Student Awards Credit Card from MBNA Canada

MBNA Canada offers the Student Award credit card in partnership with scholarship matching service studentawards.com. It is a rewards based card affiliated with the World Points Reward program. The credit card also carries some attractive benefits including 24 hours a day customer service, fraud protection, and top class customer service.

Reward Points For Purchase

The Student Awards credit card, issued by MBNA Canada offers students the chance to participate in the free World Points Reward program, allowing them to earn World Points for every dollar spent on retail purchases.

World Points Rewards are easy to redeem for a wide variety of merchandise, gift cards, travel, and even cash. With a huge selection of rewards available there is something to suit everyone's tastes. There is no maximum cap on the amount of World Points that can be earned each year and points do not expire, allowing cardholders to save points for a top of the range reward.

Partnership with Scholarship Service

The Student Awards credit card has no annual fee, but applicants must have a Canadian credit history which is clear of any bankruptcies or seriously delinquent accounts. Applicants must also be permanent Canadian residents and be of the age of majority in the province in which they reside.

The card is issued in partnership with studentawards.com, which is a free scholarship matching service which dedicates itself to helping Canadian high school, college and university students by providing information about scholarships, grants, fellowships, bursaries and other types of financial assistance which may be available to them.

Average Interest Rates

The MBNA Canada Student Awards card has a fairly average interest rate on both balance transfers and on purchases. The card does however, have a twenty one day interest free grace period for all purchases, so if the balance is paid off in full during the grace period no interest will be incurred on the account.

In the event of a monthly payment being late more than once within 12 consecutive billing periods, an increased default interest rate will be applied to the account. The default rate can be removed if payments are made on time for 12 consecutive billing periods. There are also additional charges applied for exceeding the set credit limit, returned payments and returned cheque cash advances. This can be useful in deterring students from developing poor credit habits in the future as they will try harder to avoid extra charges if possible.

Additional Cardholder Benefits

Some of the additional benefits which can be enjoyed by StudentAwards credit card include Unparalleled 24 hour customer service and online access to the credit card account for easy account management and monitoring. Fraud protection is also included around the clock.

Customers also have the option of taking out additional protection for an extra fee. The MBNA CreditWise program can offer coverage in the event of unemployment, disability, death, or critical illness. The monthly fee is calculated based on the current running balance on the card to ensure you only pay for the amount of cover required at the time.

Additional Fees and Charges

The Student Awards credit card, which is a MasterCard branded card, is not particularly suited to those who travel abroad frequently, as it does carry a foreign currency conversion fee on transactions completed abroad. Each transaction is subject to a percentage fee based on the total amount of the transaction. All transactions are billed in Canadian dollars, so foreign transactions are converted using the rate established by MasterCard.

There are also several additional transaction fees applied to the account in certain circumstances. These include fees for cash advances, balance transfers, cheque cash advances, cash equivalents and wire transfers. These transaction fees vary from small percentage fees to set amounts depending on circumstances.

Conclusion

The MBNA Canada Student Awards MasterCard branded credit card is a smart choice for students seeking a credit card with a strong rewards program. The card is affiliated with the World Points Rewards program and is issued in association with scholarship matching service studentawards.com. The additional charges applied fro late payments and frequent missed payments can be a useful tool to deter students from getting into bad credit habits, allowing them to build a secure credit history for the future.