RBC Partners with Petro-Canada to Help Canadians Save on Fuel
For Canadians with an RBC credit or debit card, saving money at the pump just got a little easier. In a recently announced partnership between Royal Bank of Canada and Petro-Canada, Canadians can now earn Petro-Points just by using their RBC debit or credit card at Petro-Canada with no need to swipe an additional card.
On top of that, RBC cardholders will enjoy 3 cents per litre savings on their fuel purchases and, if you use an RBC Rewards credit card when you shop at Petro-Canada, you’ll earn 20% more RBC Rewards points.
This partnership is downright great news for RBC cardholders. The three-pronged benefit of earning Petro-Points, saving money at the pumps and supercharging their RBC Rewards makes this new program appealing, but the fact that signing up is easy and once your cards are linked, all you need to do is continue fueling up at Petro-Canada locations makes it a no-brainer.
But just how much will you save? Let’s look at an example.
Let’s say you drive 20,000 kilometers per year in a mid-sized crossover with a combined fuel economy of 9.2 litres per 100 kilometers (9.2l/100km). With that kind of fuel economy, your car will consume 1,840 litres of fuel per year. At an average gasoline price of 104.90 cents per litre, you’ll spend $1,930 per year on fuel.
If you take advantage of this new program, you’ll enjoy a price reduction of 3 cents per litre, and spend just $1,874, a savings of $56 per year.
In addition to saving 3 cents per litre, you’ll also earn 20% bonus Petro-Points on the base rate of 10 points for every litre of fuel purchased. So, if you purchased 1,840 litres of fuel at Petro-Canada locations in a year, you’d earn 18,400 base points plus an additional 20% bonus points for a total of 22,080 Petro-Points. For every 1,000 Petro-Points you earn, you can redeem these points for one dollar off your fuel. So for the year, you can redeem your 22,000 points to save $22 dollars off fuel.
Finally, if you buy your gasoline with an RBC credit card, such as the RBC Visa Infinite Avion, you’ll earn 20% more RBC Rewards points. If you use the RBC Visa Infinite Avion, where for every dollar spent you’ll earn one point, you’ll earn 20% more points or 374 additional points. Each point is worth about $0.01, so that’s an extra value of $3.70.
Altogether, an average car user can expect to save in the neighbourhood of $80 per year using this program. If you drive more than 20,000 kilometers per year, or you drive a larger car that isn’t as fuel efficient, your savings stand to increase substantially.
Signing up for this program literally could not be easier. It’s as simple as going to rbc.com/petro-canada and linking your Petro-Points card to your RBC debit and/or credit cards. While using your RBC credit card will earn you the most financial benefit, if you prefer to use a debit card, you’ll also enjoy access to over 500 new RBC branded ATMs that will be added to Petro-Canada stations across the country in the next six months.
With a program like this, which purely benefits Canadians with no downside, it’s a no-brainer to sign up!
This post was sponsored by RBC and Petro-Canada.