There is rarely a single best transit card. There are a few honest answers depending on what you value. These 11 cards earn a bonus on transit, ranked by the cashback-equivalent rate each one pays. Every rate is quoted from the issuer's own terms, with the clause and the date we checked it.
BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard earns the top rate on transit here, at 4.0%, up to $300 a month.
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card is the best card for transit with no annual fee, at 2.0%, if you choose it as a bonus category. The next no-fee option is TD Rewards Visa Card at 0.8%.
Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is the best card for transit that also skips the foreign-transaction fee, at 3.0%. It keeps paying when you spend abroad, where most cards add a fee of about 2.5%.
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card earns 2.0% if you choose it as a bonus category with no monthly or yearly cap, so the rate never tapers as you spend more. American Express Cobalt Card is also uncapped, at 2.0%.
Every card here earns in a different currency: cash back, points, or travel rewards. We turn each one into a single honest number, what a dollar spent on transit is really worth back, valued conservatively. That is the rate we rank by, and nothing gets rounded up in a card's favour.
We never quietly subtract the annual fee from the rate. A $250 card and a $0 card can both earn 2.0%, and you decide whether the fee is worth it.
Aeroplan, Scene+, PC Optimum and the rest are valued conservatively in real dollars, so a points card and a cash back card compare fairly.
A card with a condition can still finish first, on purpose. The catch is right there on the row so you can tell if it fits your life.
By the cashback-equivalent rate each card can earn in this category, converting every rewards currency to its conservative dollar value. The annual fee is shown beside the rate, never subtracted from it.
A rate can be higher because it comes with a condition: a specific station or store, a category you have to choose, or an annual cap. We rank by the highest rate a card can earn here and show the condition right on the row, so you can see whether it fits how you actually spend. A conditional rate can finish above an unconditional one, on purpose.
No. Each rate is quoted from the issuer's current terms on the date we checked it, shown on every row. Terms change, so verify with your issuer before you apply.
No. Verdict is independent, is not a bank, and takes nothing today to place any card above another.
Spot something that doesn’t match the issuer’s terms?
This page ranks the whole market. The app ranks the cards in your pocket. Add the ones you actually carry and Verdict names the best card for anything you buy, the moment you buy it. No account, nothing leaves your phone.
