CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard® review

May 14, 2025

While we adhere to strict editorial guidelines, partners on this page may provide us earnings.

Overall rating

First year value

$460

Get this card if you:

  • Want to get bonus rewards for your top 3 spend categories
  • Prefer to earn purchase rewards without having to pay for an annual fee
  • You're a frequent commuter who values the complimentary Roadside assistance as a benefit

Scores by category

No Annual Fee 2.8

At a glance

The CIBC Adapta Mastercard is a no annual fee credit card that adjusts to your spending each month to get you the most rewards possible, automatically. The innovative product is Canada's first credit card that automatically adapts to your spending habits, delivering 50% more points where you shop most.

Highlights

$460

First year value

up to $100 in value†

Welcome bonus

$0

Annual fee

$0 for up to 3 additional cardholders

Interest Rates

21.99%

Purchase APR

22.99%

Cash advance APR

Eligibility

Good

Recommended credit score

$15,000

Required annual personal income

$50,000

Required annual household income

Quick overview of the CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard®

The CIBC Adapta Mastercard is a no annual fee credit card that adjusts to your spending each month to get you the most rewards possible, automatically. The innovative product is Canada's first credit card that automatically adapts to your spending habits, delivering 50% more points where you shop most.

Who’s the Adapta™ Mastercard® for?

  • Canadians looking for a no annual fee rewards card that maximizes everyday spending
  • Shoppers with variable spending patterns across different categories each month
  • Consumers who want their credit card to automatically adapt to their lifestyle
  • Budget-conscious individuals looking for bonus rewards without category tracking
  • People who prefer flexible redemption options for statement credits or financial products
  • Cardholders who value practical benefits like roadside assistance over travel perks

Pros and cons

CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard® welcome bonus

The CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard® comes with a basic (but easily achievable) sign-up bonus for new accounts:

  • Get 3,000 Adapta Points after your first purchase† and roadside assistance. Then earn 3,000 Adapta Points when you spend $1,000 in the first 4 months.
  • Full welcome bonus details

    +

    Get up to 6,000 Adapta points during your first year (up to $50 in value):

    • Receive a Welcome Bonus of 3,000 Adapta Points after your first purchase† (up to $25 value)

    • Get 3,000 Adapta Points when you spend $1,000 in the first 4 monthly statement periods† (up to $25 value)

    • Includes membership to roadside assistance after you make your first purchase. Services include battery boosting, gas delivery, towing and more, offered by Dominion Automobile Association ($50 value)

    All told, we value this welcome bonus at $100.

How to earn Adapta points

The Adapta™ Mastercard® is a unique addition to CIBC’s credit card portfolio, thanks to its adaptive approach to points. The card is more like a U.S.-based rewards card in that cardholders automatically earn 1.5 Adapta points per dollar in their top three spending categories each month.

Cardholders also earn 1 Adapta point per dollar on all other purchases.

Bonus points automatically apply to your top three monthly spending categories across:

  • Grocery and drug stores
  • Dining and drinks
  • Gas and EV charging
  • Transit and parking
  • Home improvement
  • Electronics
  • Clothing
  • Entertainment
  • E-games and subscriptions
  • Pet stores
  • Health and beauty
  • Hotels and motels

How does the Adapta's value potential differ across Canada?

We've analyzed how credit card rewards deliver real value to Canadians, and our research shows significant differences depending on where you live.

Provincial rewards can differ significantly for the following reasons:

  1. 1 Tax structures: Provinces with higher PST/HST rates (like Quebec) generate more rewards per purchase than tax-free Alberta.
  2. 2 Cost of living: Higher housing and everyday expenses in British Columbia and Ontario lead to more spending and thus more rewards.
  3. 3 Regional price differences: Essentials like gas, groceries, and insurance vary dramatically across provinces, affecting which categories become your top three earning categories each month.

