BMO American Dollar Credit Card Fees

I've been quite a fan of BMO Mosaik's No-Fee US$ Mastercard.

Bank of Montreal had the only fee-free US$ credit card in Canada without making you jump through any hoops.  TD Bank has a "free" one if you subscribe to their most expensive banking plan (or free with a minimum $5000 deposit, ya right!). 

Unfortunately, it looks like they are going to start a US$25 annual fee on new accounts applied for after August 3rd, 2009. And the new ones don't even offer cash back! I'm getting 0.5%, not great, but better than nothing (or Air Miles)

That leaves us existing card members in limbo however. I've received no notice whatsoever from BMO about any fee increases, though there are rumours that it will start on cards' anniversary dates, which I've not passed since BMO made this change to their US$ Mosaik Mastercard.

Bank of Montreal Response on Annual Fee for Existing Cardholders

Here's the email I got when I asked BMO about this:

The Annual fee of $25 on USD BMO MasterCard cards will apply systematically
for accounts opened after August 3, 2009.  However, for accounts opened
prior to August 2009 the fee in question will not be applied immediately.
While the exact details related to existing accounts have not been settled,
it is our understanding that all USD BMO MasterCard accounts will carry
said fee in the near future. Please rest assured that you will receive
advance notification before the fee comes into effect.

So I guess I'll be waiting to see. For now, if you hold such a card, it probably isn't a bad idea to keep spending a regular amount on it. I bet they'll trend toward only instituting the annual fee on cards they're clearly losing money on, like those that they're mailing $0.00 bills to 6 months out of 12. 

US Dollar Visa/Mastercard Credit Card Options for Canadians

Other options include:

1. the aforementioned TD Select Service Bank Account with free TD US$ Visa card 
2. Getting a free bank account in the US, which usually provides a free Visa/Mastercard-based debit card
3. Apply in-store for a Target Red Visa, or online for a Nordstrom Visa. Keep in mind you'll need some way of paying off these cards (Can't do online bill payment from Canada). Use your SIN number for the SSN field.