 Hello everyone, this is financial author Amit Dan of amitdan.com on this channel You'll find financial travel and more videos just like the one you're watching right now If you like what you see, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing Hello everyone, this is financial author Amit Dan of amitdan.com today. I'll talk about the upcoming Points devaluation which will be happening to the BMO World League MasterCard. I just recently got a Notification in the mail, which is right here and I'll just go for some of the devaluation and I'll give you my Analysis and insights on this. I do have other videos on BMO World League MasterCard, which I'll provide Link in the description box below. So let's start with the BMO World League MasterCard point devaluation which is happening starting next year so this is the mail just came actually yesterday and I'll be going through some of the changes now before I start this I'd like to mention that This card BMO World League MasterCard used to give two points per dollar spent So each point was or still it is equal to one cent So what it means that you would be earning two percent on Every purchases it didn't have any category specific or anything specific Parties are rewards rate. So it would be just two percent flat on everything So this is what it is changing and also BMO is Devaluating the program or the points. So which will outline Which is outlined here and I'll be talking about some of these Okay, so the first thing let's start with what we have here Okay, so this is the whole letter which tells how these changes are coming to BMO World League MasterCard and Let's start with the first change here So when I receive the email or the letter in the mail It just tells that you know, there's this changes coming To your BMO MasterCard in general whenever you receive a letter like this It always means that you know, it's bad news most of the times I would say 99% of the times this is not a good news and This is about how they're going to devaluate The program so that's what they're telling here, but although They're making the letter sound like it's a great news For example, if you look right here Here BMO viewers points 50% faster So it sounds like you know, you're getting 50% faster BMO viewers, but that's not what it is So which I'll explain you but let's start with the here effective January 15 2018 there will be some changes to the BMO viewers program and The Features of your card. So the first thing here is the R&D BMO points 50% faster And what they're telling here that you get rewarded even sooner R&D 3 BMO viewers points for every dollar is spent on eligible travel dining and Entertainment categories up to 50,000 per year spent. So right now The BMO card would give you two points for everything and each point is one cent But however, it's giving you three points for these specific categories, which are travel dining and entertainment but You may think that this is a good news, but if you just look beneath Then you will see that What's happening here that The number of BMO viewers points needed to redeem for one dollar in travel viewers will be increasing from 100 to 140 points So in plain words, this is what it means that one point is going to be equal to 0.714 cents instead of One cent which is right now. So for each point you're going to be getting 0.714 cents or For hundred dollars the rate of return For this card is going to be Not 2% anymore because you're going to get still two points per hundred dollars, but because each point is 0.714 cents instead of one cent your rate of return for each one dollar Spends comes to 1.42 cents. This is not Exploding those specific three categories here. So each point Is each dollar has 1.42 percent return than 2 percent return, which you're getting currently then For those three categories, which are travel dining and entertainment Because you're getting three points instead of two rewards points So if you do the calculation, so you take the Value for each point, which is 0.714 cents And then if you multiply that by three then you get 2.14 cents per point. I'm sorry per dollar For only these three categories. So because you're getting three points. So if you're spending This card or if you're using this card to buy only category specific purchases, example these three categories Then your return is actually going to be higher than what it is now because now you're going to get 2% return But starting 2018 it will be 2.14 percent return So that's the you can say it's kind of good news But in general it is not a good news because you're losing the earning 2% return on everything else So and it's a huge devaluation because you can see that it's going to be 42% instead of 2% on everything else So if we look at the next Item here then let's say they are it says that they're improving the value of merchandise and gift cards And starting 2018 you'll be able to redeem For the same great merchandise and gift cards with up to 20 fewer points So it sounds like they're you know letting you earn cash out the points for merchandise and gift cards using 20 fewer points, but Usually whenever using any points not just be able points to redeem for merchandise and gift cards you lose a lot of value And they're not actually telling you what is the value for those points But it's not recommended to redeem any points for anything else about travel Uh expenses because you're going to lose value Then here there's about if you're investing in bmo point then you'll be able to redeem that Uh, I don't I'm not going to that and here it says it says that starting February 18 Turn your bmo your points into cash So it looks like they're allowing you to convert points into cash And again, this is not a good option because anytime you redeem any points not just be more points for cash You lose value. It's not going to give you the full Returns which you would have earned using uh Spending points for travel expenses. Okay, so now let's flip over and see what we have here Then here they're just telling that you know, they have extended call Center hours and you continue to enjoy all the other benefits Aren't same a great rate of 2 bmo reward points for everything else But again, this is at a lower value not going to be 2% anymore starting next year And use any combination of point and cash Okay, so I don't see anything else. I need to mention here now if you have if you are using this card Yeah Just to purchase everything for everyday expenses that it would be wise to Only use this card for those three specific categories where you're gonna earn more points Three points instead of two points And for everything else you should you should not use this card anymore because it's giving me lower rate of return For myself, I have this card However, I don't use this card at all. I don't use it to buy anything or purchase anything The reason I keep this card because it comes with lots of parks and features And one of the most important part is the lounge access So this card comes with the annual lounge membership fee which they provide via priority pass program and It comes with two entrances for Every calendar year. So what it means that if you would buy priority pass membership, it would cost you 99 dollars us and for those four passes you pay 27 dollars each entrance. So four times 27 is 108 dollars us So 99 plus 108 207 dollars us you would have spent To buy four entrances and a annual membership to priority pass program But because of having this card, you get that for free You don't have to pay for these and I value those at 265 dollars canadian when you convert 207 dollars us to 265 dollars canadian as of today's currency conversion rate So what it means for me that although i'm paying 150 dollars annual fee But if you subtract 150 minus to from 265 canadian, then i'm on the plus side for 115 dollars. So That's my reason uh to keep this card. I don't use it for anything. So I just use it for the lounge access and which is 150 dollars Which gives me 150 dollars in my pocket Given the fact that I would have stayed I would have used four lounge entrances each year But if you have this card and you do not use for Lounge accesses, then it would make sense because of the higher annual fee which is 150 dollars per year So to wrap it up, I'm not going to be this point effect. It does not Do anything to me because I don't use this card to Buy or Spend for anything. I just use this to access lounges So whenever I'm not flying business class, then I'll be using the priority pass membership to access lounges at the airports Now for everyone else who do not use this card to access lounges If you're using to Purchase anything just to make sure that you use that for those three categories travel dining and entertainment Then you'll be earning 2.14 percent Per 100 dollars But if you're using for anything else, then your rate is going to be drastically reduced to 1.42 percent, which is a very bad rate for a trade card paying 150 dollars per year So I do have other Videos on the lounge access and the bmo work elite trade card, which I'll provide a link in the description box below Um And at the same time, I'd like to mention that my trip to asia is coming up in about a week and I'll be Doing a business class flight reviews lounge reviews food reviews and all sorts of reviews In asia or going to asia. So if you haven't subscribed yet Please subscribe now and if you like what you see, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing And there will be more videos coming up. Thank you