Yes, the Wealthsimple credit card is worth it, on two conditions.
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Quick answer: Yes, the Wealthsimple credit card is worth it on two conditions: you pay the balance in full every month, and you either get the $240 annual fee waived or you spend enough that 2% cash back beats a no-fee card. Meet both and it is one of the strongest cashback cards in Canada. If you carry a balance, no rewards card is worth it.
First, you pay your balance in full every month, without exception. Second, you either qualify to have the $240 annual fee waived, or you spend enough that 2% cash back beats what a no-fee card would pay you. Meet both conditions and this is one of the strongest cashback cards in Canada. Fall short on either one, and the answer flips to no, sometimes at real cost.
I have carried it since April. Here is what you are actually looking at.
What the Card Offers
Two versions pay 2%, and both cost the same:
- Visa Infinite+. $240 a year, charged as $20 a month.
- Visa Infinite Privilege. Same fee, and adds access to more than 1,200 airport lounges, car rental insurance and higher travel protection at no extra cost.
You do not choose between them. You apply once and Wealthsimple matches you to one of the two. There is also a no-fee 1% version in invite-only beta, which I come back to further down, because for some readers it is the better answer.
Both share the features that matter: 2% back on every purchase, with no categories to track and no foreign transaction fees. No quarterly bonus calendar, no "5% on gas stations in months ending in R." You buy groceries, you get 2%. You buy anything else, you get 2%.
One limit on that headline. The 2% pays on net purchases, so cash advances, refunds, fees and adjustments do not earn it.
You need a Wealthsimple chequing account to hold the card, and the cashback redeems to almost any Wealthsimple account. That last detail is quietly the best feature: your rewards can land next to your TFSA instead of dissolving into a statement credit you never notice. If Wealthsimple is new to you, my five-year review of the whole platform covers where the card fits.
Can You Actually Get One?
Worth settling before you run any math, because the fee question is academic if you do not qualify. Everyone needs the same basics first: Canadian resident, age of majority in your province, and an open Wealthsimple chequing account. Then you need one of the four rows below, not all four.
| Infinite 1% (beta) | Visa Infinite+ | Visa Infinite Privilege | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal income | $60,000 | $80,000 | $150,000 |
| Household income | $100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Savings and investments | $250,000 | $300,000 | $400,000 |
| Annual card spending | $15,000 | $25,000 | $50,000 |
The bottom two rows are the ones men miss. A tradesman putting $25,000 a year through a card qualifies for the Infinite+ on spending alone, whatever his T4 says, and a man with a decent portfolio qualifies on assets.
Wealthsimple runs a soft credit check first, which does not touch your score. Only if you pass that and choose to continue does it run a hard one. Declined, you can try again after thirty days.
One limitation that matters for a household. You cannot add a second cardholder, so if your wife wants 2% she applies on her own, and you end up with two cards rather than one. You also cannot hold more than one Wealthsimple credit card yourself.
The Fee Math
Your first month is free either way. After that, the $240 is waived in two cases: you individually hold $100,000 or more with Wealthsimple, or you direct deposit at least $4,000 into your Wealthsimple chequing account each month. Switching your paycheque over is usually the simplest route, and business or corporate accounts do not count toward either test.
Note the word individually, because this is where Wealthsimple changed the rules. Since April 28, 2026, being part of a Premium or Generation household no longer waives the fee on its own. The assets have to be under your own name now. If you already had the household waiver before that date, Wealthsimple is honouring it until further notice.
If you qualify for the waiver, stop calculating. You are holding a no-fee card that pays 2% on everything, which beats essentially every no-fee card in Canada. Most of them pay 0.5% to 1% outside their bonus categories.
If you would be paying the fee, run one number. Against a typical no-fee 1% card, the extra 1% has to cover $240 a year. That takes $24,000 of annual spending, or about $2,000 a month through the card. Groceries, gas, insurance and the phone bill on one card can get a household there. A single man with rent paid by e-transfer often will not. Check your last three months of statements before you apply, and use the real number rather than the optimistic one.
The rest of the pricing is ordinary and you should know it anyway. Purchases carry 20.99% and cash advances 22.99%, both running from the day the account opens whether or not you have activated the card. Miss the minimum two months running and those become 25.99% and 27.99%. Wealthsimple adds no foreign transaction fee at all, which is genuinely unusual here and saves most cards' 2.5% every time you buy in US dollars. The Visa network still applies its own conversion rate, so foreign spending is cheaper rather than free.
Two practical notes that catch people. You can only pay this card from a Wealthsimple chequing account, so that account has to be open and funded before the first statement lands. And if you individually hold $100,000 or more, the card comes in metal, which a certain kind of man will enjoy more than he admits. Household assets do not count there either.
What the $240 Actually Insures
The fee buys more than the extra 1%. The Infinite+ carries a Chubb-underwritten insurance package, worth reading before you pay twice for coverage you already have.
| Coverage | Limit |
|---|---|
| Out-of-province emergency medical | $1,000,000, under age 65, first 14 days of a trip |
| Trip cancellation | Up to $3,000 per trip (Wealthsimple lists the per-person cap as $1,000 in one place and $1,500 in another) |
| Trip interruption | Up to $3,000 per trip (same per-person caveat as above) |
| Flight delay | $1,000 per person, $2,500 per trip |
| Delayed baggage | $500 |
| Lost checked baggage | $750, or $1,000 combined |
| Mobile phone | $1,000 per claim, $50 deductible |
| Purchase security | $1,000 per item, 90 days |
| Extended warranty | Doubles the manufacturer's, up to one year |
Read that first row twice. The million-dollar medical figure is the one every reviewer quotes, and it applies only under age 65 and only to the first fourteen days of a trip. A three-week holiday runs uncovered from day fifteen, and at 65 the coverage is gone entirely. Anyone in either situation needs separate travel insurance, and the card is not a substitute.
