# Scotia Momentum Visa (from Amazon)



## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

We switched from the Chase Amazon Visa to the Scotia Momentum card. 4% cashback on groceries and Gas. 2% on drugstores and recurring bills, 1% on everything else. No fee for first year then $99 for first card, $39 for second. Cashback credited once a year in November. $45 cashback in first 3 weeks, so should add up.

We applied for our cards through Amazon.ca. When you do that, you get a $75 Amazon credit. We applied for our cards in late April and received them on May 1st. Received a letter with Amazon code today (May 23rd). 

This is not a no-FX fee card like the Chase. We won't need that much until next winter. See what is available then. We do have a US$ credit card anyway. Just have to fund it! Scotia does have the Passport no-FX card which may suit frequent travelers better. Also available via Amazon site.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

Well, Scotia are changing the game. Higher cost for cards and no longer 4% cashback on gas. At $170 for two cards, it is getting a bit too expensive.


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## l1quidfinance (Mar 17, 2017)

Similar to what TD did when they changed the game for the MBNA World elite. This seems to be the trend now. - Though I do not even think the MBNA world elite is open to new users any more either. 

I've still so far held onto my world elite as it is still 2% cashback on all spend when redeemed for travel. Extra cards remain free as well. If they start to charge for the second card then I will for sure cancel. 

I never bothered with applying for the Scotia Card as I felt the 4% on Gas was more of a gimmick to me when compared to 2% on my entire spend. Pretty much anything I spend goes through the credit card unless they charge a premium to pay by credit.


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## Video_Frank (Aug 2, 2013)

agent99 said:


> Well, Scotia are changing the game. Higher cost for cards and no longer 4% cashback on gas. At $170 for two cards, it is getting a bit too expensive.


Do you have a link to that? I'm not seeing this anywhere else.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

The changes apparently haven't been officially announced yet, but according to usually reliable sources, a Notice of Change is going to be mailed out soon to existing cardholders.


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## Video_Frank (Aug 2, 2013)

agent99 said:


> The changes apparently haven't been officially announced yet, but according to usually reliable sources, a Notice of Change is going to be mailed out soon to existing cardholders.


That's quite the change. We hold three cards so the yearly fee will go from $159 to $220. Additionally we got quite a bit back from drug stores and gas so dropping those from 2% to 1% and 4% to 2% respectively will negatively impact our rewards. Over the last five years we have put an average of $86k on this card and earned and average of $1,350 in rewards (after fee), for an average reward of 1.6% (after fees).

If this goes through we will be dumping this card. However, we don't have a Scotia Bank account so I'm not sure what will happen to the cash rewards we've accumulated to this point in the year.


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

I've had this card for many years now. Although I can't say I'm happy with the increase (who likes to pay more?), I still think the card is worth it. I mostly like the cash-back but also appreciate the extras the card offers. The addition of trip cancellation and mobile insurance sort of justifies the increase so I can't complain much.

I put ALL my purchases on this card - even if it's $1.50 at Tim's. My cashback at the end of every year nears $1000. So I get paid to spend money plus reap the added benefits of the insurance the card offers. Paying $170 out of the near $1000 cashback is still not so bad a deal.


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

Video_Frank said:


> That's quite the change. We hold three cards so the yearly fee will go from $159 to $220. Additionally we got quite a bit back from drug stores and gas so dropping those from 2% to 1% and 4% to 2% respectively will negatively impact our rewards. Over the last five years we have put an average of $86k on this card and earned and average of $1,350 in rewards (after fee), for an average reward of 1.6% (after fees).
> 
> If this goes through we will be dumping this card. However, we don't have a Scotia Bank account so I'm not sure what will happen to the cash rewards we've accumulated to this point in the year.


They offer other versions of this card including a no-fee card with a reduced cash-back. Maybe consider one of the other offerings or switch to the no-fee until your reward is paid out.


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## Video_Frank (Aug 2, 2013)

Mortgage u/w said:


> They offer other versions of this card including a no-fee card with a reduced cash-back. Maybe consider one of the other offerings or switch to the no-fee until your reward is paid out.


Thanks for that. I'll have to read through the T&Cs to see what my options are.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

Video_Frank said:


> That's quite the change. We hold three cards so the yearly fee will go from $159 to $220. Additionally we got quite a bit back from drug stores and gas so dropping those from 2% to 1% and 4% to 2% respectively will negatively impact our rewards. Over the last five years we have put an average of $86k on this card and earned and average of $1,350 in rewards (after fee), for an average reward of 1.6% (after fees).
> 
> If this goes through we will be dumping this card. However, we don't have a Scotia Bank account so I'm not sure what will happen to the cash rewards we've accumulated to this point in the year.


In our case, it looks like our annual rewards will be about $680. The switch from gas to recurring bills at 4% will reduce cashback by only about $20. However, we have to deduct $170 for our two cards. Besides use in Canada, we also used the cards for groceries and gas in the USA. We received the 4% cashback, but incurred about $200 in FX fees (2.5%). We used our no cashback US$ Mastercard for other expenses and for that we had a source of US$, so no 2.5% fees. 

Key is to keep your cards until November so you don't lose your cashback balance.

