CIBC Adapta Mastercard for Students

Adaptive earn: 1.5 Adapta Points per $1 in the cardholder's TOP 3 SPEND CATEGORIES each month, determined automatically by actual spend, and 1 point per $1 on everything else. Travel booked through CIBC by Expedia earns 2 points per $1. Because the accelerated categories are chosen dynamically each month by CIBC based on where the cardholder spent most, no fixed category can be recorded at 1.5. Every category field is therefore recorded at the 1-point base, which is the conservative reading, with the 1.5x upside described here. Eligible categories in the rotating pool include groceries, dining, gas, transit, entertainment, e-games, home improvement, electronics, clothing, health/beauty and hotels. CIBC does not publish a monthly or annual cap on the 1.5x earn on the student product page.

Headline 'up to $350 in value' is heavily padded with non-points items. Points components: 3,000 points after the first purchase (CIBC values at $25), 9,000 points plus a $75 Skip Gift Card for spending $1,000 within the first 4 statement periods, and 3,000 points for setting up a recurring bill payment ($25). Non-points components making up the balance: a free first-year Skip+ membership (stated $110 value) and roadside assistance (stated $50 value). Actual points earned max out at 15,000. No offer end date is published.

Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Insurance included. CIBC Payment Protector Insurance is an optional paid add-on. Roadside assistance is offered as part of the welcome package rather than as a standing card benefit. No travel insurance. Credit limit capped at $5,000 for Canadian students, $2,000 for international students. HEADLINE vs SUBSTANCE: '$350 in value' includes a $110 Skip+ membership and $50 of roadside assistance. $160 of the headline is not card rewards at all. Maximum actual points are 15,000. The 1.5x rate applies only to the top 3 categories BY SPEND each month, chosen automatically. A student cannot select categories, and the multiplier follows wherever they already spend, so it cannot be optimised in advance. Category-level earn fields are recorded at the 1x base for this reason. Adapta Points valuation is not published by CIBC, so point_value_cents is NOT PUBLISHED even though the welcome offer implies roughly 1.2 points per cent in places. Income published as $0 by CIBC. APRs are client-side placeholders on the product page; taken from CIBC's catch-all rate row which does not name student cards individually. Quebec residents pay 21.99% on cash advances/balance transfers and no per-transaction cash advance fee.