BMO Bank of Montreal has launched two brand-new Visa credit cards under the new “BMO eclipse” brand: the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* and the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege*.
These products represent the first time that BMO is partnering with Visa to issue credit cards Canada, as the bank has exclusively issued Mastercard products up until now. Let’s go over all the details you need to know.
In This Post
- Highlights
- Bonuses & Fees
- Earning Rates
- Supplementary Card Boost
- Annual Lifestyle Credit
- Travel Benefits
- Insurance Coverage
- How Much Value Can You Get?
- Apply Now
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Highlights
Let’s begin with some of the key highlights:
- The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite is a new product geared towards urban millennials, whereas the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege is a new product geared towards more established, higher net-worth individuals.
- The two cards will feature a unique vertical design, and the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege will be a metal credit card.
- The two cards will earn BMO Rewards points, which can be optimally redeemed at a ratio of 140 points = $1 (0.71 cents per point) against travel purchases via the BMO Rewards portal.
- Both cards will offer the ability to earn 5x BMO Rewards points in select categories, placing them among Canada’s top-earning credit cards in the categories of dining, groceries, gas, transit, travel, and drugstore purchases.
- As an introductory offer, adding a supplementary card can boost the earning rate by 10% or 25% on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite and BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege, respectively, resulting in maximum earn rates of 5.5x or 6.25x BMO Rewards points, respectively.
- The cards will offer annual lifestyle credits which can be redeemed against any purchase you desire – effectively, they can be thought of as statement credits that offset against the annual fee.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Bonuses & Fees
Priced at an annual fee of $120, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite offers a welcome bonus of 40,000 BMO Rewards points, distributed as follows:
- 25,000 BMO Rewards points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months
- 15,000 BMO Rewards points 12 months after account opening
You’ll note that the final 15,000 BMO Rewards are only granted after you renew the card for another year. Therefore, if you’d like to try out this product during the first-year-free period before paying the second year’s annual fee, then during this time you’ll earn a minimum of 28,000 BMO Rewards points (25,000 points from the initial bonus, plus at least 3,000 points from meeting the minimum spend).
Remember, BMO Rewards points are worth 0.71 cents per point (cpp) when redeemed against the cost of travel booked via the BMO Rewards online portal (at the rate of 140 BMO Rewards points = $1).
(They can also be redeemed at 0.5cpp against any statement purchase at the rate of 200 BMO Rewards points = $1, but the value in doing so is clearly not as strong, so you should always aim to use your BMO Rewards points to book travel, if possible.)
Therefore, the total signup bonus of 40,000 BMO Rewards points can be redeemed as $285.71 worth of travel; meanwhile, the bonus you earn in the first year of 28,000 BMO Rewards points can be redeemed as $200 worth of travel.
The card is also offering a first-year waiver on the $120 annual fee, which improves the value of the offer even further. Supplementary cards can be added for an annual fee of $50 apiece, and as we’ll discuss below, there’s a very compelling reason to add at least one supplementary card to the account.
Next up: priced at an annual fee of $499, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege offers a welcome bonus of 50,000 BMO Rewards points, distributed as follows:
- 35,000 BMO Rewards points upon spending $5,000 in the first three months
- 15,000 BMO Rewards points 12 months after account opening
Similar to above, you’ll note that the final 15,000 BMO Rewards are only granted after you renew the card for another year. Therefore, if you’d like to try out this product during the first year before paying the second year’s annual fee, then during this time you’ll earn a minimum of 40,000 BMO Rewards points (35,000 points from the initial bonus, plus at least 5,000 points from meeting the minimum spend).
Considering BMO Rewards points’ valuation of 0.71cpp as outlined above, the total signup bonus of 50,000 BMO Rewards points can be redeemed as $357.14 worth of travel; meanwhile, the bonus you earn in the first year of 40,000 BMO Rewards points can be redeemed as $285.71 worth of travel.
The card’s annual fee of $499 may appear intimidating at first glance; however, read on below to see how this can effectively be reduced to only $99 for your first year of card membership.
Supplementary cards, which will be key to unlocking maximum value from the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege, are subject to an annual fee of $99 apiece.
