BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* Review
Jul 24, 2026 5:11 PM
The Bottom Line
If you're seeking a cashback credit card, the BMO CashBack® World Elite® Mastercard® stands out for its excellent balance between rewards and benefits. It offers a robust rewards program and a comprehensive benefits list, making it a solid choice. The high first-year value is enhanced by the annual fee waiver, and those with a BMO Premium Chequing Account can enjoy continued fee waivers. While it's highly ranked for rewards alone, it may not be the absolute top choice if benefits are less important to you.
Skip to: Detailed Review
on BMO's website
Welcome Bonus
Get up to $650 in value*
Annual Fee
$139 $0
Interest Rates
21.99% / 23.99%□
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
Rewards
- 5% cash back on groceries (capped at $500 spending per statement, maximum of $25 in cashback per statement cycle)*
- 4% cash back on daily transit (capped at $300 spending per statement, maximum of $12 in cashback per statement cycle)*
- 3% cash back on gas (capped at $300 spending per statement, maximum of $9 in cashback per statement cycle)*
- 2% cash back on recurring payments (capped at $500 spending per statement, maximum of $10 in cashback per statement cycle)*
- 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases*
Insurance
Coverage
Travel Medical Insurance (64 & under)
$5M up to 8 days per covered person*
Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
$500,000
Flight Delay
$500 After 4 hours delay*
Lost or Stolen Baggage
$500/person, $1,000 maximum*Baggage Delay
$500/person, $1,000 maximum After 6 hours*
Hotel Burglary Insurance
$1,000.svg)
Car Rental Damage & Theft
$65K MSRP up to 48 days*
Purchase Protection
90 days
Extended Warranty
1 year
Benefits
Details
Airport Lounge - Dragon Pass
Complimentary membership in Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass. As a member enjoy lounge access for a fee of just US$32 per person, per visit.*
Roadside Assistance
Complimentary Roadside Assistance Program*; Including battery boosts, flat-tire change, lockout service and towing – a $75/year value.*
Car Rental Discount
Save up to 20% on National Car Rental® and Alamo Rent A Car® and up to 5% on Enterprise Rent-A-Car® at locations worldwide using the Car Rental Booking tool.*
Discount
Enjoy six months of Instacart+ and a $10 monthly Instacart credit when you enroll your eligible BMO Credit Card.*
Eligibility
Credit Score
GoodAnnual Income
$80,000 personal or $150,000 household
Welcome Bonus Details
Get up to $650 in value and the annual fees waived in the first year. Plus, get a 0% introductory interest rate on Balance transfers for 12 months with a 2% transfer fee.*
$650 in value is made up of:
- Up to $480 Welcome Offer Cash Back: Receive $40 Bonus Cash Back when you spend a minimum of $2,000 on net card purchases per billing cycle in the first twelve (12) billing cycles after the account open date.*
- $139: Annual Fee Waiver: The primary cardholder annual fee of $139 will be rebated in the first year and will appear as a fee and a credit on the primary cardholder’s first statement.*
- $75 market value: Roadside Assistance: You will receive a complimentary membership in the Dominion Automobile Association (DAA) and the benefits of their BMO Roadside Assistance Program (Basic Coverage). Membership terms and plan features are described here: bmo.com/roadsideassistancebasic.*
Card Details
Interest Rates
Purchase APR
21.99%
Cash Advance APR
23.99%□
Balance Transfer APR
23.99%□
Promotional Balance Transfer Rate
Promotional Rate
0%
Promotional Period
12 months
Transfer Fee
2%
Fees
Annual Fee
$139
$0 first year
Additional Cards
$50
Eligibility
Minimum Individual Income
$80,000
Minimum Household Income
$150,000
Credit Score Estimate
Good
Type
Card Type
Credit
Reward Type
Cash BackPros & Cons
Pros
- Impressive cashback rates
- Rare roadside assistance
- Comprehensive insurance and benefits
- High first-year value
Cons
- Lacks restaurant optimization
- Low monthly cashback caps
Awards
Best Roadside Assistance Card Credit Card
2026
Our Detailed Review
The BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard, one of the best BMO credit cards in Canada, boasts a remarkable balance between rewards, coverage, and benefits.
Everyday shoppers will love the high cashback rates they receive on spend categories like groceries, gas, transit, and recurring payments. At the same time, travellers will admire valuable insurance categories like trip interruption or car rental personal effects insurance and benefits like a Dragon Pass membership and roadside assistance.
