Scotiabank is altering how its Momentum bank cards reward two of the most important funds many Canadians make. Beginning October 22, 2026, lease and tax funds will earn every card’s common buy price as an alternative of its accelerated recurring invoice cost price.
Scotiabank started speaking the change to clients on August 17, 2026. 4 Momentum playing cards are affected, whereas utilities, streaming, insurance coverage, telephone payments, and different recurring funds will hold incomes their accelerated charges.
Renters who pay by Chexy stand to lose essentially the most. The Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card at the moment turns these funds right into a tidy return, however the decrease price will wipe that out as soon as the change takes impact.
What’s Altering for Scotia Momentum Cardholders
Lease and tax funds at the moment qualify as recurring payments on the affected playing cards. From October 22, they are going to fall again to the next common buy charges.
| Card | Lease & tax funds at the moment | From October 22, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card | 4% (recurring invoice price) | 1% |
| Scotia Momentum® Visa* Card | Accelerated recurring invoice price | 1% |
| Scotia Momentum® No-Payment Visa* Card | 1% (recurring invoice price) | 0.5% |
| Scotia Momentum® for enterprise Visa* Card | Accelerated recurring invoice price | 1% |
On the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card, recurring invoice funds and groceries at the moment earn 4% money again on the primary $25,000 spent throughout these classes annually, adopted by 1%. Lease and tax funds will earn 1% from the efficient date, however the 4% price stays in place for different eligible recurring payments.
The Scotia Momentum® No-Payment Visa* Card at the moment earns 1% money again on recurring invoice funds as one in all its bonus classes, topic to a mixed annual cap of $15,000, adopted by 0.5%. Its lease and tax funds will drop to 0.5%.
This can be a slim carve-out relatively than a full rewrite of the recurring invoice class. Utilities, streaming companies, insurance coverage, telephone payments, and comparable funds will proceed incomes on the accelerated price.
Scotiabank is drawing the road by service provider class code, with rental funds below MCC 6513 and tax funds below MCC 9311 dropping to the common price. Any service that processes a cost below these codes is affected, so the change reaches each lease and tax cost platform relatively than anyone supplier.
Timing comes all the way down to the cardboard cost date relatively than the invoice due date. Chexy has informed its clients that October 21, 2026 is the final day an affected cost will be charged and nonetheless earn the 4% price.
What This Means for Chexy Customers
Chexy is the primary route for Canadians who need to put lease on a bank card, and its commonplace service charge is 1.75% per cost. You may learn our full information to Chexy for extra on how the service works.
At the moment, incomes 4% on the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card in opposition to a 1.75% charge leaves you forward by roughly 2.25%. From October 22, the cardboard’s 1% return will not cowl that charge, turning the identical cost right into a internet loss.
On a $2,000 month-to-month lease cost, the present 4% price earns $80 in money again in opposition to a $35 charge, a internet achieve of $45. After the change, the identical cost earns $20 in opposition to the identical $35 charge, a internet lack of $15 every month.
The identical calculation applies to property tax or CRA funds made by bank card by third-party cost companies. As soon as the rewards fall beneath the service charge, paying by card now not is sensible on the earn price alone.
Chexy’s e mail to clients spells out the break up in additional element. Lease, family bills, condominium and strata charges, and property and revenue tax funds drop to 1% from October 22, whereas utilities, automobile leases, daycare, tuition, insurance coverage, wellness, and telephone payments hold incomes 4%. You may overview which of your funds are affected at app.chexy.co/scotia-card-change and change them to a different card with out altering how your landlord or biller will get paid.
A number of helpful choices stay after the change.
- Use lease to unlock a welcome bonus. The common earn price barely issues when the cost helps clear a minimal spend requirement.
- Earn Aeroplan factors on lease. Chexy’s Aeroplan incomes supply for lease funds stays out there.
- Maintain incomes on mortgage funds. The Chexy Aeroplan mortgage rewards program is funded from a checking account relatively than a bank card, so this transformation does not have an effect on it.
- Use one other card for lease funds. Scotiabank’s carve-out applies solely to its personal Momentum playing cards.
Finest Playing cards for Recurring Invoice Funds
The best reply may not be a recurring payments card in any respect. The Wealthsimple Visa Infinite +* Card pays a flat 2% money again on each buy with no cap, matching the devoted 2% earners on payments and beating them in every single place else, which makes a brand new utility only for invoice funds laborious to justify. The Wealthsimple Visa Infinite Privilege* Card carries the identical price for greater spenders. The $240 annual charge is billed at $20 per thirty days and disappears completely with $100,000 in Wealthsimple belongings or $4,000 per thirty days in direct deposits, and neither card expenses international transaction charges.
There’s some irony in Scotiabank reducing two kinds of funds whereas its card stays on prime of the recurring payments class. Its worth now relies upon extra closely on the remainder of your month-to-month payments.
The TD Money Again Visa Infinite* Card earns 3% money again on recurring invoice funds, groceries, and fuel, with the three% price restricted to the primary $15,000 in spending per class annually. The annual charge is $139 and is waived for the primary yr.
The CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card presents 2% money again on recurring invoice funds with no cap, alongside 4% on groceries and fuel. The annual charge is $120 and is waived for the primary yr.
The BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* earns 2% money again on recurring payments on as much as $500 in spending per thirty days, adopted by 1%. The $120 annual charge is waived for the primary yr.
The Tangerine Cash-Again Mastercard earns 2% money again in as much as three classes of your selection, with recurring invoice funds out there as one of many choices. There is no such thing as a cap and no annual charge.
Conclusion
For lease, the choice turns into easy as soon as October 22 arrives. I might cease utilizing a Momentum card by a fee-charging cost service except the cost helps clear a welcome bonus.
The larger query is what your recurring payments really seem like. If lease and taxes make up most of them, the affected playing cards could now not be value a spot in your pockets after the replace, and a flat earner just like the Wealthsimple Visa Infinite +* Card turns into the higher dwelling for these funds. Its 2% money again nonetheless comes out forward of Chexy’s 1.75% charge, with no cap and no international transaction charges on prime.
Scotiabank has drawn a clear line round two unusually giant bills. Renters and taxpayers ought to draw one in all their very own by sending these funds someplace the rewards nonetheless beat the charge.