Two more things in the fine print. If you live in Quebec, the travel coverages are not available to you at all, which is a significant asterisk on a card partly sold on travel. And the Infinite+ certificate carries no car rental collision coverage, so renters need the Privilege version or a separate policy.
The mobile phone coverage only applies while you pay your cell bill with the card.
The Free 1% Card Most People Should Actually Want
If you came out under $24,000 of annual spending, there is a version of this card built for you.
Wealthsimple is running an invite-only beta of a Visa Infinite that pays 1% on everything and charges no fee at all, ever. Same flat structure, no categories, no caps. The eligibility bar is meaningfully lower, at $60,000 of personal income or $100,000 household, and the spending and assets doors drop to $15,000 and $250,000.
Run the comparison honestly and it is a clean line. At $24,000 of spending, the 2% card pays $480 and takes $240 back in fees, so you net $240, which is exactly what the free 1% card pays you for the same spending. Below $24,000 a year, the free card wins. Above it, the 2% card does. That is the whole decision, and for a lot of men reading this the free card is the right one.
Two things to know before you want it too badly. It is genuinely invite-only with no waitlist, rolling out in phases, so you cannot simply go and get it. And you cannot upgrade from it to the 2% card later, so taking it is a decision rather than a stepping stone.
The interesting wrinkle is the benefits. Instead of a fixed package, you choose three perks from a menu, and your choices lock for twelve months. Foreign transaction fees are one of the options, which means the no-FX-fee feature that comes standard on the 2% cards is something you would spend one of your three picks on here. Worth knowing if you travel.
What It Is Like to Actually Carry
Mine is the Visa Infinite Privilege version, and it has become my go-to card. The one place it stays in my wallet is Costco, because the warehouses here take Mastercard only. Paying it off is quick and easy, done straight out of my Wealthsimple Cash account without a second thought. The cashback has been adding up.
The thing I did not expect is what the flat rate does to your attention. Because it is 2% on everything, I have stopped trying to be strategic about which card earns more at which kind of store. No mental ledger at the till. That sounds small, and it is the part I would actually tell a friend about, because optimizing is its own kind of tax, paid in a currency nobody counts.
I should say the other half of that plainly. I have never talked myself into a purchase because it earns 2%. I do not play those games, and a card that pays you to spend is only safe in the hands of a man who was not going to spend anyway.
Who Should Skip This Card
If you are carrying a balance on any credit card right now, skip this one, and every other rewards card too.
The math is lopsided. This card charges 20.99% on purchases. Carry a $3,000 balance for a year and you pay roughly $630 in interest. To earn $630 back at 2%, you would have to spend $31,500. No cashback program survives contact with a revolving balance. The card companies know this, which is why they are so eager to offer rewards in the first place.
There is no shame in that being your situation. But the next move is a debt payoff plan, and the discipline of paying in full every month needs to be boring and automatic before a rewards card earns you anything. A 2% card in the hands of a man who overspends because "it earns points" is a wealth transfer in the wrong direction.
One Concrete Step
If you pass both conditions, apply, then set up automatic payment of the full balance the same day the card arrives. Before you spend a dollar on it. Then set a quarterly reminder to sweep the cashback into your TFSA, where 2% of your grocery bill quietly becomes long-term money.
If you do not pass both conditions, do the more valuable thing: spend the next three months making pay-in-full your unbreakable habit, or getting the balance to zero. The card will still be here.
You can apply for the Wealthsimple credit card here. We both receive a bonus if you use that link, and it costs you nothing.
Common Questions
How much does it cost? $240 a year, billed as $20 a month, on both versions, with the first month free. Waived if you individually hold $100,000 or more with Wealthsimple, or direct deposit at least $4,000 a month into your Wealthsimple chequing account. A Premium or Generation household no longer waives it on its own.
What is the interest rate? 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash advances, both from the day the account opens. They rise to 25.99% and 27.99% if you miss the minimum two months running. Wealthsimple charges no foreign transaction fee.
Do I qualify? Meet any one of four tests. For the Infinite+: $80,000 personal income, $150,000 household income, $300,000 in savings and investments, or $25,000 of annual card spending. For Privilege: $150,000, $200,000, $400,000 and $50,000. The invite-only 1% card sits lower again at $60,000, $100,000, $250,000 and $15,000. A soft credit check comes first and does not affect your score.
Should I take the free 1% card instead? If you spend less than $24,000 a year on the card, yes, because at that point the free 1% and the fee-paying 2% net you the same money and everything below it favours the free one. The catch is that it is invite-only and you cannot upgrade to the 2% card afterwards.
What is the difference between Infinite+ and Privilege? Both pay 2% on everything with no foreign transaction fees, and both cost $240. Privilege adds more than 1,200 airport lounges, car rental insurance and higher travel protection, and asks more of you to get in. Wealthsimple decides which one you are offered.
Can my wife be added to my card? No. Wealthsimple does not offer additional cardholders, so she would apply on her own income and credit.
Where does the cashback go? Almost any Wealthsimple account, including your TFSA. That choice is yours to make on purpose rather than by default.
Two percent back is a good deal. It is also two cents on a dollar you had already decided to spend, and the dollar is the part worth praying about.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up or purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use. Full disclosure.
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