To learn more about what this top-notch cashback credit card has to offer, including a comparison between relevant competitors, keep reading.
How You Earn Rewards with the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
We briefly mentioned the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard’s rewards program in our introduction, but let’s break down those earn categories even further.
With the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard, you’ll receive:
- 5% cashback on groceries (capped at $25 cashback per statement)
- 4% cashback on daily transit (capped at $12 cashback per statement)
- 3% cashback on gas (capped at $9 cashback per statement)
- 2% cashback on recurring payments (capped at $10 cashback per statement)
- 1% cashback on all other credit card purchases
Clearly, the best ways to earn cashback on the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is by checking off your grocery list or travelling on daily transit, but you can also earn solid rates when filling up your gas tank or covering recurring payments.
Overall, in terms of its rewards program, this card is great for everyday spenders looking to optimize their day-to-day errands. In fact, FinlyWealth considers this competitor to be one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada.
Redeeming your Rewards with the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
Unlike other cashback credit cards that make you wait to redeem your rewards once a year, the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard allows you to cash in your cashback anytime either into your BMO chequing or savings account, a BMO Investorline account, or have it applied to your balance as a statement credit.
Through the BMO rewards portal, you can deposit your cashback whenever you’d like as long as you’ve earned at least a dollar.
You can also set up automatic deposits each time you reach a specified amount in rewards (for example, every time you hit $25).
5 Benefits of the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
What would the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard be without its benefits?
To show you just how valuable this cashback card’s perks truly are, we rounded them up for you below.
A Cashback Welcome Bonus
Right now, when your application for the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is accepted, you can receive a 10% cashback welcome bonus in the first few months of membership, capped at a specified amount.
If that wasn’t enough, cardholders can also expect their first year’s annual fee to be completely rebated – talk about a warm welcome!
Competitive Cashback Rates
As you could probably tell while reading the rewards section, the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is a top competitor when it comes to cashback rewards on everyday spend categories – especially when it comes to gas and groceries. You can even find this card featured in our best gas credit cards in Canada and best grocery credit cards in Canada blogs.
Benefits Fit for a Road Trip
If you tend to take road trips, the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard has a couple of perks that will support you while on your journey.
For starters you can receive discounts at National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car locations worldwide while using the Car Rental Booking tool.
To top things off, if you ever need a battery boost, a flat-tire change, lockout services or towing – the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is also equipped with roadside assistance.
An Airport Lounge Membership
While the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard doesn’t come with any airport lounge access, it does come with a Dragon Pass membership – so you can visit participating airport lounges for a small entry fee.
To learn more about the Dragon Pass specifically, check out our Dragon Pass detailed review.
The Ability to be Constantly Connected
Another perk worth mentioning is the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard’s Global Data Roaming plan. This plan works with FlexiRoam to provide plenty of data around the world without a SIM card or any additional charges.
3 Downsides to the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
There are a few notable downsides to the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard. We've pointed them out for you below:
High Income Requirements
To apply for the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard, applicants must meet high personal or household income requirements – making the card less accessible to some.
One downside might not seem like a big deal, but since this downside determines whether or not you can even get your hands on this card – we’d say it’s pretty important.
Doesn't Optimize Dining
Another downside to the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard is the fact that it lacks a dining rewards category which means it misses out on optimizing a popular (and expensive) spend category for many everyday shoppers and foodies.
However, cardholders could remedy this drawback by using the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard as a supplementary card to another credit card (perhaps one that's good for dining out). This way, the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard could be used to help grocery purchases while another paired card could fill in any missing optimization gaps.
Below-Average Base Rate
For a paid card, the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard's base rate is considered low compared to other paid competitors, making it not the best card for overall earning value.
Keeping track of a card's base rate is important when it has capped earnings, because once you hit the reward caps, you'll be subject to the card's base rate even on specialized earn categories. For the BMO World Elite Mastercard, there are earning caps implemented per credit card statement.
Comparison to Other Top Cashback Credit Cards with Similar Rewards Categories
The next part of this review allows you to make an educated decision about whether or not the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is right for you by comparing it to other top Cashback credit cards on the Canadian market with similar reward categories.
