BMO Bank of Montreal is one of the biggest banks in Canada, offering a wide-ranging credit card portfolio across both the Visa and Mastercard networks.Below are our picks for the best BMO credit cards in Canada.
Best Overall BMO Credit Card
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card is the anchor of BMO's credit card portfolio. It earns at a rate of 5 BMO Rewards points per dollar spent on groceries, dining, gas, and travel.That’s quite a wide range of categories which earn at BMO’s top rewards rate. When redeemed at the best possible rate, for travel or into an investment account, this works out to 3.33% back.For a reasonable annual fee of $120, you’ll get an annual lifestyle credit of $50. You'll also earn 10% more points for adding an authorized user to your account.If you’d rather keep your annual fees down, or if your income is too low to qualify for the higher-tier card, this card is still a good option for many of the same premium benefits.Plus, you’ll often find the first-year annual fee is waived, so you can see how the card suits you before committing long-term (with the ability to double-dip on the $50 lifestyle credit should you decide to cancel).
Best Premium BMO Credit Card
BMO has made their first foray into the higher-end lifestyle credit card market with the
BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card.
The card earns
5 BMO Rewards points per dollar spent on all of the same categories as its Visa Infinite counterpart, plus drugstores.
You'll also get an enhanced bonus for adding an authorized user to your account. For your trouble, all cards on the account will earn an extra 25% points. If you’re going to go all-in on this premium card, the more the merrier.
There’s a high annual fee of $499, but you get a no-questions-asked
$200 lifestyle credit every calendar year to cover a good chunk of your costs. Throw in strong travel insurance and a
DragonPass membership with six annual airport lounge visits, and you’ve got the makings of a proper premium card.
Best No Fee BMO Credit Card
The
BMO CashBack® Mastercard®* is the best BMO credit card with no annual fee.
The card earns
3% cash back on groceries, a ridiculously high rate for a no-fee card and even higher than many premium cards. You’ll also earn 1% back on recurring payments.
However, you’ll only get the bonus rates on your first $500 spent per month. The card isn’t great for high spenders, but if you’re in the market for a card with no annual fee, you’re probably pretty budget-conscious to begin with.
The cash back rate for all other purchases is only 0.5%, and there aren't any other bonus categories. But this isn’t too far off of the value of the rewards on BMO’s other no-fee cards. All other things being equal, cash back is certainly a more versatile rewards currency, and a strong grocery category only sweetens the deal.
Best Cash Back BMO Credit Card
For bigger cash back rewards, look to the
BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®*.
The card uses a tiered category bonus structure. Groceries earn 5%, and uncategorized purchases earn 1%, with a handful of other categories rounding out the range in between.
Unfortunately the category bonuses are capped at a low level of spending per month. If you exceed those limits, you'll only earn 1% cash back.
Best AIR MILES® BMO Credit Card
The
BMO AIR MILES®† World Elite®* Mastercard®* is the primary way to earn
AIR MILES®. Applying for the card through the BMO site offers
2,000 AIR MILES® as a welcome bonus, but there’s usually a promotional link for 3,000 AIR MILES® and a first-year annual fee waiver on the AIR MILES® website.
Unless you spend heavily at AIR MILES® partners, earning on everyday purchases will be quite slow. Instead, if you’re looking to rack up AIR MILES® quickly, the card is rather friendly to repeat welcome bonuses.
What makes this card stand out is that you can
use 25% fewer AIR MILES® for one flight redemption per year. When you’re ready to make a booking, it’s always good to have this card linked to your AIR MILES® account so you can use this discount.
Best BMO Credit Card for Business Owners
The
BMO AIR MILES®† World Elite®* Business Mastercard®* is our choice for BMO’s top business credit card. It’s very similar to the personal AIR MILES® World Elite card, but geared towards business owners.
The welcome bonus is a steady
3,000 AIR MILES®, more reliably high than on the personal card. It does come with a higher minimum spend requirement, so you might not want to prioritize this card unless you have business expenses to help you earn the bonus.
In addition to a stronger welcome bonus, the business card also has a stronger ongoing value proposition. It earns 4 AIR MILES® per $12 spent at participating partners, compared to the personal card's 3 AIR MILES® per $12 spent at the same stores.
While this card won’t turn any heads, it’s still solid especially for BMO’s standard insurance on award tickets. More specifically, it’s the best of a weak field, as BMO’s in-house rewards program is rather uninspiring.
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