Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite Card Review
Although the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card is still one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada, it’s lost some of its appeal over the years. That’s not to say this card is no longer good. It’s just that other cards now offer better benefits or earning rates.
What’s interesting is that this card still has an incredible earning rate, and some of the best travel and purchase insurance available, so it’s still a potential keeper. Read my Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite review now to find out why it’s one of the best Scotiabank credit cards in Canada.
Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card
- $120 annual fee – first year free
- Earn 10% cash back on all purchases for the first 3 months (up to $2,000 in purchases)
- Earn 4% cash back on groceries, recurring bills, and subscription purchases
- Earn 2% cash back on gas and daily transit purchases
- Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases with no cash back limit
- Travel and mobile device insurance included
Welcome bonus and earn rate
The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card typically offers 10% cash back on all purchases for the first three months (up to $2,000 in spending). In addition, the annual fee of $120 is usually waived for the first year as part of the welcome bonus.
As for the earning rate, you’ll get 4% cash back on groceries, recurring bills, and subscription purchases, 2% on gas and transit purchases, and 1% on all other purchases. Even though you get a high earn rate for multiple categories, there is an annual spending cap of. $25,000 Once you reach that amount, your earning rate drops to 1%.
Benefits and perks
Like many cash back credit cards, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite doesn’t give you a ton of perks. That said, you do get some great insurance and Visa Infinite benefits.
Mobile device insurance
When you charge the full price of a mobile device (cellphone or tablet) to your Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card, you’re covered for up to $1,000 from loss, theft, or damage. Note that if you ever need to make a claim, depreciation applies.
Travel insurance
- Travel medical – $1,000,000 coverage up to 15 days
- Trip interruption – $2,000 per insured person (max $10,000 per trip)
- Trip cancellation – $1,500 per insured person (max $10,000 per trip)
- Flight delay – $500 per trip for eligible expenses for all insured travellers after a delay of 4 hours
- Delayed and lost baggage – $500 per trip for eligible expenses for all insured travellers after a delay of 4 hours
- Travel accident – $500,000 covering common carriers including airplanes, cruise ships, trains or buses
- Rental car collision / loss damage insurance – $65,000/48 days
For a cash back card, the included travel insurance is quite impressive. You only need to charge 75% of your trip costs to your card for the trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance to apply. However, for rental cars, you need to charge the full amount. There is no hotel/motel burglary insurance included.
Purchase insurance
- Purchase security – 90 days
- Extended warranty – Up to one additional year
When charging your purchases to your Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card, you’re covered for 90 days from loss, theft, and damage, thanks to the included purchase security. In addition, you get an extended warranty on purchases for up to one additional year.
Concierge service
As a Visa Infinite cardholder, you get access to a personal concierge. Available 24/7, these concierges are able to help you with dinner reservations, shopping, and more. Note that concierge can’t make miracles happen, so be realistic about your requests.
Save on car rentals
When renting a car at participating AVIS and Budget locations in Canada and the U.S., you’ll get up to 25% off the base rate when paying with your Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card.
Visa Infinite Hotel Collection
Visa has exclusive deals with hundreds of hotels where you can get a free room upgrade and Wi-Fi when you book directly with them.
Visa Infinite Dining and Wine Country program
Throughout the year, Scotiabank offers cardholders tickets to exclusive dining events where you can meet celebrity chefs and more.
When your Scotiabank cash back is paid out
Scotiabank pays out all cash back earned in November. While this may sound good since it gives you some extra cash to work with right before the holidays, it lacks flexibility. Many other cash back programs now allow you to cash out when you have a minimum amount. That gives you more options.
Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite eligibility
- You’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- You’re at least the age of majority in your province or territory
- You have a minimum annual personal gross income of $60,000
- You haven’t declared bankruptcy in the past 7 years
- Your home address matches your credit report home address
Although the Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite Card doesn’t have a formal minimum credit score requirement, a score of at least 700 is recommended.
How the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card compares
Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card vs. American Express Cobalt Card
A natural comparison is the American Express Cobalt Card since it has a similar earning rate. The Cobalt Card gives you 5 American Express Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on eats and drinks (including grocery stores), 3 points on popular streaming services, 2 points on travel and transit, and 1 point on all other purchases. Since you can redeem 1,000 points for a $10 statement credit, this is essentially a hybrid cash back/travel rewards card.
