In this match up we look at over half a dozen criteria to compare the cards against one another along with a head to head detailed table comparison.
Annual Fees / Sign Up Bonus
Surprisingly there is a difference in the annual fees on these two premium cards, especially when Mastercard typically mandates a $120 or higher fee on their World Elite Mastercards that do have annual fees. That brings us to the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard which has one of the lowest annual fees for fee based World Elite Mastercard and that is $100. The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card carries an annual fee that most of us are accustomed to with this level of card and that's $120. There are also differences in supplementary or additional cards, the Desjardins card charges $0 if you are member with the bank or $30 if you are not while Scotia charges the standard $50. At the time of first posting this clash (September 2021) the Momentum Infinite card comes with a first year annual waiver on both the primary and supplementary cards. One should also be aware that there are differences in the minimum income requirement as the Momentum Visa Infinite is $60,000 personal or $100,000 income while the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite card is $80,000 and $150,000 respectively.
Neither card has a standard welcome bonus however as already mentioned the Scotia card is offering first year free on both primary and secondary cards as a limited time offer. Quite frequently in the past we have also seen the Scotia card offer 10% cash back on up to $2,000 of spending in the first three months of having the card.
While close, this category goes to the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card for having no annual fee in the first year however if they remove that promotion it gets even closer as you have lower fees with Desjardins but lower income requirements with Scotia. If there were no promotions in play I would have to call it a draw!
Rates
The Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard has slightly lower interest rates when compared to the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card. Which for any one who does carry credit can make a difference thus this category goes to the Desjardins Card.
Bonus Features & Benefits
Both cards don't offer a lot of features or benefits as seen on other cash back or travel cards but the Desjardins card does provide two benefits thanks to it being a World Elite Mastercard. All World Elite Mastercards in Canada come with free global WiFi via Boingo and that also includes WiFi on some airlines around the globe but most importantly WestJet here at home. The other benefit is Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey. This is an airport lounge access membership for cardholders to access over 1,000 lounges Worldwide at a rate of US$32 per person. Essentially what this benefit is doing is covering the basic annual fee of the membership which is valued at US$79 to $99 per year.
Both card have your standard premium card concierge service while the Momentum card does have the Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection benefit that provides free wifi, complimentary breakfast, a food and beverage credit, VIP Guest status and 3PM check out at small selection of hotels.
In this category we find that most people would make better use of the free global WiFi and lounge access over the hotel collection benefit so we give it to Desjardins.
Cash Back Earning & Redemption
Now to the section that is the most important with cash back cards and that is the actual cash back earning! These two cards are quite evenly matched in the cash back earning department! For one to choose which is better will come down to what categories you spend more money in. Both cards offer 4% cash back on grocery purchases while Desjardins also awards 4% on dining while Scotia chose to go with 4% on recurring bills and subscription services. Then you have Desjardins offering 3% back on entertainment and public transit while Scotia offers 2% back on gas and public transportation. All other spending on either card is awarded with 1% cash back. Those are the earn rates and as you can see it will really depend on which categories you spend more in as to which card could be better for you. The Scotia card does cap their accelerated earn rates of 4% and 2% at $50,000 in spending annually, this is high enough that most people won't reach it but it is something to keep in mind as the Desjardins cards makes no mention of any spending caps.
If we take the spending assumptions from our Top Cash Back Credit Card rankings but broken down even further to include separate public transportation and entertainment categories you can see how much cash back you would earn from the cards over the period of the first two years:
* Cash earnings include any welcome bonus and subtraction of annual fees.
As you can see from the chart the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card does better in the first year but that's only due to the fact that at the time of posting this it was being offered with no annual fee in the first year. If that promotion disappears then the Desjardins card does better right from year one and beyond. I must stress however that these numbers are based on our spending assumptions. If your spending is different from what we have above the results could be very different for you.
On the cash back redemption side there is quite a big difference between the two cards. The cash back earned on Desjardins card is automatically paid out as a statement credit any time your cash back balance reaches $100. For those who spend more that means you'll be getting your cash back frequently. The Scotia card on the other hand is still a bit of a dinosaur here as it is one of the few cash back cards in our market that still only pays out once per year. Every year in November you'll receive cash back as a statement credit or as a deposit to your bank account if you bank with Scotia. We covered this topic earlier in the year as we feel this is something Scotia needs to address as most cash back cards now provide easier access to cash back rewards.
For this category it is a draw as the cash back earned will depend on each individuals spending habits and if and what any welcome offers are available on the cards. The Scotia does better right now for earn in year one but for long term holders the Desjardins could be the way to go plus you can get your cash back more often with the Desjardins card.
For being cash back cards both actually have pretty decent insurance coverage but one does do better than the other. The card that does offer slightly better insurance coverage is the Scotia card. The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card has much better common carrier insurance plus flight delay insurance, the latter is something the Desjardins card does not have. The other big one that Scotia does better is out of province travel medical insurance as it offers 15 days of coverage for those up to 64 years old. The Desjardins only offers 3 days of coverage albeit to age 75. Overall the insurance category goes to the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card.
Conclusion
Out of all the clashes and showdowns we have to date this one is definitely the closest yet. Even though in our Top Cash Back Credit Card rankings we place the Scotia card just above the Desjardins card that's in most part due to the cash back earnings in year one thanks to that card's limited time no annual fee in the first year offer. We also like the Scotia card's lower income requirements and better insurance coverage but like how you have easier access to cash back, a lower annual fee and great earn rates on the Desjardins card. In fact this clash is too close to call and therefore we have to call it a draw! However if the Scotia card didn't have a welcome bonus it would be a different story, this clash would go to the Desjardins card thanks to its easier cash back access and lower annual fee.
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