Cashback gets paid at a specific time (November?). We will keep our Scotia cards until then, collect our cashback and then re-evaluate. If we cancel, they will apparently refund part of our card fee. In our case that will still be at $129 because we renew in a few days. 

In November I will look at getting the free Home Trust no FX card and get 1% cashback on everything. That will include the charges we now put on our US$ Mastercard. Or maybe we will find something better. Mostly nickels & dimes anyway.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Hmm Gold AMEX is getting 5% on groceries and 0 FTF. Not worth $120 though especially if you buy groceries at Costco

Scotiabank Gold AMEX:


5% grocery, dining, and entertainment (all currently 4%)
new 3% category for gas (currently 4%), daily transit, and select streaming services
1% everything else


0% foreign currency conversion markup (currently 2.5%)
$120 annual fee (currently $99), except for those aged 65 and over which will be $79
additional card fee will stay the same (except for those that are part of STEP and under 65, where the fee has risen from $15 to $29)
travel emergency medical insurance coverage to 3 consecutive days (currently 10) for seniors over 65
trip cancellation/interruption coverage to $1500/person (currently $2500)
price protection eliminated
everything else stays the same

Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite:


4% on grocery and recurring bills (currently grocery and _gas_)
2% on gas and daily transit (currently recurring bills and drug store purchases)
1% everything else (including drug store purchases)
$120 annual fee (currently $99)
$50 additional card fee (currently $30)
interest rate on purchases risen from 19.99% to 20.99%
new trip cancellation insurance (up to $1500/person, max $10k/trip)
new mobile insurance (up to $1000 max)
everything else stays the same


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

m3s said:


> [FONT=&]Hmm Gold AMEX is getting 5% on groceries and 0 FTF. Not worth $120 though especially if you buy groceries at Costco




Do you have a link for that?? (RFD doesn't count  )

For those interested, I first earned about this from someone on RFD.

This thread: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/mer...nfinite-4-gas-groceries-2-drug-store-1061129/
and this: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/upc...-amex-momentum-visa-infinite-aug-1st-2280399/

Problem with Amex, is that many places don't accept it. And those 5/3/1% rewards. Those are for travel points, are they not? Not cashback. Wouldn't be much good to us.


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## Video_Frank (Aug 2, 2013)

I received my official notification of the changes in the mail today. I called Scotia to let them know that I wasn't happy and was planning to cancel my card. They were willing to transfer my cash-back amount to another card within the Scotia family. However, I am going to keep looking for a non-Scotia card that offers similar rewards without the large annual fees. I'd need to get a pretty big cash-back to justify $220.00 in annual fees and cutting gas from 4% to 2%, and drug stores from 2% to 1% is a big negative.

After being on hold for a long time with a customer service rep I was told that I should renew as per normal in October. In November the cash-back reward would be paid out. Then, if I call in to cancel my card the 2019 renewal fee would be refunded. This would apply only to the primary card, not any fees associated with secondary cards. I guess I'll cancel the secondary cards in September to minimize my non-refundable fees.

In the meantime I'll have to find a new rewards card. I have the Home Trust Visa card which is no fee, no forex fee and 1% cash-back on everything which is fine but I never like relying on only one credit card. I've put over a half mil on this card in the last five and a half years including around $30,000.00 in gas. The drop in gas reward combined with the hike in fees will cost me close to $200.00 annually.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

Video_Frank said:


> I received my official notification of the changes in the mail today.


Haven't received our notification yet. Our renewal is in May, so we will get our rewards before renewal date. 

Interested in what other choose to do. Haven't checked RFD thread yet, but they are usually on top of these things.


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## BC Eddie (Feb 2, 2014)

I use Aspire for most purchases as it gives 2% on everything. I have Home Trust and Brim for expenses will travelling and Simplii Visa for restaurants at 4%.


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## Video_Frank (Aug 2, 2013)

Update: After much searching I applied for a Rogers World Elite Mastercard. No annual fee for primary or supplemental cardholders. 4% cashback on foreign purchases (ie 1.5% cashback after the 2.5% forex fee). 1.75% cashback on all other purchases.

I maintained detailed records on the rewards from the Scotia card over the last six years and I never exceeded a 1.7% cashback rate after the annual fees were deducted so the Rogers card should be an improvement. With the drop from 4% to 2% on gas and the drop from 2% to 1% on drug store purchases, plus the jump to $220 for a primary and two supplemental cards, I would likely never again achieve greater than a 1.75% rate that the Rogers card has.

Once I've received the new card I will transfer over my recurring bills and cancel the supplemental cards. After the annual cashback I will cancel the card altogether.


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

We have Scotia Momentum Infinite because we think 4% cashback on grocery is definitely worth it, considering that it's our biggest expense at maybe $8000/year spent for grocery.

Turns out that this year we've spent a hell lot of money on that card, wow... That's because some of the renovations expenses went on that card.

Never thought we had spent over $12,000 in grocery & recurring bills though.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

We same Scotia VISA card. For us Cash Back is mainly from groceries and some for recurring bills. Our recent cashback was about $650 which was within a dollar or so of that for the previous year. We also have a a BMO Mastercard (seldom used) and a Home Trust Visa used mainly to avoid FX fees. Most charges go on the Scotia VISA.


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