Finally, on a disappointing note, both cards will continue to charge the industry-standard 2.5% foreign transaction fee on purchases made in a foreign currency.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Earning Rates
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite launches with the following earning rates:
- 5 BMO Rewards points per dollar spent on dining, groceries, gas, and transit (on up to the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year)
- 1 BMO Rewards point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Meanwhile, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege launches with the following earning rates:
- 5 BMO Rewards points per dollar spent on travel, dining, groceries, gas, and drugstores (on up to the first $100,000 in purchases per calendar year)
- 1 BMO Rewards point per dollar spent on all other purchases
For greater clarity, the bonus categories are defined as follows, and are limited to purchases made in Canada:
- “Dining” includes restaurants, bars, and cafes, as well as food delivery services like Uber Eats and meal-kit companies like Hello Fresh and GoodFood
- “Groceries” includes any grocery store or supermarkets, but excludes wholesale retailers like Costco or general-goods retailers like Walmart
- “Gas” includes all gas stations
- “Transit” includes subways, metros, buses, commuter rail, ferries, taxis, and rideshare services
- “Travel” includes flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacations packages
- “Drugstores” includes drugstores and pharmacies
Since BMO Rewards points are valued at 0.71cpp as outlined above, the return of 5x BMO Rewards points on both cards can also be thought of as a decently competitive 3.57% return on their respective bonus categories.
While the Amex Cobalt and Scotia Gold Amex do offer a stronger effective return on dining and groceries (i.e., a “true” 5% return or more), the new BMO eclipse cards outperform in the gas, transit, and travel categories. And as Visa products, their overall acceptance in Canada will be much stronger as well.
However, despite these strengths, it must be noted that for purchases outside of the bonus categories, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite and BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege only offer 1 BMO Rewards point per dollar spent. This is therefore equivalent to a 0.71% return on spending, so these cards wouldn’t really be the strongest choice for day-to-day spending outside of their bonus categories.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Supplementary Card Boost
Moreover, if you add a supplementary card to your BMO eclipse Visa Infinite or BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege account, you’ll receive a 10% or 25% boost to the earning rates, respectively, which is the first credit card feature of its kind in Canada.
As a result, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite would then offer the following elevated earning rates, on spending by both the primary and supplementary cardholders:
- 5.5 BMO Rewards points per dollar spent on dining, groceries, gas, and transit (on up to the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year)
- 1.1 BMO Rewards point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Considering the valuation of 0.71cpp, this corresponds to a 3.93% effective return on spending in the bonus categories, which is the highest fixed return on transit purchases offered by any Canadian credit card!
And on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege’s side:
- 6.25 BMO Rewards points per dollar spent on travel, dining, groceries, gas, and drugstores (on up to the first $100,000 in purchases per calendar year)
- 1.25 BMO Rewards point per dollar spent on all other purchases
At the valuation of 0.71cpp, this corresponds to a 4.46% effective return on spending in the five bonus categories. That’s by far the best fixed return you’ll get on travel, gas, and drugstore purchases among any Canadian credit card!
In particular, it’s worth highlighting that the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege, boosted with a supplementary card, may well represent the single best fixed return on travel purchases among all Canadian credit cards.
Its closest challengers are the HSBC World Elite’s 3% baseline return, as well as the Amex Gold or Amex Platinum which offer 2x MR points on travel, but there’s a strong case to be made that the supercharged 4.46% earning rate of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege can beat them out.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Annual Lifestyle Credit
The primary perk that’s being introduced by the BMO eclipse series of credit cards is the annual lifestyle credit, which is a fancy way to describe a statement credit that simply rewards you for being you.
Indeed, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite will offer a $50 lifestyle credit, while the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege will offer a $200 lifestyle credit. Both of these credits will be triggered automatically once every calendar year whenever you make a purchase of at least $50 or $200. That’s how simple it is!
(Note that only a single purchase of at least $50 or $200 will trigger the credit; cumulative purchases totalling those amounts won’t qualify.)
Best of all, you’ll note that the lifestyle credit is available once per calendar year, meaning that if you apply now in 2020, you’ll be able to take advantage of one lifestyle credit in 2020 and another lifestyle credit in 2021 – for a total of $100 or $400 in statement credits on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite or BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege, respectively – all before having to pay an annual fee for the second year.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Travel Benefits
The higher-end BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege comes with a few heftier travel perks to justify its $499 annual fee. As a cardholder, you’ll get a Priority Pass membership with six complimentary lounge visits per year, which can be used in any combination: six lounge visits as a solo traveller, three visits as a couple, etc.