Here's how much you can earn on average with the CIBC Adapta Mastercard in your province:

How to redeem Adapta points with the CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard®

Redeeming Adapta™ points is fairly easy (although the redemption options are a little disappointing). Cardholders can redeem points towards a few award options:

  • Redeem for statement credits: 1,500 points = $10 when applied to your credit card balance or recent purchases
  • Redeem for CIBC financial products: 1,200 points = $10

The ability to redeem points towards account credits offers more versatility than you may think. Beyond a blanket credit to your account, you can also use your points toward a recent purchase before your statement arrives. This offers the same value as other statement credits but provides a great way to adapt your rewards and treat yourself.

Key benefits of the Adapta™ Mastercard®

Perhaps the biggest feature of the Adapta™ Mastercard® is the ability to seamlessly maximize your rewards without any hassle. Cardholders get their purchases automatically calculated by CIBC, with the highest spending category getting 50% more value at 1.5x points per $1 spent.

While the card does not provide rental car insurance, that doesn’t mean the Adapta™ card won’t help you out on the road — far from it. The Adapta™ Mastercard® offers complimentary Dominion Automobile Association (DAA) roadside assistance for the primary cardholder.

This provides access to services such as towing, battery boosting, gas delivery and much more. All told, this perk is valued at $50.

Get a discount every time you fill up at participating gas stations when you link your Adapta™ Mastercard® with Journie Rewards™.

  • Gas savings of up to 10 cents per litre when linked with Journie Rewards

Read more: Canada’s best gas credit cards

CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard® insurance coverage

Insurance
Coverage amount
Extended warranty
1 year
Purchase protection
90 days

Cardholders can opt for CIBC Payment Protector™ insurance, although this protection requires an additional charge. For a monthly fee of  $0.99 cents per $100 of the amount you owe CIBC on your insured card, this insurance covers you should you lose your job or self-employment, through no fault of your own, or become unable to work due to an illness or injury.

Extra benefits of the Adapta™ Mastercard® from CIBC

Another gamechanging feature of the Adapta Mastercard is the unique Touch Card™ design that includes a notch. This enables people who are blind or have low vision to distinguish their payment cards from one another using touch.

Mastercard Touch Card™ was first announced in 2021. The innovative Touch Card was created after input from the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the UK and the nonprofit Visions/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in the U.S. Notches were selected instead of Braille, as research indicates that blind users do not use Braille when using their cards, according to Mastercard research.

Mastercard’s Touch Card™ improves accessibility for customers who are blind and partially sighted with innovative, tactile notches — rounded for debit, squared for credit and triangular for prepaid — so anyone can identify their cards with just a touch.

Here’s what Mastercard’s Touch Cards™ look like:.

  • CIBC Pace It™ feature to create installment plans at lower interest rates
  • Enjoy 12 months of Skip+ for free when you link your CIBC card with your Skip account
  • Mobile app access

  • Zero Liability Protection for unauthorized purchases
  • Digital card management through mobile or online banking
  • Customizable spend alerts and fraud alerts
  • Credit report monitoring alerts

What users have to say about the Adapta Mastercard

Even with the full cash back bonus it comes out to 1% for the highest and 0.6% cashback Dividend infinite at least gets you 4% cashback on gas groceries, 2% on reoccurring bills and then 1% on everything else

Reddit user u/Arthvpate

The CIBC Adapta™ revolutionizes rewards by automatically giving 50% bonus points in your top three monthly spending categories — no selection needed. When life changes, your rewards adapt without lifting a finger.

Tangerine offers a higher 2% cash back, but only in categories you must pre-select and manually update. While this potentially offers better value (compared to Adapta™'s 0.67 to 0.83 cents per point), it demands active management many Canadians neglect.

The Adapta™'s key advantage? You'll never miss rewards when spending shifts unexpectedly. This proves invaluable for those with variable expenses or who prefer a truly hands-off approach to maximizing credit card rewards.

Disclosures:

  • *Terms and Conditions apply

Welcome Bonus: Earn 10% cash back for 2 months† (up to $100). Expires Aug 31, 2025

On Tangerine'sSecure Site

Get this card if you...

