The best credit cards for electric charging stations
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Approximately 10% of electric vehicle (EV) charging occurs outside the home. What is the best credit card for earning rewards points at public EV charging stations?
Public electric charging stations
*** This article from December 23, 2021 was updated on March 24, 2023 and April 25, 2023.
In Quebec and Eastern Ontario, the most commonly used public EV charging stations are those of the Circuit Électrique and Flo. There is also the Petro-Canada fast-charging network along the Trans-Canada Highway.
My colleague Frédéric explains that certain types of purchases in stores earn extra points or cash back. This depends on the Merchant Category Code (C C C) or the Merchant Category Code (M C C).
For electric charging stations, the CCC created by Visa and Mastercard is 5552 – Electric Vehicle Charging.
Therefore, to determine the category of your charging transaction, you must contact your financial institution. Or, go to the Developer Tool in your browser to find out.
For example, I used the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card at a EV charging station from Petro-Canada in Ontario. The CCC code for this transaction is Class 5552 – Electric Vehicle Charging.
This is despite the fact that Petro-Canada’s primary business is selling gasoline(code 5541).
Confusion among issuers and businesses
This merchant category code 5552 is very recent. This causes major differences in how it is coded at merchants associated with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, you earn 1.5 points per dollar on all eligible gas purchases. However, this Petro-Canada 5552 refill is classified as “Other”. As a result, I only got 1 point per dollar for this charge.
As a side note, I even got a $5 promotional credit for any purchase (reloading my Circuit Électrique account) of $10 or more during the last American Express Shop Small promotion! This is the equivalent of 31 kWh of free energy (or about 170 kilometres with my battery type), at a 100 kWh Circuit Électrique fast charging station.
Since points and rewards vary from one card and issuer to another, the best approach is to run your own tests at EV charging stations with your credit card.
For Tesla drivers, the Supercharger detects the owner of the vehicle being charged and simply bills the expense to the credit card on file.
Depending on the credit card issuer, Tesla can be coded as either:
- Transportation
- Public services/electricity (Utilities)
- Car dealership
Yes, it is an inexact science!
The best credit cards for electric charging stations
The cards that stand out for earning rewards at EV charging stations are:
| Earning per dollar | |
| CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card | 4% cash back |
| RBC ION+ Visa Card | 3 Avion points |
| BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* | 3% cash back |
| CIBC Dividend Platinum Visa Card | 3% cash back |
| National Bank World Elite Mastercard® | 2 NBC points |
| Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite +* Card | 2% cash back |
| National Bank Platinum Mastercard® | 1.5 NBC points |
Please note that RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card and RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card holders have an exclusive offer for Petro-Canada electrical charging stations.
Sign up for the offer in your profile, pay for the charge with one of these cards, and automatically receive a rebate. This will be in the form of a credit of up to $100 by August 31, 2024.
BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®*
In its welcome offer terms, the BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* states:
Enjoy a 3% cash back rate on the first $300 in automobile and vehicle fuel purchases per statement period, and a 1% cash back rate at all times thereafter. (…) To qualify for the bonus cash back rate, automobile and vehicle fuel purchases must be made through merchants classified under Mastercard merchant category codes as “Gas stations, service stations” (MCC 5541), “Automated fuel dispensers” (MCC 5542), or “Electric vehicle charging stations” (MCC 5552).
You will therefore earn 3% cash back at EV charging stations with the BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®*.
Note that you need to be careful with the BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®*. When I tried it, my Circuit Electrique recharges did not code as “electric charge”. Instead, they fell into the “Other” category with a 1% return in 2022. Perhaps this has changed since then. Yet Circuit Électrique is perfectly coded at 2 points per dollar with the National Bank World Elite Mastercard®.
Scotia Momentum® VISA Infinite +* Card
The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite +* Card clearly states that:
You will receive 2% cash back on the first annual $25,000 in account purchases made at merchants registered in the Visa Inc. (Visa) network, as gas stations (which includes gas stations with or without ancillary services, automated fuel dispensing stations, and electric vehicle charging stations) (merchant category codes 5541, 5542, and 5552).
You will therefore earn 2% cash back at EV charging stations with the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite +* Card.
Multiple RBC credit cards
CIBC credit cards code electrical recharges as “Other”. They therefore have a lower accumulation.