Admittedly, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card has better insurance, but American Express Membership Rewards is a better program than Scene+. That’s because you can transfer your Membership Rewards points to other loyalty programs such as Aeroplan and Marriott Bonvoy. Depending on the redemption, you could get an increased value for your points.
Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card vs. BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®*
The BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* also has an impressive earning rate of 5% cash back on groceries, 4% on transportation, 3% on gas and electric vehicle charging, 2% on recurring bills, and 1% on all other purchases. The catch is, there are monthly caps of $500 on groceries, $300 on transit, $300 on gas and electric vehicle charging, and $500 on recurring bills. If you typically spend more than that, then the Scotiabank is a better choice since it has a yearly cap, not a monthly one.
Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card vs. Tangerine World Mastercard
Of the best cash back credit cards in Canada, one other card worth comparing is the Tangerine World Mastercard. With the Tangerine card, you can choose up to three categories that will earn you 2% cash back, while all other purchases earn you 0.5% cash back. This is clearly lower than what the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card offers, but it has no annual fee, which will appeal to many people.
Final thoughts
It should be pretty obvious that my Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite review is positive. It’s one of the best no-fee cash back card available and I’d argue it’s an excellent choice as a “travel rewards” card. Although the cash back is easy to redeem, it’s only paid out once a year in November as a statement credit or deposited directly into your personal chequing or savings account if you bank with Scotia.
[…] an earning potential, the National Bank World Elite Mastercard is comparable to the Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card which is a cash-back card. The Scotiabank card uses multipliers so you earn 4% cash-back per $1 […]
The Scotiabank Momentum card started out great with 4% on gas and groceries. They took away gas but added recurring bill payments. The problem is that all of the things you would think are recurring that you can pay with your credit card are not as such – so this is proving to be totally of no value. For me, this was house and cottage insurance, car insurance and boat insurance. I even tried to pay my monthly itunes subscription but apple would not take this card. The Scotia call centre said this was a reported issue by other card holders and they were working to resolve the issue with apple. Also when I called the call centre on why my intact insurance bill payment was not showing up as being recurring, the agent said that on his side it was showing up as reccurring and that this would be corrected when my statement issued. Needless to say it wasn’t and it is my belief that he was BS’ing me. Shame on Scotiabank! I have just switched to Merdian Visa which offers 4% on gas and groceries.
Bruce,
Interesting feedback. With insurance, I wouldn’t expect that to count as a recurring bill payment even though you pay monthly. I say this because recurring bill payments usually refers to things such as Netflix and Spotify. Generally speaking, merchant categories (which determine the type of cash back) are set by Visa and Mastercard. I have no idea if Scotiabank can manually override those codes to give you the promised cash back amount.
If gas is a major category for you, switching to the Meridian card was the smart thing to do.
I agree with Bruce. The clawback on my fuel purchases and elimination of the 2% money back at pharmacies in my case was devastating. I went to my local bank which did not have any good answers and just now left a note on my card file.
Is the 25,000 cap an annual cap or a monthly cap?
This is an annual cap
Can we earn something if we refer to a friend?
Hi Nic,
There is no referral benefit for the general public with this card
Ok I see thanks! You get one because you contacted them and drive traffic through your blog right?
Correct, I am one of their approved affiliate partners
Is the card life insured if you die with a balance
Typically credit cards write off any balance if the cardholder passes away. This assumes the credit card was not a joint account.
That being said, there’s no formal insurance that guarantees this.
I have paid for all my travel accommodations for my upcoming trip on my visa via my travel agent. Will this be covered under trip cancellation?
Hi Chelsea,
Yes, your trip cancellation would apply but not that you can’t cancel just because you don’t feel like going anymore, trip cancellation applies to certain conditions which are outlined in your policy.
I don’t make a minimum of 60k and just received the card. Is there a promo on?
For the first 3 months, you would earn 10% cash back up to $200 in cash back earned.
This card covers travel insurance for your family members too?
MonArch
The fine print states that the travel insurance benefits only apply if your dependents are travelling with you or your spouse.
https://www.scotiabank.com/content/dam/scotiabank/canada/common/documents/pdf/Momentum-Infinite-Visa-Eng-Ekit.pdf#page=63
travel insurance is for under the age of 65 or over 65, or for everybody
Harwinder,
Please refer to the certificate of insurance for the details
So I have a Scotia momentum visa credit card and I was wondering if we HAVE to pay the minimum that is given or can we pay whatever the amount that actually want?