  • want flexible cash back categories
  • want unlimited cash back
  • want to avoid paying an annual fee

The CIBC Adapta™ automatically awards 1.5 points per dollar in your top three monthly spending categories without any selection required, with one point elsewhere. It includes practical benefits like roadside assistance and purchase protection.

Neo offers higher 5% cash back, but only at partner merchants in their network. All other purchases earn just 0.5% cash back. The card integrates with Neo's financial app ecosystem for a digital-first experience.

For consistent rewards without changing where you shop, Adapta™ delivers better everyday value. Neo works best if you already frequent their partner businesses and prefer managing finances through an app.

Disclosures:

  • Neo Credit and Neo Secured Credit cards are issued by Neo Financial™ pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. 
On Neo'sSecure Site

Get this card if you...

  • already have a savings account with Neo so you can earn more cash back
  • are a smart shopper who is good at checking for Neo partners to earn more rewards
  • want to avoid paying a high annual fee

Other Adapta™ versions

CIBC offers two versions of the Adapat™ Mastercard®, with higher incomes enjoying access to the CIBC Adapta™ World Mastercard®. The World Mastercard® version offers greater access to travel insurance as well as additional discounts through Mastercard®’s global hotel collection and more. 

Here’s how the income requirements differ:

  • CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard®: $15,000 (household) income required
  • CIBC Adapta™ World Mastercard®: $50,000 (personal) or $80,000 (household) income required

There's also a student version of the card, the CIBC Adapta™Mastercard for Students. The CIBC Adapta Mastercard and its student version share the same core rewards structure but differ in several important ways that cater to their respective audiences.

Here's how they differ:

  • The student version differs in that it has no income requirements, making it more accessible than the full-fat, regular version of the card
  • For the student card, Canadian students can get a credit limit of up to $5,000, while international students are limited to a maximum of $2,000.

Is the CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard® worth it?

The CIBC Adapta™ Mastercard® stands out thanks to its unique approach to rewards. The card's innovative feature — automatically adjusting to provide 50% more points in your top spending categories each month — maximizes rewards without requiring any manual tracking or management.

While the redemption value (approximately 0.67 to 0.83 cents per point) isn't the highest available in Canada, the included roadside assistance ($50 value) and accessible welcome bonus provide substantial added value. This means the card proves particularly useful for shoppers with differing spending habits, as it allows them to shop without needing to actively monitor categories or manage their rewards strategy.

Eligibility requirements

  • Age: Age of majority in your province or territory (18+)
  • Residence: Canadian resident
  • Credit score: Good credit
  • Income: $15,000 (household)

FAQs

  • How do Adapta points work?

    +

    Adapta points are unique in Canada, as they allow CIBC Adapta Mastercard cardholders to automatically earn bonus Adapta points in their top 3 spend categories. How it works is that CIBC tallies all your spending with the card at the end of the month and the automatically tabulates where you spend the most money, rewarding you with 50% more points in those top 3 categories.

  • What are the Adapta bonus categories?

    +

    Grocery and drug stores, Pet stores, Dining and drinks, Gas and EV, Transit and parking, Entertainment, E-games and subscriptions, Home improvement, Electronics, Clothing, Health and beauty and Hotels and motels

  • What are Adapta points worth?

    +

    1,500 Adapta points are worth $10 when applied to your credit card balance or a recent purchase, or 1,200 Adapta points are worth $10 when used toward an eligible CIBC financial product

Cory Santos Credit card editor

Cory Santos is a finance writer, editor and credit card expert with nearly a decade of experience in personal finance. Cory joined Wise Publishing from BestCards, with bylines in numerous print and digital publications across North America, including the Miami Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Debt.ca, AOL, MSN and Medium as well as financial podcasts like KOFE Talk. He's also the creator and author of the annual Money.ca Credit Card Awards.

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†Terms and Conditions apply.