The quick answer
The Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite wins for most households. It pays a higher rate on groceries, charges a lower annual fee, and gives that top rate a CA$25,000 annual allowance rather than TD's CA$15,000. For a typical Canadian household weighted toward groceries, the gap is well over CA$100 a year.
The TD Cash Back Visa Infinite wins in one specific case: when gas is a large share of your spending and groceries are not. TD pays 3 percent on gas where Momentum pays 2 percent, and that single category is enough to flip the result for drivers.
Verdict
Choose the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite unless you spend more on fuel than on groceries. It has the higher grocery rate, the larger cap and the lower fee. Choose the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite if you commute long distances, and check the CA$15,000 shared cap against your combined grocery, gas and bill spending before you decide, because that cap is the card's real constraint.
Side by side
| Scotiabank Momentum | TD Cash Back Visa Infinite | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | CA$120 | CA$139 |
| Groceries | 4% | 3% |
| Recurring bills | 4% | 3% |
| Gas | 2% | 3% |
| Transit | 2% | 1% |
| Everything else | 1% | 1% |
| Cap structure | CA$25,000 a year shared by groceries and bills; a second CA$25,000 shared by gas and transit | CA$15,000 a year shared by groceries, gas and bills |
| Rate above the cap | 1% | 1% |
| Minimum income | CA$60,000 personal | CA$60,000 personal |
| Network | Visa | Visa |
Two households, two answers
All dollar figures on this page use CardGenie's standard point valuations: cash back at face value, Aeroplan at 1.5 cents per point, Membership Rewards and Scene+ at 1.0 cent per point. These are deliberately conservative. Points transferred to airline partners at the right time can be worth considerably more, and points redeemed for merchandise are usually worth less. The CardGenie calculator uses the same valuations, so it will not contradict the numbers here.
Take a grocery-weighted household: CA$800 a month on groceries, CA$200 on gas, CA$300 on recurring bills and CA$1,000 on everything else. Momentum pays 4 percent on the CA$13,200 of groceries and bills, 2 percent on CA$2,400 of gas and 1 percent on the rest, earning CA$696 before the fee and CA$576 after it. TD combines groceries, gas and bills into CA$15,600, pays 3 percent up to the CA$15,000 cap and 1 percent above it, earning CA$576 before the fee and CA$437 after. Momentum is ahead by CA$139 a year.
Now take a driving-weighted household: CA$200 a month on groceries, CA$700 on gas, CA$100 on bills and CA$1,000 on everything else. Momentum earns CA$432 before the fee and CA$312 after. TD stays under its cap at CA$12,000 of category spending, earns CA$480 before the fee and CA$341 after. TD is ahead by CA$29.
Note how much smaller the TD win is than the Momentum win. Even in the profile that favours it, TD only gains CA$29, while Momentum gains CA$139 in the profile that favours it. That asymmetry is why Momentum is the safer default: it wins by more when it wins, and loses by less when it loses.
Choose the Scotiabank Momentum if
- Groceries are your largest card expense
- You pay insurance, utilities, phone or subscription bills on the card
- Your combined grocery and bill spending is between CA$15,000 and CA$25,000 a year, where TD is capped and Momentum is not
- You want the lower annual fee
Choose the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite if
- Fuel is a bigger line in your budget than groceries
- You commute long distances or drive for work
- Your combined grocery, gas and bill spending stays under CA$15,000 a year
- You already bank with TD and want everything in one place
Why the cap matters more than the rate
Shared caps are the most consistently underestimated feature of Canadian cash back cards. A single-category cap is easy to reason about. A cap shared by three categories fills up roughly three times faster than the number suggests, and nothing in the statement tells you it has happened. Your rate simply drops.
Before choosing either card, add up your annual spending in the categories that share a cap and compare that total to the allowance. If you clear the cap in September, the card spends the final quarter of every year paying 1 percent, which is what a no annual fee card pays without charging you anything. At that point the premium card is only worth holding for the months before the cap.
Households that regularly exceed both caps should look at whether a no annual fee cash back card as a second card is a better answer than a higher rate they cannot reach, or consider an uncapped grocery earner such as the Scotiabank Gold American Express, where American Express acceptance is the trade-off.
The Short Version
Momentum has the better grocery rate, the bigger cap and the lower fee, so it wins for most households and wins by a larger margin. TD's 3 percent on gas is the one advantage that reverses the result, and only for people whose fuel spending outweighs their groceries. Check your own category totals against both cap structures before applying, since the caps decide this more often than the rates do.
Common questions
Which card has the higher cash back rate?
The Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite, at 4 percent on groceries and recurring bill payments against 3 percent on the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite. But TD applies its 3 percent to gas as well, which Momentum only pays 2 percent on, so the higher headline rate does not guarantee more cash back.
How do the category caps work on each card?
Both use shared annual caps, which is the detail that catches people out. Momentum groups groceries and recurring bills under one CA$25,000 annual allowance and groups gas and transit under a second CA$25,000 allowance. TD groups groceries, gas and recurring bills together under a single CA$15,000 annual allowance. Spending above a cap drops to 1 percent for the rest of the year.
Is the TD CA$15,000 cap easy to hit?
Easier than most households expect, because three categories draw from it. A household spending CA$800 a month on groceries, CA$250 on gas and CA$300 on recurring bills reaches CA$16,200 a year, which passes the cap around month eleven. From that point the card pays 1 percent on all three categories until the anniversary.
Do both cards require a minimum income?
Yes. Both are Visa Infinite products and both publish a minimum personal income of CA$60,000, or CA$100,000 household. That requirement rules out the pair for many applicants regardless of which is mathematically better, in which case a no annual fee cash back card is the practical alternative.
Which card is better for someone who drives a lot?
The TD Cash Back Visa Infinite, because it pays 3 percent on gas against the Momentum's 2 percent. A household with heavy fuel spending and modest grocery spending is the specific profile where TD comes out ahead despite the higher annual fee and the tighter cap.
Run your own numbers
Every figure above depends on a spending profile that is probably not yours. The CardGenie calculator applies all 40 cards in the database to your actual monthly budget, respects each card's category caps and subtracts the annual fee, so you get a ranking rather than a verdict. You can also browse other card comparisons or the best cards by category.
CardGenie is not affiliated with any card issuer and earns no commission on the cards listed. Earn rates, fees, caps and welcome offers are recorded from issuer sources and can change without notice. Verify current terms with the issuer before applying. This page is general information, not financial advice.