New increased welcome bonus of 50,000 points on the BMO Rewards® Business Mastercard®

The personal BMO Rewards World Elite card isn't the only card from the bank that is changing today (more on that coming later today!) The premium small business version of the card, the BMO Rewards® Business Mastercard® sees a nice welcome bonus increase as well. As of today the limited time offer for the BMO Rewards® Business Mastercard® is now 50,000 bonus points when you spend $5,000 or more on the card in the first three months of having it. On top of that the annual fee of $120 is waived for the first year of having the card. That means you basically get those 50,000 points at no cost outside of the spending that you actually put on the card.

Once you meet the minimum spend requirement you'll receive those 50,000 bonus points which are worth $357 towards any travel booked via bmorewards.com. You do have other redemption options with this card but travel does provide the best value.

Here are some of the key features of the BMO Rewards® Business Mastercard® to also take into account on top of the welcome bonus

·         Get 3 BMO Rewards points  for every $1 you spend on gas, office supplies and cell phone/internet bill payments
·         Earn 1.5 BMO Rewards points for every $1 you spend
·         Strong travel insurance pacakge

Much like the personal version of the card this business card's insurance will also cover you when you fly on award tickets from other loyalty programs. As they state in their insurance policy you will be covered is you pay for the full or partial cost of a trip with this card. This means you can redeem Aeroplan miles, AIR MILES, etc. for a flight and as long as you pay for the taxes and fees with the BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercrd you have met the partial payment requirement to avail of trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, baggage insurance etc.

Back to the points side and redeeming them - it takes 140 points for a $1 travel redemption and with accelerated earn rate of 3 points per dollar for  gas, office supplies and cell phone/internet bill payments your return is 2.14% however the remainder of your spending at 1.5 points per dollar only provides a ~1.07% return. The Points have to be redeemed via BMO Rewards unlike some of its fiercest competition that allow their cardholders to make their own bookings with any travel provider and redeem points against those charges. When redeeming with this card you want to try to do it online as BMO Rewards will charge you for bookings made over the phone.

Here's a quick review of the pros and cons of this card

Pros

• Great welcome bonus of 40,000 points + first year annual fee waiver
• Excellent insurance package that covers award tickets

Cons

• The everyday spending return of 1.07% is on the lower side of earn rates
• Having to book via bmorewards.com can be less flexible than some competitors who let you book any way you want and then redeem points against the charge.

Learn more about and apply for the BMO Rewards® Business Mastercard® here.