Best Credit Cards for EV Charging —

How issuers code EV charging (MCC 5552, gas stations and other merchants)

Every card transaction carries a four-digit merchant category code (MCC) set by the merchant’s bank, not by your card issuer. Your bonus depends on that code. Gas stations use MCC 5541 or 5542. Dedicated EV charging has its own code, MCC 5552 (Electric Vehicle Charging), which Visa and Mastercard both support. Issuers decide how to treat it: some name EV charging in the bonus category, some only say “gas stations.”

• Charging network billing you directly (ChargePoint, EVgo, Electrify America and similar): this is the case 5552 was created for. If the network is registered under 5552, a card that names EV charging should pay the bonus.
• Charger at a gas station: it depends on who bills you. If the charging session is billed by the network or the station’s fuel terminal under a gas code, it may count as gas; if the station codes as a convenience store, it may not. Citi’s terms, for example, say gas stations exclude warehouse clubs, superstores, convenience stores and other merchants that do not use the gas station codes, and that Gas & EV Charging Stations include merchants that sell electricity for charging an electric vehicle (Citi Strata terms).
• Charger at a garage, hotel or parking operator: the code follows whoever bills you. If the parking or hotel business charges you, expect its own code (parking, lodging), not 5552. If a network app bills you for the electricity, expect the network’s code.
• Tesla Superchargers and other networks: the code is set by the network’s acquirer, so we cannot confirm it for you. Transportation researchers note that 5552 “is not always assigned” and that charging sales can land under other codes (Cal-ITP fact sheet). After your first session, check how the charge appears and whether the bonus posted before relying on it.

The issuer controls the rule, but not the code. Citi’s terms state that the code is determined under card network procedures based on what the merchant primarily sells, and that it does not control the codes merchants use. Other issuers say similar things in their cardholder agreements.

Home charging vs public charging

Public charging is billed by a charging network, so the EV charging cards in the table above are the ones that matter. Home charging is different: the electricity comes through your utility, so it usually posts as part of your electric bill, billed by the utility under a utility category (commonly MCC 4900), not as an EV charging or gas purchase. Your EV bonus rate will not apply to it.

What helps at home is a card with a utilities bonus. The U.S. Bank Cash+ lists “home utilities” as a selectable 5% category on your first $2,000 in combined purchases each quarter across the two categories you choose, then 1% (U.S. Bank Cash+ page). Other cards list utilities bonuses in their terms; check each issuer. Whichever you use, keep in mind that a whole-home electric bill is not all EV charging; only the added kWh are.

Worked example: yearly rewards at typical public-charging spend

Assumptions (ours, for illustration): you spend $100 a month ($1,200 a year) or $300 a month ($3,600 a year) at public chargers; every session codes as EV charging; no other category uses the same cap; points are valued at 1 cent each so every row is comparable; annual fees are not deducted (see the table above for each card’s fee). Rewards = spend × rate. Your actual spend, coding and point values will differ.

Where a cap bites: the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect states 4X on the first $1,000 each quarter, or $4,000 a year. At $6,000 of annual public charging it earns the bonus rate on $4,000 and the 1% assumed base rate on the other $2,000: $180, while PenFed Platinum Rewards (5X, no cap stated) would earn $300. At $1,200 or $3,600 a year the cap never matters.

Why a flat card is the safety net: if you charge mostly at a network whose coding you cannot confirm (see above), a flat-rate card pays its flat rate whether or not the charge codes as EV (see the flat-rate row above). A bonus card that does not recognize the charge drops to its base rate, assumed here at 1%.

Home charging, same method: assume 200 kWh a month of home charging at $0.17 per kWh, about $34 a month or $408 a year, billed on your electric bill (our assumption; check your own rate). Earned at 1%: about $4; at 2%: about $8; at 5% with Cash+ home utilities selected, per the issuer’s page: about $20.

EV charging credit card FAQ

By Your Best Editorial Team. Rates and caps from our card database (issuer-sourced); issuer and network sources linked above. Ranking order never depends on affiliate or partner status.