6 Neo credit cards that can help build your credit up

Neo Financial offers several secured credit cards, each with different perks including travel miles and cash back. Whether you are new to Canada or recovering from past financial issues, a secured credit card can do the heavy lifting and help you build up your credit—no minimum score required.

Secured Neo Mastercard

The Secured Neo Mastercard is the most accessible card in Neo's lineup, with no income or credit score requirement to qualify. It earns 1%¹ cashback on gas and groceries, plus additional cashback² at thousands of Neo partner merchants across Canada.

• Eligibility: No income requirement. No credit score requirement.

Secured Neo cashback cards 

Neo offers three lifestyle-focused cashback cards—Shop & Dine, Gas & Grocery, and Everywhere—each available in a World or World Elite tier. Both tiers are available on secured credit, with World Elite cards unlocking comprehensive travel insurance³ and access to global airport lounges through DragonPass⁴.

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• Eligibility: Minimum personal income of $50,000 or a household income of $80,000 for the Neo World Mastercard®. For the Neo World Elite® Mastercard, a minimum personal income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000 is required. 
• Annual fee: $149 for the Neo World Elite Mastercard.

Discover each card’s unique cashback offers below. 

Secured Neo Gas & Grocery cards

The Neo Gas & Grocery cards are built for everyday spending at the pump and the grocery store. Both World and World Elite tiers are available as secured cards. The biggest difference between the two is how much cashback you can unlock. Here’s a look at the cashback rates:

Secured Neo Shop & Dine cards

The Neo Shop & Dine cards reward spending on food, drink, and retail therapy. Here’s a look at the differences between this card’s World and World Elite offerings:

Secured Neo Everywhere cards

Don’t want to think about categories and tracking? Consider the Secured Neo Everywhere cards. At the World tier, it earns a flat 1%⁵ cashback on every dollar spent—no category restrictions, no spend caps. At the World Elite tier, that rate doubles to 2%⁵ on up to $4,000 in monthly spending, with unlimited 1% on everything after.

Secured Cathay World Elite Mastercard

The Cathay World Elite Mastercard is the only card in Canada that directly earns Cathay Pacific Asia Miles—and like the rest of the cards on this list, is available as a secured option. A co-branded card between Cathay Pacific and Neo, this card earns: 

• 4x Asia Miles per dollar on eligible Cathay Pacific flights
• 2x Asia Miles per dollar on foreign currency transactions
• 1x Asia Miles on purchases in Canada
• 5x Asia Miles² at thousands of Neo partner merchants

While this card comes with higher income requirements and annual fee, it comes with comprehensive travel insurance including emergency medical, trip cancellation and interruption, flight delay and auto rental collision protection³. For newcomers to Canada who fly with Cathay Pacific regularly, this card offers a rare combination of credit building and travel rewards.

There is a 2.5% foreign transaction fee partially offsets the value of the earning rate on foreign currency purchases, but this can be waived with the Neo Grow membership. 

• Eligibility: Minimum personal income of $80,000 or household income of $150,000. Not available in Quebec. No credit score requirement.
• Annual fee: $180

Secured United World Elite Mastercard

The Secured United World Elite Mastercard is a co-branded card between United Airlines and Neo that earns United MileagePlus miles on every purchase. It earns:

• 1.25x miles per dollar on United Airlines and Star Alliance flights
• 1x mile per dollar on dining and groceries
• 0.75x miles per dollar on all other purchases
• Extra MileagePlus miles² at thousands of Neo partner merchants

Cardholders get a free checked bag on eligible United-operated flights, priority Group 2 boarding, and a NEXUS credit of up to USD $120 every five years. Insurance coverage includes out-of-province medical, delayed and lost baggage, trip protection, and rental car coverage³.

• Eligibility: Minimum personal income of $80,000 or household income of $150,000. Insurance coverage not available in Quebec. No credit score requirement.
• Annual fee: $89

How do Neo’s secured cards work?

What makes Neo's lineup unique is that every card it offers comes in two versions: a regular unsecured credit card, and a secured version available through Neo's Build membership. This membership costs $7.99 per month, but can be easily waived if you hold at least $5,000 across your Neo accounts, or if you hold one of Neo's World Elite cards. 

Neo secured credit cards work like regular credit cards, except that you put down a deposit that serves as your credit limit. Your credit card usage gets reported, so every on-time payment you make goes towards building your credit up.

Will a secured credit card show up differently on your credit report?

Some people worry that a secured card will be seen as a red flag on their credit report, but that is not how it works. Julie Kuzmic, Head of Consumer Advocacy and Compliance at Equifax Canada, says, “On a credit report, a secured credit card looks the same as an unsecured credit card.”

Does your credit card brand or tier affect your credit score?

The same logic applies to the tier of cards you hold. Richard Goyder, Chief Credit Risk Officer at Neo Financial, says, "The brand of card that you have doesn't make a difference as far as the credit bureau is concerned. What matters is your utilization and making payments on time."

Should you get more than one secured card? 

If you are wondering whether you should stack multiple secured cards to speed things up, Goyder offers a measured perspective. "Having two secured cards will probably help in the sense that you have two trade lines, so your file is a little bit thicker. On the other hand, they're the same kind of credit, so it won't help as much as getting another form of credit. It definitely will not hurt your credit score, but it's not necessary."

How cash flow underwriting can help

Neo also uses cash flow underwriting to potentially improve the offer you receive. Goyder explains, "We just ask your permission to connect to your chequing account, that can be at any other bank, then you put in your password to connect us and then we will be able to read the data from there." He adds, "Cash flow underwriting is something we mostly offer to people that want a higher limit than what we offered them or when it would allow us to offer an unsecured card to someone to whom we could only offer a secured card." If your bank account shows stable income and responsible spending, Neo may offer you a higher limit or upgrade you to an unsecured card outright.