You’ll also benefit from Visa Infinite Privilege’s dedicated travel and lifestyle perks, such as priority airport services in Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto Billy Bishop, as well as access to the Visa Infinite Privilege Concierge and unique dining and wine events through the Visa Infinite network.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – Insurance Coverage
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite is meant to be a lifestyle-oriented card, so its travel insurance perks aren’t that strong: there’s emergency medical insurance and car rental damage protection, but no trip cancellation, trip insurance, or flight and baggage delay insurance.
Meanwhile, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege has a more powerful set of travel insurance benefits given its premium position in the travel rewards market.
The most powerful part of the Visa Infinite Privilege card’s travel insurance benefits is that all of these benefits are valid as long as you charge the full or partial cost of the trip to your card.
This is a benefit which is unique to BMO’s suite of travel credit cards (including the BMO World Elite Mastercard and BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard as well), making it an ideal card for whenever you’re travelling on points or award tickets.
As long as you charge the taxes and fees of your booking to the card, you’re fulfilling the “partial cost” criterion, and therefore eligible to receive insurance coverage on your trip.
New BMO eclipse Visa Cards – How Much Value Can You Get?
Let’s run the numbers on exactly how much value you can get from the new BMO eclipse Visa cards if you apply today.
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite is waiving the annual fee of $120 for the first year. As we established above, during that first-year period, you’d receive a minimum of 28,000 BMO Rewards points upon meeting the spending requirement, which are worth $200 when redeemed for travel via the BMO Rewards portal.
Then, consider the fact that you’d be able to unlock a $50 lifestyle credit in 2020 and another $50 lifestyle credit in 2021, all before the second year’s annual fee is due. That increases your total value in the first year is $300, which is entirely yours to keep as you try out the card and make use of its powerful 5x earning rate on dining, groceries, gas, and transit.
If you’d like to add a supplementary card to unlock the 10% boost to the earning rate, that would cost you $50 for the year. You’d still be up by $250, while getting to earn 5.5x BMO Rewards points, or an outstanding 3.93% real return, on the aforementioned bonus categories.
Then let’s think about the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege. Its annual fee of $499 may seem like a big obstacle at first glance, but when you factor in the welcome bonus and the lifestyle credits, you’ll be coming out ahead in the first year!
As we established above, during this time you’ll earn a minimum of 40,000 BMO Rewards points upon meeting the spending requirement, which are worth $285.71 when redeemed for travel via the BMO Rewards portal.
Then you get to enjoy two sets of the $200 lifestyle credit – one for 2020 and one for 2021 – before the second year’s annual fee is due. Add in that $400 in value, and your total gross gain is $685.71; offset the $499 annual fee, and your net gain is $186.71.
Even though the card has a $499 annual fee, you’re actually coming out ahead by $186.71 while you try out the card during the first year and test-drive its best-in-class earning rates, lounge passes, and Visa Infinite Privilege perks!
You may well be interested in adding a supplementary card to unlock the 25% boost to the earning rate, which would cost you $99 for the year. In this case, you’d still be coming out ahead by $87.71 for the first year, all while getting to earn 6.25x BMO Rewards points, equivalent to a stunning 4.46% effective return, on travel, dining, groceries, gas, and drugstore purchases.
As you can see, although the full welcome bonuses are not delivered until 12 months after account opening, you can still derive extremely high value from the all-new BMO eclipse Visa Infinite and BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege even if you’re simply looking to try out the products for the first year to see if they’re a good fit for your needs.
Apply Now
You can find the detailed summary of both new products at their dedicated resource pages for each card: the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite and the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege.
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite requires a minimum annual personal income of $60,000 or household income of $100,000 to be eligible. By applying today, you can unlock $250–300 in net value in the first year, depending on whether or not you choose to add a supplementary card for the 10% earning boost.
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege requires a minimum annual personal income of $150,000 or household income of $200,000 to be eligible. By applying today, you’ll unlock $187 in net value – or if you choose to add a supplementary card for the 25% earning boost (and achieve a 4.46% return on the bonus categories), you’ll still find yourself coming out ahead by $88.
If you’re interested in either or both these new products, I’d be grateful if you considered applying via the Prince of Travel affiliate links below, which goes a long way towards supporting the website:
princeoftravel.com/apply/BMOeclipse
