Scotiabank Momentum Visa

Overview

The Scotiabank Momentum Visa is Scotiabank's mid-tier cashback card on the Visa network, earning cashback on everyday spending categories at a $49 CAD annual fee. Issued by Scotiabank on the Visa network, the card earns 2% cashback on eligible groceries, gas, electric vehicle charging, transit, rideshares, food delivery, drugstores and pharmacies, and recurring bill payments, and 1% cashback on all other eligible purchases. For a $49 CAD annual fee, that's a solid everyday cashback rate across a broad set of categories, and the Visa network means acceptance virtually everywhere in Canada.

Who this card is for

This card fits Canadians who want solid cashback on their core spending — groceries, gas, transit, and recurring bills — at a low annual cost, without meeting an income threshold that higher-tier cards demand. The $12,000 CAD minimum individual income is accessible. If you're spending $800 CAD per month on groceries and $150 CAD on gas, the 2% rate generates $19 CAD per month in cashback from those two categories — $228 CAD per year, well above the $49 fee. The card rewards exactly the kind of predictable monthly spending that most households have, making the math simple.

Key benefits

The 2% cashback rate spans a wide range of everyday categories that would typically require multiple cards to cover: groceries, gas, pharmacy purchases, transit passes, rideshares, food delivery, and recurring subscriptions and bill payments. That last category — recurring bills — is particularly useful because it means your phone plan, streaming subscriptions, internet, and insurance premiums earn at 2% automatically, every month, without any action required.

Cash back redemption has become more flexible: as of early 2026, cashback can be redeemed anytime through the Scotia mobile app or online banking when your balance hits $25, rather than waiting for an annual payout. That's a meaningful quality-of-life improvement over the old annual redemption model.

A welcome bonus is typically offered for new cardmembers — check the Scotiabank website for the current promotion.

Potential drawbacks

At $49 CAD, the Scotiabank Momentum Visa is in the same annual fee ballpark as some no-fee cards' upgraded equivalents. The 1% rate on everything outside the bonus categories is average, and there's no travel insurance included, which limits its utility as a travel companion. Cardholders who want to maximise points for premium travel redemptions won't find cashback programs as flexible as Aeroplan or Membership Rewards.

How it compares

The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + earns 4% on groceries and recurring bills and 2% on gas, transit, and food delivery at a $120 CAD annual fee — if your grocery and recurring bill spend is substantial, the Infinite version out-earns the mid-tier Momentum card enough to justify the higher fee. The Scotiabank Momentum No-Fee Visa earns 1% on the same categories at no cost — for lighter spenders, skipping the $49 fee and earning half the rate might be more cost-effective than the math suggests.

Bottom line

A reliable everyday cashback card for households with consistent spend across groceries, gas, transit, and recurring bills. The broad 2% earn categories and the flexible redemption window make it one of the cleaner mid-fee cashback options at this price point in Canada.