National Bank Credit Cards: Record-High Offers of Up to 70,000 Points!

National Bank has just announced a new pair of all-time-high welcome bonuses on the National Bank World Elite Mastercard and the National Bank Platinum Mastercard. The offers are available until January 13, 2023.

The National Bank World Elite Mastercard is offering up to 70,000 À la carte Rewards, structured in three parts. Similarly, the National Bank Platinum Mastercard is offering the same three-part structure for up to 35,000 À la carte Rewards as a welcome bonus.

National Bank World Elite Mastercard: Up to 70,000 À la carte Rewards

The offer for the National Bank World Elite Mastercard includes a $150 annual fee rebate for the first year, as well the following three-part structure for the welcome bonus:

• 30,000 À la carte Rewards upon spending $5,000 within the first three months
• 10,000 À la carte Rewards upon signing up for credit card payment insurance
• 30,000 À la carte Rewards upon spending $12,000 in the first 12 months

If you meet both minimum spending requirements, you can think of your total first-year earnings as 60,000 À la carte Rewards. However, note that the second portion of 30,000 points aren’t awarded until the cardholder anniversary date.

To receive the full welcome bonus of 70,000 points, you’ll need to sign up for credit card payment insurance. You’ll want to compare the cost of this service against the extra 10,000 points, which is worth up to $100.

In terms of the returns on daily spending, the National Bank World Elite Mastercard allows you to earn:

• 5 points per dollar spent on groceries and restaurant purchases
• 2 points per dollar spent on gas, electric vehicle charging, recurring bills, and travel booked through the À la carte Travel Portal
• 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases

This is the highest earning rate among Mastercards in Canada. However, note that there is a monthly spending cap on categorized purchases: if your total gross monthly amount of purchases (regardless of category) are under $2,500, the 5x multiplier on groceries and restaurant purchases will apply; on the other hand, if your purchases in one month exceed $2,500, the earning rate on those food purchases will be at 2 points per dollar.

If we were to add the points that you earn from meeting the initial spending threshold of $5,000 in spending, we can conclude that you’d earn…