BMO Premium Rewards Mastercard Relaunches With New and Improved Benefits

BMO Harris relaunched the BMO Harris Bank Premium Rewards Mastercard^® with new spending categories and rewards for cardholders. With a low $95 annual fee, the card could be valuable to the right consumer.

The card earns BMO Harris Rewards, which can be used for a variety of redemptions. Here’s what you need to know about the card and how to decide if it’s the right card for your expenses.

BMO Harris Bank Premium Rewards Card Overview

This rewards credit card has a variety of spending categories:

• 4x per $1 spent on gas, electric vehicle charging, groceries, and dining, up to $2,000 in combined spending each quarter
• 2x per $1 spent on hotels and airfare, up to $2,000 in combined spending each quarter
• 1x per $1 spent on all other purchases

You will also earn an anniversary bonus, which is 10% of your total points earned for the year.

To get started, the BMO Harris Bank Premium Rewards card has a welcome bonus offer of 35,000 bonus points when you spend $5,000 within 2 months of opening your account. This means you will have a minimum of 40,000 points if you can hit the spending minimum.

The card has no foreign transaction fees, making it a great option to avoid fees while traveling outside the U.S. It’s also a Mastercard World card, which means it comes with perks for brands like Lyft, Instacart, and more. (You can read more about the benefits here.)

The one area the BMO Harris Bank Premium Rewards card lacks is cardholder protection. The card has cell phone protection and extended warranty, but any sign of travel insurance or other coverages isn’t included. This is worth noting if you plan on booking travel with a credit card and want to protect your trip.

As for the rewards you earn, you can redeem them for gift cards, cash, statement credits, and travel, which is great if you want to have flexibility. Your points won’t expire as long as the card remains open.

If you’re interested, you must go into your local BMO Harris Bank branch to apply.

How To Choose a Credit Card

BMO Harris Rewards are one of many credit card loyalty programs available to consumers. However, just like currencies of different countries, the redemption options vary in value.

For example, we have BMO Harris Rewards valued at 1 cent per point. That means the welcome bonus is worth $350, which is on the lower side when compared to other travel credit cards.

But you shouldn’t earn Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards only because they are high value points. You should select a points program that specifically matches your needs and wants. For example, if you enjoy flying with United Airlines regularly, Chase points may be your best bet as the program offers direct 1:1 transfers to United MileagePlus.

But if you want a rewards program with flexible rewards to be used in a variety of ways, BMO Harris rewards could meet your needs.

So as you shop for your next credit card, be sure to look into the value of the rewards given, not just at the benefits of the card itself. Additionally, be sure to check your credit score before you apply to see if your score falls in the range of likely being approved.

Final Thoughts

It’s nice to see the credit card space continuing to get competitive — as banks battle for a slot in consumers’ wallets, it means the cards offered will improve.

For consumers, an announcement of a new or updated card is a good time to reevaluate spending habits. Using the best credit card to match your expenses and earn the most rewards is a key tenet to the points and miles game.