Carrie,
The minimum listed on your statement is just the minimum, you should always pay the full balance to avoid any interest charges.
Failing to pay off the balance results in interest charges. Interest can easily wipe out all the cashback you’ve earned, which makes a cashback card worthless.
The advertising about cash back should include the information that the individual vendors can choose what percentage of participation they have, 1%, 2%, 3%. Regardless of falling into one of the clearly defined categories, Scotiabank insists that it is up to each card member to approach each vendor, each time and discuss with them their participation within the program, should it not align with the Scotiabanks advertised cashback policy. Nice. Even in the fine print this is not stated.
James,
I’ve never heard of this. Each merchant is assigned a code by Visa and Mastercard and that’s the category they’re dumped in. Merchants can’t change their categories as they please, nor can customers ask merchants to change things when they’re making purchases.
well look at that you learned something. And in my opinion, something very important. Card holders need to know, “the real rules”. I have confirmed this with at least 6 mid level managers, because I was shocked when I first learned of it.
Let hope this little nugget makes it into the public domain.
James,
I’m fairly sure this is inaccurate as individual stores can not set their individual merchant codes. You can’t go to Best Buy and ask them to put in a merchant grocery code. Those are set by Visa and Mastercard.
My question to you is…do you have this card? I would encourage you to call in and ask. Respectfully I have a different experience with the bank, based on real time repeated interaction with Scotiabank Visa. I felt the same way you did, before I verified this repeatedly and found the real responsibility is with the individual card holders. The companies I am referring to are large international corporation, not one of mom & pop’s.
James,
It still comes down to the merchant codes set by Visa and Mastercad. For example, Costco isn’t considered a grocery store, nor is Wal Mart with the exception of Wal Mart Superstores which are considered grocery. It doesn’t matter if they’re big or small merchants, they don’t determine their own merchant codes, and they can’t change them on the fly.
Be very wary of this card, especially if you ever want to cancel it. They have you “locked in for life” once you start paying the annual fee…. And if you try to cancel it, you can kiss any cash back you earned for that previous year goodbye. This seems unethical to me, but apparently Scotiabank just sees it as a consequence of the annual cycling.
So you pay the $120 fee every anniversary date, but you will get your cash back in November as per the rules of the card. That means if you signed up in September or October, you are basically locked into the card. If you ever want to cancel you end up forfeiting all the cash back you earned for that year.
So be prepared to factor in an additional $120 (+$50 for supplementary) fee into the card when you sign up. Unless of course you want to keep the card for the rest of your life..
The only way around this is if you sign up for the card in December or January. They don’t really make this clear when you sign up and I think it is totally unethical.
Also if you ever have to deal with customer service, be prepared to wait 20-40 minutes on hold.
I have been on hold and on the phone with customer service for a total of at least 6 hours… and then I went into my local branch to resolve the issue. They were very nice but I was there for another 2 hours. I’m sorry but 8 hours of my time is not worth the extra 1% over some other cards that have no annual fee.
So I say it is not worth the grief and hassle and there are free cards out there that are very comparable (or better in our situation).
If you’re 65 or older you do not qualify for travel insurance. Correct?
Brent,
That’s correct, there is no coverage if you’re 65 or older
I drive a lot so I signed up for this card a couple years ago when they had the 4% cash back on gas, now that it’s been knocked down to 2%, there are better options out there. See ya later Scotia!
Hi Barry,
Does this card even come close on how much of a return I would get back compared to the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard? I’ve been comparing both cards and it seems like you can rack up a lot of points with the PC Mastercard with a lot of hacks as well as I had read. Doesn’t really make sense if I shop at superstore and use the momentum card right? Wouldnt get as much of a benefit if I got cash back plus gain PC points with the momentum credit card right? Best to go with the PC world elite?
Jeremy,
So there are two ways of looking at this. From a straight cash back point of view, you could argue the Scotiabank Card gives you a higher earn rate, but this assumes you do a lot of spending on groceries, transit, and recurring bills. The other obvious advantage is the fact that you get actual cash with the Scotiabank card.
However, as you likely know, with the PCFWEMC, you can rack up A LOT of points if you shop smart. By shop smart I mean sticking to stores where you earn extra PC Optimum pints such as Loblaws owned grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Esso. The bonus points you earn on select items and targeted offers add up fast. PLUS, bonus points events at Shoppers is incredible. 20X the points is basically 30% back in points.
