BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card Review: In-Depth

The most common expenses for Canadians, particularly upwardly mobile urban professionals, are often in groceries, gas, dining out, and transit. While flights are expensive, they are not necessarily purchased in the volume with which urbanites flock to gas or Uber.

Enter: the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card. The lowercase “e” in the name plus the vertical card design is meant to evoke that sense of minimalist millennial chic that looks perfect when your card is stuck in the back of your iPhone case.

But how do its benefits stack up and how does it compare to other cards? Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card!

Overview

Welcome Bonus

The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card currently has an exclusive welcome bonus in which new cardholders can earn up to 80,000 BMO Rewards points:

• Earn 40,000 BMO Rewards points upon spending $4,000 within 110 days*
• Earn 20,000 BMO Rewards points upon spending $7,000 within 180 days*
• Earn 20,000 BMO Rewards points upon spending $12,000 within 365 days*
• Plus, get a 0% introductory interest rate on Balance transfers for 12 months with a 2% transfer fee.*
• Plus, get the annual fee waived in the first year.*

This offer has an expiry date of Oct 31, 2026, so ensure you apply early enough to be approved by that date.

The card has an annual personal income requirement of $60,000 or an annual household requirement of $100,000.

Earning Rates

The card earns BMO Rewards points on all eligible purchases at the following rates:

• 5 BMO Rewards points for every dollar spent on groceries, gas, dining, and transit purchases up to a set dollar limit per calendar year.
  • Grocery: Up to $6,000 in purchases per calendar year.
  • Gas: Up to $20,000 in purchases per calendar year.
  • Dining: Up to $6,000 in purchases per calendar year.
  • Transit: Up to $20,000 in purchases per calendar year.
• 1 BMO Rewards point for every dollar spent on all other everyday purchases.

Past each category’s spending cap, your earn rate drops to 1 point per dollar spent until January 1st of the next year. This makes the 5x category easy for families to outspend, though more frugal single individuals could probably stretch them further. 

Annual Fee

The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card has an annual fee of $120, par for a Visa Infinite card, which is typically waived in the first year as part of the welcome offer. Additional supplementary cards cost $50.

Should you choose to keep this card going forward, it is eligible for BMO’s chequing account fee rebates: Holding a BMO Premium Chequing Account rebates up to $150 a year, wiping the annual fee out entirely, while the BMO Performance Chequing Account saves $40 off of the annual fee.

Benefits

$50 Anniversary Lifestyle Credit

Every cardholder year, BMO takes $50 off your first purchase of $50 or more, on anything. However, this benefit only kicks in during the second year of card membership.

Since it is super easy to use, consider this an effective $50 knocked off of the annual fee.

Authorized User 10% Bonus Points Boost

If you choose to add an authorized user for $50 a year, then BMO will boost the points you earn on all purchases across all your cards by 10%. Against this fee, breaking even requires earning 7,500 BMO Rewards bonus points. 

As the most popular 5x BMO Rewards points categories, groceries and dining, cap at a total of $6,000 in spending each per year, the math is probably on just getting a second BMO eclipse Visa Infinite for your household if you are interested in maximizing.

Streaming & Instacart Credits

For the first 12 months of card membership, BMO offers the primary cardholder up to $20 back on streaming in any month where said cardmember makes at least $500 in net purchases. This is worth up to $240 in the first year. Eligible monthly streaming services include Netflix and Disney+.

Enrolled cards also get six months of Instacart+ and a $10 monthly credit for use on Instacart grocery purchases. Enrolment is required via BMO and on Instacart’s app.

