BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* Review

The BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* is one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada. It has a high earning rate, your cash back is easy to redeem, and it comes with some great additional perks. Anyone looking to put some money back in their pocket should consider this card. While the benefits are clear, you’ll want to read my BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* review for the full details before you click apply now.

Welcome bonus and earn rate

The BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* consistently has a welcome bonus of 10% cash back for the first three months, but it’s a bit complicated. The 10% cash back has a spending cap of $500 on groceries, $300 on transit, $300 on gas, $500 on recurring bills, and $1,000 on all other purchases. That means your welcome bonus is capped at $260 if you reach all the limits. In addition, the annual fee of $120 is waived.

Many people are attracted to this card because of the high earning rate. You’ll earn 5% cash back on groceries, 4% on transportation, 3% on gas and electric vehicle charging, 2% on recurring bills, and 1% on all other purchases. That said, during each billing cycle, there’s a spending cap of $500 on groceries, $300 on transit, $300 on gas and electric vehicle charging, and $500 on recurring bills. Once you reach the cash back limit, you’ll earn 1% cash back.

Benefits and perks

In this BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* review, I’ll go over all the benefits the card has. Although you’ll get standard World Elite Mastercard benefits, you also get some niche perks that may appeal to you.

Roadside assistance

What makes the BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* unique is that it also comes with a free roadside assistance membership with Dominion Automobile Association (DAA). This gives you access to the BMO Roadside Assistance Program (Basic Coverage), which includes services such as flat-tire changes, battery boosts, towing, and lockout services. This benefit is worth $69 a year.

Airport lounge access

As a World Elite Mastercard holder, you get a Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass. This gives you access to 1,200+ global airport lounges. However, this benefit is good for just the membership and comes with no free passes. You’d have to pay US$32 per person to enter a participating lounge.

Car rental discounts

When paying with your BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®*, you can save up to 20% at participating National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car, and up to 5% on Enterprise Rent-A-Car locations worldwide when using the car rental booking tool.

Travel insurance

• Travel medical – $5,000,000 for 8 days
• Flight delay – up to $500 / 4 hours
• Delayed and lost baggage – $500 / 6 hours
• Auto rental collision / loss damage – 48 consecutive days / $65,000
• Hotel/motel burglary – $1,000
• Common carrier travel accident – $500,000

For a cashback credit card, you get decent travel insurance. It includes things such as travel medical, trip interruption, lost luggage, hotel burglary and more, but it has some downsides. Your travel medical insurance only covers you for up to eight days of travel, and there’s no included trip cancellation insurance. If travel insurance is essential to you, consider getting one of the best credit cards with travel insurance. 

Purchase insurance

• Purchase protection – 90 days
• Extended warranty – 1 year

The BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* gives you purchase protection, which covers your purchases from theft, loss or damage for up to 90 days. As for the extended warranty, the certificate of insurance states that your manufacturer’s warranty can be extended by up to one additional year.

When your BMO cash back is paid out

What’s nice about the BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* is that you have many options for your cash back payout. Most people will choose a statement credit, but if you have a BMO bank account or an Investorline account with them, you can have your cash back deposited directly there.

The payout date of your cash back is also flexible. You can have the money paid out any time as a statement credit as long as you’re redeeming at least $1. Alternatively, you can automatically pay it into an eligible BMO account (chequing, savings, InvestorLine) when you’ve earned at least $25 in rewards.

BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* eligibility

• You’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• You’re at least the age of majority in your province or territory.
• You have a minimum annual personal income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000.

There is no listed minimum credit score requirement, but generally, you want your credit score to be at least 700 before applying. If you have a BMO Premium bank account, you can use the annual $150 annual fee rebate on this card.

How the BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* compares

BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* vs. American Express Cobalt Card

Some people would argue that the American Express Cobalt Card is the top comparison. With the Cobalt Card, your earning rate is 5 American Express Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on eats and drink, 3 points on streaming services, 2 points on travel and transit, and 1 point on all other purchases. Although you’re earning points, you can redeem 1,000 points for a $10 statement credit, so this is a hybrid cash back/travel card. Also, the spending caps on the American Express Cobalt Card are much higher at $2,500 each month.

BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* vs. American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card

Another card worth comparing is the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card. The Amex card gives you 4% cash back on grocery and gas purchases. That said, the cash back earned is capped at $1,200 for groceries. On a positive note, the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card gives you a base earn rate of 2% cash back on all purchases, compared to BMO’s 1.5%.

You may think the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card is the better choice, but the $9.99 monthly fee is not waived for the first year, and no roadside assistance or airport experiences are included. You do get Amex Invites and slightly better travel insurance included, so that’s worth considering.

BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* vs. Tangerine Money-Back Card

If you prefer a credit card with no annual fee, check out the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card or the Tangerine World Mastercard. Both cards allow you to pick up to three categories where you’ll earn 2% cash back, and then all other purchases get you 0.5% cash back.

Final thoughts

My BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* review is positive. It’s one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada. This card is great for people in the following situations:

• You want easy cash back – The ability to redeem your cash back as a statement credit for as little as $1 makes your rewards flexible.
• You want a high earning rate – Despite the monthly caps, this card has some of the highest earning rates in Canada for a cash back card.
• You want travel insurance – Cash back cards don’t typically come with comprehensive travel insurance, but this one does.

This is one of BMO’s best credit cards and it should be seriously considered by anyone who’s thinking about getting a cash back credit card.

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