Take a look at this comparison table before we get into the breakdown:
Neo Financial
4.6
Scotiabank
4.6
Annual Fee
$139
$0 first year
$149
$0 first year
$120
$0 first year
Interest Rates
Purchase
21.99%
Cash advance
23.99%
21.99%
Balance transfer
23.99%
21.99%
Purchase
19.99% - 26.99%
19.99% - 23.99%
Cash advance
22.99% - 28.99%
Balance transfer
22.99% - 31.99%
Purchase
20.99%
Cash advance
22.99%
Balance transfer
22.99%
Welcome Bonus
Get up to $650 in value*
$0 First-Year Annual Fee and $100 Welcome Bonus
Earn 15% Cash Back on all purchases for the first 3 months, a 0% introductory interest rate on balance transfers, and no annual card fees in the first year
Rewards
1% - 5%
1% - 5%
1% - 4%
on BMO's website
on Neo Financial's website
on Scotiabank's website
Welcome Bonus Details
Earn Rates
Insurance Coverage
Extra Benefits
Requirements
BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard vs. Neo World Elite Mastercard
Let’s start off strong with the Neo World Elite Mastercard, which coincidentally is also a World Elite Mastercard contender.
Like the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard, the Neo World Elite Mastercard offers impressive cashback rates on groceries, recurring payments, and gas – with even better rates for recurring payments. There’s also a way to optimize each shared reward category even further. Each earn category’s cashback rate on the Neo World Elite Mastercard can be boosted when they make purchases at partner retailers. Even before this boost is implemented, this cashback card is considered to be one of the best, but once boosted, there’s no question that the Neo World Elite Mastercard truly is the best cashback card.
The Neo World Elite Mastercard's insurance coverage is also better than the coverage on the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard, as it includes more coverage categories, particularly car rental accident, car rental personal effects, trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance.
Both cards feature a Dragon Pass membership, but that’s the only benefit you’ll receive with the Neo World Elite Mastercard, whereas the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard goes on to add much more.
While these two World Elite Mastercards have the same income requirements, the Neo World Elite Mastercard is a bit more expensive annually and it doesn’t offer the same first year annual fee rebate as the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard.
So, if you’re focused on the rewards program alone, the Neo World Elite Mastercard offers the same high cashback rates on groceries and gas, and better rates on recurring payments – especially when these rates are boosted through partner merchants. Not to mention, the Neo World Elite Mastercard also has better coverage. Alternatively, if you want better cashback rates on transit and tons of travel benefits, then the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is still the superior option.
BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard vs. Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card
The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card also earns cardholders cashback rewards on groceries, recurring payments, gas, and transit – the same categories specialized by the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard. That said, the cashback rates on groceries is better with BMO, same with the cashback rates on gas and daily transit. Still, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card has better reward rates on recurring payments.
The coverage on the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card is also more extensive, including valuable protections like mobile device insurance, plus trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance.
The benefits on the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard are also more extensive since the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card only offers car rental discounts at Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car, plus, of course, Visa Infinite Exclusive Benefits.
Both cashback cards have the same annual fees and both annual fees are waived for the first year of membership. That said, the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card’s income requirements are lower than the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard – making it a little more accessible to some applicants.
Ultimately, you might choose the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card over the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard if you want better cashback rates on recurring payments, if you want more insurance coverage with valuable inclusions, and if you want a card with lower income requirements. Otherwise, the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard is still top-tier in terms of overall perks, plus grocery, gas, and transit reward rates.
For a thorough breakdown of the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card, see card details.
This contender is also currently part of our rebate program, making it much more appealing, learn more here.
Final Verdict
Even among other top credit cards with similar rewards categories, the BMO World Elite Mastercard has a better balance of rewards and perks.
While some cards like the Neo World Elite Mastercard or the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + Card may have better cashback rates on certain shared categories plus more insurance coverage, neither card offers the same amount of benefits along with their rewards at a similar price-point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the income requirements on the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard?
As of now, to successfully apply for the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard, applicants must have a personal income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000.
About the author
Sara Skodak
Lead Writer
Since graduating from the University of Western Ontario, Sara has built a diverse writing portfolio, covering topics in the travel, business, and wellness sectors. As a self-started freelance content ...
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BMO CashBack® World Elite®* Mastercard®* Cash Back Calculator
on BMO's website