In the latest evolution of bank and gas station tie ups we see BMO team up with Shell to offer customers discounts at the pump. BMO credit card and debit cardholders who are AIR MILES members will now be able to save 2 or 7 cents per litre spent at Shell stations in Canada when using their BMO cards for payment.
Here’s how you can set up your cards to receive to this discount:
BMO AIR MILES Cardholders
- Load your AIR MILES collector number into the Shell App, or swipe your AIR MILES collector card at the pump.
- Use your BMO credit card in the Shell App or pay at the pump using your BMO credit or debit card and enjoy a 7¢/L discount on Shell V-Power® NiTRO+ Premium fuel and 2¢/L on all other Shell fuel every time you fuel up!
All other BMO Credit and Debit Cardholders
- Link your BMO credit or debit card to your AIR MILES collector account, or sign up for an AIR MILES account if you don’t already have one.
- Load your AIR MILES collector number and BMO credit card into the Shell App, or swipe your AIR MILES collector card at the pump.
- Use your linked BMO credit card in the Shell App or pay at the pump using your linked BMO credit or debit card and enjoy a 7¢/L discount on Shell V-Power® NiTRO+ premium fuel and 2¢/L on all other Shell fuel every time you fuel up!
As you can see if you don’t have an AIR MILES credit card from BMO you need to get yourself an AIR MILES numbers (free to join) to be able to receive the discount for using your BMO payment card.
CAA Discount can be earned on top of this
The 3 cents per litre discount provided to CAA/AMA/BCAA members still applies to the BMO payment options which means you’ll receive 5 to 10 cents per litre discounts.
Which card to use?
You’ll want to do the math to see if paying with a BMO credit card makes sense or not. At 2 cents per litre and average gas price of around $1.50/litre in Canada, it represents roughly a 1.33% discount plus whatever the value of the points/AIR MILES are from your BMO card. If you use a BMO eclipse Visa Card which awards 5 points/$ on gas purchases (that have a true value of 3.33 cents per point), the combined discount and credit card earn rate can represent some really good value.
Also, the BMO AIR MILES cards which offer 3x miles per $12 or $25 on Shell purchases provide decent value as long as you purchasing in multiples of $12 or $25.
However with other BMO cards like the Ascend World Elite and eclipse rise, you’ll want to compare them to cards that have gas accelerators like the CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card or the SimplyCash® Preferred Card from American Express. Both offer a 4% return on gas purchases and you will end up earning more cash back with one of these cards versus using a lower earning BMO card + the 2 cents per litre discount.
Wrapping it up
We’ve already seen similar tie ups with RBC & Petro-Canada, CIBC with Parkland Fuels (Journie Rewards) and now we BMO and Shell launch this partnership. Just like the RBC-Petro partnership, there are multiple programs that can be stacked all into one purchase with AIR MILES earning, CAA discounts and now the BMO payment card discounts. Ultimately this is new expanded partnership is a great addition for those who use BMO credit and debit cards and should further boost traffic to Shell as has been witnessed by their CAA partnership.