Rankings
Best Credit Cards for Recurring Bills and Streaming in Canada
The MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard pays 5.00% on recurring bills — the highest recurring rate we track — and the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + follows at 4.00%. Both charge $120 a year.
Which credit card is best for recurring bills in Canada?
The MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard pays the highest recurring-bill rate we track at 5.00%, ahead of the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + at 4.00% and the Scotiabank Gold American Express at 3.00%.
| Card | Rate in this category | Annual fee | Net annual rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| TopMBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard | 5.00% | $120 | $496 |
| Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + | 4.00% | $120 | $400 |
| Scotiabank Gold American Express | 3.00% | $120 | $361 |
| TD Cash Back Visa Infinite | 3.00% | $139 | $324 |
| American Express Cobalt | 3.00% | $192 | $236 |
| National Bank World Elite Mastercard | 2.00% | $150 | $468 |
WalletReturn example spending of $2,000/month: groceries $500, dining $200, gas $150, transit $80, travel $100, recurring bills $200, entertainment $100, drugstore $40, online $300, other $330.
For subscriptions and pre-authorized payments the gap between 2% and 5% is real, but it is charged against a fixed annual amount of spending — your bills do not grow the way groceries do.
Put it into practiceFind My CardDoes a 5% recurring rate beat a no-fee card?
On the example profile’s $200 a month of bills — $2,400 a year — 5.00% returns $120, which is exactly the $120 annual fee on the card paying it. The $0-fee Scotiabank American Express at 2.00% returns $48 on the same bills with no fee to recover.
That comparison covers recurring bills only. A 5% card also pays high rates on groceries, dining or other categories, and those can cover the fee several times over — which is why the overall ranking above is by net annual rewards across the whole profile rather than by one category.
Work the fee back on total spending, not on subscriptions alone. Our Annual Fee Break-Even Calculator does the arithmetic for a card you already hold.
What counts as a recurring bill?
Pre-authorized payments that repeat on a schedule usually qualify: streaming and software subscriptions, phone and internet, insurance premiums where the card allows them, and utility bills paid automatically.
A purchase made on a streaming service’s website is not a subscription. Manual payments made each month may not record the same way as a pre-authorized debit.
Insurance premiums are excluded on some cards, so check the terms before routing them through a rewards card. If a bill is charged and refunded, the rewards are reversed with it.
Do recurring-bill rewards have a cap?
Yes on most of the cards that pay 3% or more. The recurring rate usually sits inside an annual limit, and spending past the limit earns the base rate.
| Card | Grocery rate | Cap | After the cap | Rewards on $500/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TopNational Bank World Elite Mastercard | 5.00% | $2,500 a month of total spending | 2.00% | $300 |
| BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard | 5.00% | $500 a month | 1.00% | $300 |
| American Express Cobalt | 5.00% | $2,500 a month | 1.00% | $300 |
| Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + | 4.00% | $25,000 a year | 1.00% | $240 |
Shared limits matter here more than anywhere else: on some cards the same annual cap covers groceries, dining, gas and bills together. Once it is used, every one of those categories drops to the base rate.
How should I set this up?
Put the subscriptions on the card that pays the most per dollar, keep a list of what is billed to it, and re-check the list when a free trial ends.
Stored card details are the usual reason a forgotten subscription keeps running. Reviewing the list once a year also catches price increases, which change what a bonus rate is worth.
If a subscription is billed in US dollars, the foreign transaction fee applies to it as well — check that fee before assigning the card.
How do I check these rates against my own bills?
Add your monthly subscription and bill total in Find My Card and the net annual value is recalculated for each card, cap by cap.
The values above use WalletReturn example spending of $2,000/month: groceries $500, dining $200, gas $150, transit $80, travel $100, recurring bills $200, entertainment $100, drugstore $40, online $300, other $330.
Affiliate compensation never changes an estimate, a cap or a position in a ranking. Where a card’s terms do not document something, we leave it unrecorded.
Keep reading
RankingsBest Credit Cards for Online Shopping in CanadaOnline shopping is the largest discretionary line in our example profile at $300 a month. The CIBC Costco Mastercard and the Tangerine Money-Back World Mastercard both pay 2.00% back — the highest online rate we track — and neither charges an annual fee.
RankingsBest Credit Cards for Families in CanadaThe MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard and the National Bank World Elite Mastercard pay 5% on groceries — the highest grocery rate we track — and the Scotia Momentum Visa pays 2% at pharmacies for $49 a year.
RankingsBest Credit Cards for Groceries in CanadaThe Canadian credit cards that pay the most at grocery stores, with the real return per dollar: MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard, National Bank World Elite Mastercard, BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard all earn 5%.
RankingsBest Credit Cards for Gas in CanadaCanadian credit cards with the highest return on gas and EV charging: Meridian Visa Infinite Cash Back leads at 4%.
Official sources and further reading
Terms vary by product. Confirm the provider’s current terms before acting. This guide does not predict approval, realized value or credit-score changes. How WalletReturn calculates value