 spent in the initial year, then 1 point per dollar you spend after that. 

The welcome bonus allows you to earn up to $500 worth of rewards after your first purchases with participating merchants. Plus, you’ll get an even more comprehensive insurance package that includes everything you get with the World Mastercard, plus a few more add-ons:

• 1 year extended warranty
• 90-day purchase protection coverage
• $1,000 mobile device coverage 
• $1,000 event ticket cancellation coverage
• $500,000 travel accident coverage
• 15-day emergency medical term coverage
• 3-day emergency medical over 65 coverage 
• $2,500 trip cancellation coverage 
• $5,000 trip interruption coverage 
• $500 flight delay coverage 
• $1,000 baggage delay coverage 
• $1,000 lost or stolen baggage coverage
• $1,000 hotel burglary coverage 
• Rental car theft and damage coverage
• $300,000 rental car accident coverage
• $2,000 rental car personal effects coverage 

The Brim World Elite Mastercard comes with an annual fee of $199, plus an income requirement of $80,000 (or $150,000 for a household).  

Check out our list of the best rewards credit cards in Canada. 

The Brim Reward System 

How exactly does Brim’s reward system work? This is something you’ll want to fully understand as rewards are often the biggest feature of credit cards. 

With the Brim system, each point collected is worth 1 cent. You can then use your accumulated points to be redeemed toward the cost of the transaction you make on your credit card. There’s also no need to wait until you’ve saved up thousands of points before being able to use them. Instead, you can redeem as little as $1 worth of points.

To redeem your points, simply access your Brim App, choose any transaction, and decide how many points you’d like to redeem. 

In addition to the base points you can earn, you’ll also have access to the Brim Open Rewards program. This serves as Brim’s loyalty platform that allows you to earn extra points on purchases made. When you shop with specific retailers, you can earn points faster. 

There is no limit on how many cash back points you can earn with Open Rewards, plus you can take advantage of redemption multipliers with certain merchants. For instance, 1 point can increase to 3 cents in value at some retailers, compared to the typical 1 point per 1 cent rate. 

And as a new member, you’ll have a chance to earn at least $500 in first-time bonus points through the inCard offer program.

Brim Financial Benefits

Not only does each Brim Mastercard offer the chance to earn rewards with every dollar you spend, but there are a handful of other financial perks that you can benefit from:

Zero foreign exchange fees. This can translate into plenty of savings when you compare the average 2.5% foreign transaction fee that most other credit cards charge.

Free Boingo Wi-Fi. If you find yourself out and about quite often but still need to stay plugged-in for work, then having free Wi-Fi at your disposal can prove to be very convenient. There are currently over 1 million Boingo hotspots across the globe, so they’re relatively easy to come across no matter where you happen to be. That means you can even access Wi-Fi while on a plane, train, taxi, or hotel. 

Installment plans. You can spread the cost of big expenditures with Brim’s installment plans over $500. Once the purchase has been charged to your credit card, you can choose the purchase you want to set up an installment payment plan for, as well as the duration to make your payments within, such as 12, 16, 20 or 24 months. This service comes with a one-time fee of 7% of the transaction and a monthly processing fee of 0.475% of the original amount.

Insurance coverage. No matter which Brim Mastercard you use, you’ll have access to various forms of insurance coverage so you don’t have to purchase separate policies.

Mobile wallets. Rather than carrying your credit card around with you, you can simply pay using your mobile device via a mobile wallet feature tied to your Brim account, such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, FitBit Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay.

Budgeting app. To help you stay within a spending limit and budget appropriately, you can use Brim’s free budgeting app to help you track your spending, set budgets, and track the types of stores you’re making purchases in.

Brim Financial Credit Cards Overview

How Do You Apply for a Brim Financial Credit Card?

To apply for any one of Brim’s Mastercards, simply click “Apply Now” on their website to fill out an application, which should only take a minute or two to complete. You’ll need to provide certain pieces of personal information, including your full name, email address, birth date, and social insurance number (SIN). Once you’ve reviewed the application for accuracy, submit it and wait for approval.  

Things You Should Know Before Applying

There are many great features that all three Brim Mastercard offer, but there may be some potential drawbacks of these credit cards that you should know about before you apply:

• There is a $25,000 yearly limit on the 1.5% and 2% earn rate for the Brim World Mastercard and Brim World Elite Mastercard, respectively. Once you go over that amount, your earning rate dips down to 1%. 
• Brim Financial is a non-bank credit card issuer, so it’s not affiliated with a bank. That means you won’t be able to link any current bank accounts you may have to your Brim Financial account. 
• The $99 and $199 annual fee for the Brim World Mastercard and Brim World Elite Mastercard may be a lot for some Canadians. If you don’t make full use of the benefits to offset these costs, it may not be worth it.  

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of perks associated with Brim Financial’s Mastercards, like the easily-accumulated points system to the vast insurance offerings. And the higher up the rankings you go, the broader the range of benefits that come with your card. But if you can’t afford the annual fees, there’s nothing wrong with the basic Brim Mastercard which still offers decent points with purchases and a healthy insurance package.