Scotiabank Momentum Cards Will Stop Earning 4% on Rent and Taxes

Scotiabank is changing how its Momentum credit cards reward two of the biggest payments many Canadians make. Starting October 22, 2026, rent and tax payments will earn each card's regular purchase rate instead of its accelerated recurring bill payment rate.

Scotiabank began communicating the change to customers on August 17, 2026. Four Momentum cards are affected, while utilities, streaming, insurance, phone bills, and other recurring payments will keep earning their accelerated rates.

Renters who pay through Chexy stand to lose the most. The Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card currently turns those payments into a tidy return, but the lower rate will wipe that out once the change takes effect.

What's Changing for Scotia Momentum Cardholders

Rent and tax payments currently qualify as recurring bills on the affected cards. From October 22, they will fall back to the following regular purchase rates.

Card	Rent & tax payments today	From October 22, 2026
Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card	4% (recurring bill rate)	1%
Scotia Momentum® Visa* Card	Accelerated recurring bill rate	1%
Scotia Momentum® No-Fee Visa* Card	1% (recurring bill rate)	0.5%
Scotia Momentum® for business Visa* Card	Accelerated recurring bill rate	1%

On the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card, recurring bill payments and groceries currently earn 4% cash back on the first $25,000 spent across those categories each year, followed by 1%. Rent and tax payments will earn 1% from the effective date, but the 4% rate remains in place for other eligible recurring bills.

The Scotia Momentum® No-Fee Visa* Card currently earns 1% cash back on recurring bill payments as one of its bonus categories, subject to a combined annual cap of $15,000, followed by 0.5%. Its rent and tax payments will drop to 0.5%.

This is a narrow carve-out rather than a full rewrite of the recurring bill category. Utilities, streaming services, insurance, phone bills, and similar payments will continue earning at the accelerated rate.

Scotiabank is drawing the line by merchant category code, with rental payments under MCC 6513 and tax payments under MCC 9311 dropping to the regular rate. Any service that processes a payment under those codes is affected, so the change reaches every rent and tax payment platform rather than any one provider.

Timing comes down to the card charge date rather than the bill due date. Chexy has told its customers that October 21, 2026 is the last day an affected payment can be charged and still earn the 4% rate.

What This Means for Chexy Users

Chexy is the main route for Canadians who want to put rent on a credit card, and its standard service fee is 1.75% per payment. You can read our full guide to Chexy for more on how the service works.

Today, earning 4% on the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card against a 1.75% fee leaves you ahead by roughly 2.25%. From October 22, the card's 1% return won't cover that fee, turning the same payment into a net loss.

On a $2,000 monthly rent payment, the current 4% rate earns $80 in cash back against a $35 fee, a net gain of $45. After the change, the same payment earns $20 against the same $35 fee, a net loss of $15 each month.

The same calculation applies to property tax or CRA payments made by credit card through third-party payment services. Once the rewards fall below the service fee, paying by card no longer makes sense on the earn rate alone.

Chexy's email to customers spells out the split in more detail. Rent, household expenses, condo and strata fees, and property and income tax payments drop to 1% from October 22, while utilities, car leases, daycare, tuition, insurance, wellness, and phone bills keep earning 4%. You can review which of your payments are affected at app.chexy.co/scotia-card-change and switch them to another card without changing how your landlord or biller gets paid.

A few useful options remain after the change.

• Use rent to unlock a welcome bonus. The regular earn rate barely matters when the payment helps clear a minimum spend requirement.
• Earn Aeroplan points on rent. Chexy's Aeroplan earning offer for rent payments remains available.
• Keep earning on mortgage payments. The Chexy Aeroplan mortgage rewards program is funded from a bank account rather than a credit card, so this change doesn't affect it.
• Use another card for rent payments. Scotiabank's carve-out applies only to its own Momentum cards.

Best Cards for Recurring Bill Payments

The simplest answer might not be a recurring bills card at all. The Wealthsimple Visa Infinite +* Card pays a flat 2% cash back on every purchase with no cap, matching the dedicated 2% earners on bills and beating them everywhere else, which makes a new application just for bill payments hard to justify. The Wealthsimple Visa Infinite Privilege* Card carries the same rate for bigger spenders. The $240 annual fee is billed at $20 per month and disappears entirely with $100,000 in Wealthsimple assets or $4,000 per month in direct deposits, and neither card charges foreign transaction fees.

A category card has to beat that flat rate to be worth a new application. The two below can, and the remaining picks still make sense if the Wealthsimple fee waivers are out of reach.

Even after losing its boosted rate on rent and tax, the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite +* Card remains the category leader with 4% cash back on other recurring bill payments. The rate applies to the first $25,000 spent each year across recurring bills and groceries, followed by 1%, and the card has a $120 annual fee that is waived for the first year.

There is some irony in Scotiabank cutting two types of payments while its card stays on top of the recurring bills category. Its value now depends more heavily on the rest of your monthly bills.

The TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card earns 3% cash back on recurring bill payments, groceries, and gas, with the 3% rate limited to the first $15,000 in spending per category each year. The annual fee is $139 and is waived for the first year.

The CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card offers 2% cash back on recurring bill payments with no cap, alongside 4% on groceries and gas. The annual fee is $120 and is waived for the first year.

The BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* earns 2% cash back on recurring bills on up to $500 in spending per month, followed by 1%. The $120 annual fee is waived for the first year.

The Tangerine Money-Back Mastercard earns 2% cash back in up to three categories of your choice, with recurring bill payments available as one of the options. There is no cap and no annual fee.

Conclusion

For rent, the decision becomes simple once October 22 arrives. I'd stop using a Momentum card through a fee-charging payment service unless the payment helps clear a welcome bonus.

The bigger question is what your recurring bills actually look like. If rent and taxes make up most of them, the affected cards may no longer be worth a spot in your wallet after the update, and a flat earner like the Wealthsimple Visa Infinite +* Card becomes the better home for those payments. Its 2% cash back still comes out ahead of Chexy's 1.75% fee, with no cap and no foreign transaction fees on top.

Scotiabank has drawn a clean line around two unusually large expenses. Renters and taxpayers should draw one of their own by sending those payments somewhere the rewards still beat the fee.