So yeah, I favour the PDCWEMC if you shop at the right places =P
Hi Barry,
Thank you for your reply. One last thing, I also have an Amex Cobalt. How does it compare to shopping at save one foods where I can get 5x the points and also gain “More Rewards” with their program as well. I do know though that save on is more expensive but how does it compare to Presidents Choice in terms of how many points I can gain?
Jeremy,
5 X the points with the Cobalt card really depends on what you use your points for. Technically Cobaly points are worth 1 cent each so it’s definitely good value. But like you said, if groceries cost more there, it could be a wash. Cobalt points are good for travel where as PC Optimum points can be used for groceries and merchandise.
Hi Barry,
Looks like the PC Mastercard is the way to go to get the most points and rewards. I also read I can also use points to buy gift cards at Superstore. I’m wondering which card would compliment the PC Mastercard. Right now I have the Scotiabank Passport Infinite Visa, Amex Cobalt, Vancity Enviro Gold Visa, and Capital One. Not sure if having both the Scotiabank Passport and Amex opened is ideal since the Annual fee is $140 for the Passport and $10 a month for Amex. That about $260 both combined a year. If you had to choose, which card would get that would compliment the PC Mastercard World Elite aside from what I have now?
Jeremy,
PC Optimum no longer allows you to buy gift cards with points.
The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard essentially serves as your main card at Grocery, gas, and pharmacies. The question now is where else do you do your spending? If you’re holding the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card for no forex fees and lounge access, the value is there. Obviously you’re unlikely using the lounges right now. If you just want something with no forex, the Hometrust Preferred Visa has no forex fees and no annual fee.
The Amex card is good if you do a lot of spending on restaurants and take out.
I ordered a package with my Scotiabank Momentum Visa through Amazon, within 48 hrs I received a message that my package had a customs fee to be paid and then I was provided a link by text to click and pay with a credit card. I followed the link and paid the $3.00 customs fee. Immediately afterwards I received an email thanking me for signing up to Zoopackage. I realized the customs link was a scam or better known as a subscription scam. I immediately called my Scotiabank Visa to report the fraud and cancel my card.. I’ve been on hold for over 72 mins now (they of course said they’re experiencing higher than normal call volumes and that it will be a 20 min wait) just to have this particular Visa canceled and to report the fraud. This is by far the worst negligence I’ve experienced with Scotiabank Visa and it’s Unacceptable, to have to wait over an hour to cancel/report fraud/or report a stolen credit card..
If you are getting this card any month other than November, don’t. If you cancel your card you will lose your cashback amount earned. I got the card in May and wanted to cancel before the annual renewal fee ($120/year). They said the only way for me to get my reward dollars is to pay the annual fee and wait until November when the payment comes. In my case I have to pay $120 just to get my $300 of rewards. It doesn’t matter if you have a bank account with them or another Visa.
I also found that the annual fee was quite high for the amount of rewards I earned.
The term says welcome bonus if you’ve had any Scotiabank retail credit card in the past two years.
I had this card and closed in Nov 2019, then waited and had No Scotia credit cards until 2022. I got this card again, but no welcome bonus was provided in Nov this year.
What is the 2 years term ?
MM,
You should have qualified for the sign up bonus. You should call Scotiabank to find out what’s going on.
Thanks for reply, I called Scotia that they said I am not eligible since I had the already this card and got the bonus before.
The term is stating that “Individuals who are currently or were previously primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank personal credit card in the past 2 years,”
According to the term I thought I am qualified too.
Well I think this is up to them, whatever they decide.
MM,
I still side with you, but you’re right, Scotiabank can do what they like. Of course, you can also take your business elsewhere moving forward since they’re being punks about it.
Barry,
Thanks for replying so quick again.
I can not push it so hard since I am waiting the preferred chequing package bonus. This is my second time as well and I confirmed the Scotia that I could get bonus for opening account again before I open it.
If this is not provided I will push it.
Hi,
I am going overseas and wondering if Scotia Momentum gives you 4% grocery cashback for spending in overseas(buying stuff in grocery store in overseas). I asked Scotia Bank and rep did not know. If so, beat the foreign transaction fee of 2.5% and you still gain 1.5%!!
Also TD cashback infinite and Tangerine world MC…if you happen to know!!
Thanks!!
Hi Kunko,
I have read reports online that the Scotiabank multipliers do indeed work for foreign merchants. I’m not sure about TD or Tangerine.
Wow, thanks for the fast reply!! I appreciate it!!