Insurance Coverage

Insurance is one of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite’s weaker spots. The coverage isn’t bad per se, but many only apply if you’ve made the entirety of a specific purchase on the card. The table below notes when this kicker applies:

Insurance Coverage	Details	Purchase Requirement
Emergency Medical	$5,000,000 per person for the first 15 days of out-of-province trips (age 64 and under)	None, but the account must be in good standing
Common Carrier	$500,000 accidental death & dismemberment	Full cost of the ticket, taxes and fees included, on card
Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage	Vehicles up to $65,000 MSRP, rentals up to 48 consecutive days	Full cost of the rental on card, and you must decline the agency’s CDW
Purchase Security	Theft or damage within 90 days of purchase	Full purchase price on card
Extended Warranty	Doubles the manufacturer’s warranty, to a maximum of one extra year	Full purchase price on card
Mobile Device	Up to $1,000 per claim, less a 10% deductible, beginning 91 days after purchase	Full purchase price on card, or the monthly bill charged to it

Note what isn’t on this list: there’s no trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, or baggage delay coverage. This means that the card is very much a “lifestyle” product versus a “travel” product.

As is also typical of all credit card insurance, cancelling your card immediately voids any applied policies.

One pleasant surprise is that the emergency medical benefit carries no purchase requirement at all, so it follows you onto award flights booked entirely with points. Fifteen days is short, though.

For full details, consult the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card insurance certificate.

Redeeming BMO Rewards Points

BMO Rewards points are fixed-value: no transfer partners, no award charts. The best rate is 150 points per $1 (0.67 cents per point), either against travel charged to your card, ideally booked directly with your travel vendor of choice, or deposited to a BMO investment account such as a TFSA.

Redeeming BMO Rewards points for their ‘Pay with Points’ feature on everyday purchases falls to 200 points per $1 (0.5 cents), so don’t do this unless you have to.

Mathematically, this means that 5 points at 0.67 cents is a 3.33% return in the bonus spending categories and 0.67% everywhere else.

Frugal Flyer’s Thoughts on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card

Adding the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card to your wallet for the first year is an easy yes on the numbers above. The real question is whether to keep the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite for years to come.

If you hold an eligible BMO chequing account that rebates or discounts the annual fee, it may very well be worth it on its own, as the $50 credit is then just pure cash. 

The second factor that determines whether you ought to keep it depends on where you shop. In our 5x credit card faceoff, cards earning 5x in a currency worth a full cent beat its 3.33% on paper.

This only matters if where you’re shopping will accept your card. Some of the biggest names in 5x are American Express cards, and Amex isn’t accepted at Loblaws brands like Superstore and No Frills, and Amex often isn’t accepted at smaller mom-and-pop restaurants or takeaways.

5x on a card the cashier won’t take is 0x, which leaves the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card as one of the few ways to earn 5x at the till, when eating out, or at the pump.

Comparable Credit Cards to the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card

BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard

The BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard earns the same points but aims them at travel: 5x on travel, four airport lounge passes a year, a first-year NEXUS credit, and 21 days of emergency medical coverage for a $150 annual fee. This card is the better BMO pick if your statement leans toward flights over produce.

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card has the same $120 annual fee and earns 6x Scene+ points at Sobeys-family stores, 5x on other groceries, dining, and entertainment, and 3x on gas, transit, and streaming. 

With Scene+ points worth 1 cent each, that’s 5% to 6% back on food and no foreign transaction fees. The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card edges it on gas and transit and wins wherever Amex isn’t welcome, so that means the two form a complementary pair.

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card earns an impressive 6x Scene+ points at Empire-affiliated grocery stores, 5x at all other grocery stores and restaurants, and 3x on gas, transit, and streaming. Plus, the card offers no foreign transaction fees.

Scene+ points are redeemed at a rate of 100 Scene+ points = $1 against any travel purchase, making this a powerful everyday card for those who want strong earning rates without the complexity of transfer partners.

Earn $200 in FlyerFunds when you apply through Frugal Flyer.

OFFER
50,000 Scene+ points

MINSPEND
$7,500

EST. VALUE
$700+

ANNUAL FEE
$120

FOREX FEES
No

EXPIRY
Nov 1, 2026

Conclusion

The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card is a solid everyday card. It turns groceries, gas, and bus fare into a steady 3.33% towards your next trip. On the other hand, it isn’t a pure “travel” card, so you’re best not to use this card as your one-size-fits-all solution.

Still, if you know its caps and have other cards to help you with travel insurance or convertible points currencies, it’s an excellent addition.