Loblaw grocery stores and American Express
Loblaw's grocery stores, including Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Zehrs, Fortinos, Your Independent Grocer, Valu-mart, Provigo, Maxi and T&T, don't accept American Express. Loblaw doesn't publish a payment policy for its grocery banners, but Canadian card sites and shoppers consistently report Visa and Mastercard only.
Shoppers Drug Mart is also owned by Loblaw, but it's widely reported to accept American Express. Loblaw hasn't confirmed this either.
Costco: Mastercard in the warehouse
Costco's Canadian warehouses take Mastercard as their only credit card, along with debit, cash, Costco Shop Cards, personal cheques and Apple Pay. Costco gas stations take Mastercard, debit and Shop Cards. On costco.ca, Visa works too.
Why it matters for rewards
A card's grocery rate only counts where you can use the card. If most of your groceries come from No Frills, an American Express card's grocery rate doesn't apply to that spending. You'd pay with another card and earn that card's rate instead.
Costco has a second catch. Card networks label each store with a merchant category code, and Costco is labelled a warehouse club, not a grocery store. So a card's grocery rate usually doesn't apply at Costco, even with a Mastercard.
What to look at instead
Before you compare grocery rates, list where you actually shop:
- How much goes to Loblaw-owned grocers, where American Express can't be used.
- How much goes to Costco, where only Mastercard works and the grocery rate usually doesn't apply.
- How much goes to other grocers, where most cards earn their grocery rate.
Kova sorts your purchases this way before it compares cards.