Since April 20, 2023, great news! Several CIBC cards will have the same earn rate as gas, and it is therefore higher. These are:
CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege | ||
| CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Card for Students |
My experience
I have had an electric vehicle since 2014.
We even took it to drive down to Florida! At that time, I used the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card. It was my payment card for the Electrify America charges. It saved me the 2.5% conversion fee.
Between January and May 2021, I stayed at home due to sanitary restrictions. But between June and November 2021, I took several road trips totalling 7,200 kilometres in Quebec and Ontario with my 100% electric vehicle.
In total, the cost of all my recharges at the various electric charging stations was $161.55. The breakdown is as follows:
| Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Circuit Électrique | $119.63 |
| Petro-Canada | $27.83 |
| Electrify Canada | $14.09 |
| Total | $161.55 |
The hotels I stayed at had free electric charging stations, such as the Delta Sherbrooke, Le Navigateur Hotel in Rimouski and the Fairmont Tremblant.
For example, over those 6 months, a holder of the National Bank World Elite Mastercard® would therefore have received a rebate of 323 points, or a maximum value of $3.23 (2 points * $161.55).
In conclusion, is applying for a credit card specifically for electric charging stations advantageous for occasional needs? In my case: No.
But YES, if you have a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), a two-car setup with an EV and a gas car, or if you regularly use public EV charging stations. The above credit cards are good allies as you will get discounts on both your gas and public electric recharges.
I would benefit much more from analyzing the best credit cards for groceries, because that is my largest budget item.
Do your calculations!
Conclusion
In short, MCC 5552 for EV charging is brand new. For now, you need to test your different credit cards at different EV charging stations.
I applaud all issuer initiatives and promotions on EV charging. There were none when I bought my first EV. The industry has grown so much since then!
Right now, the best credit card for EV charging stations is the CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card. She gives the most with 4% cash back!
In second place were, ex-aequo :
- The RBC ION+ Card
- And the CIBC Dividend Platinum® Visa* Card.
Come and join us on the Milesopedia Facebook group to tell us your findings and help us update this article!
| Credit card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | |||
| $48 |
Frequently Asked Questions about Best credit cards for EV charging stations in Canada
Here are frequently asked questions in the milesopedia community about this card.
Why does my credit card not always give bonus cash back at EV charging stations?
EV charging stations in Canada use merchant category code 5552, which only became standard in 2022, and many charging networks (Petro-Canada EV, Circuit Electrique, ChargePoint, Tesla Supercharger) still occasionally code transactions under generic utilities, parking, or even grocery codes. This means cards advertising 4 percent cash back on EV charging (like the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite) or 3X points (like the RBC ION+) sometimes pay only the base 1 percent rate. Milesopedia readers typically test small charges first and check their statement before relying on a specific card for high-volume EV charging.
Which Canadian credit card pays the highest cash back on EV charging?
The CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite pays the highest published rate at 4 percent cash back on EV charging (capped at the same $20,000 annual gas/grocery limit), followed by the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard at 3 percent and the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + at 2 percent. The RBC ION+ Visa earns 3 Avion points per dollar (worth roughly 3 to 4.5 percent), and the National Bank World Elite Mastercard earns 2 NBC points per dollar. Coverage works only when the charging network properly codes transactions under MCC 5552, so test before committing your full charging spend.
Is EV charging at home billed to my credit card eligible for bonus rewards?
No. Home EV charging is billed to your residential electricity provider (Hydro-Quebec, BC Hydro, Hydro One, etc.), which codes as a utility bill rather than EV charging under MCC 5552. To earn rewards on home charging, you would use a card that pays bonus rates on utilities or recurring bills, such as the Neo World Elite Mastercard at 4 percent on recurring payments or the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite at 5X points on bills. Public charging stations on highways, in workplace lots, and at retail locations are where the dedicated EV charging bonuses actually apply.
Are Tesla Supercharger sessions eligible for credit card EV charging bonuses?
Tesla Superchargers in Canada often code under MCC 5552 (EV charging) for credit card purposes, which means they should qualify for bonus rewards on the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite (4 percent), BMO CashBack World Elite (3 percent), and RBC ION+ (3 Avion points). However, Tesla Canada sometimes codes the transaction as a generic merchant or under Tesla Inc., which falls back to the base 1 percent rate. The same volatility applies to Petro-Canada EV, Electrify Canada, and Ivy Charging Network. Test a small session first and verify your statement before scaling up.
