BMO Review: Excellent Benefits for Checking and Savings Accounts
Written by
Preston Hartwick
Edited by
Melanie Grafil
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GOBankingRates Score
BMO
-
Checking Account
4.5
-
Savings Account
4.8
-
CD Accounts
4.4
-
Money Market Accounts
4.0
-
Banking Experience
4.8
Pros
- International presence in strategic areas
- Wide ATM network, with over 40,000 Allpoint ATM locations in the U.S. alone
- Standard accounts with low or no fees
Cons
- A smaller number of physical locations
- Above-average overdraft fees
- Low returns on savings accounts
BMO Bank Overview
BMO Financial Corp. is the U.S. holding company for the Bank of Montreal. They are headquartered in Chicago and are the eighth largest bank in North America by assets and 10th largest in the U.S. Founded in 1817, BMO has amassed $1.29 trillion in total assets as of October 2023 and serves over 13 million customers globally, 4 million of which are U.S-based.
There are over 500 BMO branches in 22 states, with a heavy presence in the Midwest. States served include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
GOBankingRates has ranked BMO as having one of the Best Checking Accounts of 2024. Their Smart Advantage Checking Account features a $0 maintenance fee, unlimited transactions at their ATMs fee-free, a minimum opening deposit of only $25 and a variety of other features.
BMO Account Offerings and Options
BMO offers the following account and product options:Â
Checking Accounts
There are three different checking account options at BMO to choose from.
- Smart Advantage Checking Account: The Smart Advantage Checking account is an accessible account that anyone can open. It features no maintenance fees, has no balance requirements and only requires a $25 deposit. However, there is a $15 overdraft fee . The Smart Advantage Checking account also boasts unlimited free transactions at any of available 40,000 ATM locations in the United States.
- BMO Relationship Checking Account: This is the best choice if you’re looking to get the most rewards out of your checking account. Some of the benefits include interest on your account balance, free and unlimited transactions for non-BMO ATM transactions, Mastercard ID threat protection, free incoming wire transfers, a rebate on outgoing wire transfers, and ATM fee rebates up to $25 if charged by other banks. There are also incentives for homeowners. Signing up for the account can lower interest rates for home equity and mortgage loans .
- Smart Money Checking Account: This has many of the same advantages as the Smart Advantage account, but it does away with the overdraft charges. What’s the catch? There’s a $5 monthly maintenance fee.
Savings Accounts
The BMO Savings Builder Account also provides excellent value and is an ideal way to begin your savings journey. It has $0 in monthly maintenance fees, enabling you to save more efficiently. There are no transaction limits, and you can open an account with just $25, regardless of your financial level.
If you consistently deposit at least $200 dollars per month, you will receive an additional $5 dollars each month. This means that you could earn an extra $60 dollars per year.
However, there are a few cons to this account. The interest rate and annual percentage yield both stand at only . Statements are only sent on a quarterly basis, and there is a $50 dollar fee if you close the account within 90 days of opening it.
CD Accounts
When it comes to earning interest in CDs, BMO rates are on the higher end of the spectrum. CD terms range from 13 to 59 months, with APY’s starting at 5.25% for the shorter terms, and going down to 4.75% for longer terms. If you want to put your savings to work and don’t need to access the funds on a regular basis, then CDs are a low-risk way to keep earning interest.
Money Market Accounts
BMO offers a Relationship Plus Money Market account. This account obtains the maximum benefits if you have a Relationship checking account and bundle the two together. Unlike the Saving Builders account, there is a $10 monthly maintenance fee unless you maintain a $5,000 daily balance in the account. Nonetheless, the APY is much higher, starting at for silver members and going all the way up to APY at the premier level.
Banking Experience
Overall, BMO offers a very impressive banking experience. The mobile app is very comprehensive and easy to use. It comes highly rated, with a 4.8-star rating on the Apple App Store and a 4.5-star rating on the Google Play Store.
Many users report being satisfied with the app’s intuitiveness, detailed information and simplicity. On the other hand, some users are less impressed with the log-in and log-out features.
Comparable Banking Options
If you’re looking for an alternative to BMO that offers comparable benefits, check out these options:
Chase Bank
In terms of banking, both banks offer similar experiences. But in the category of in-person banking, Chase is the clear winner here with locations in the 48 mainland states while BMO only has locations in eight.
When it comes to ATMs, the numbers point in the other direction. BMO is part of the Allpoint network which serves over 40,000 locations, while Chase only has 16,000.
Both feature low interest rates on savings accounts and no fees, but BMO is hands down the winner in terms of APY for CDs. Chase Bank CDs range from APY on 2-month CDs to APY for 12-month CDs. In contrast, BMO offers up to APY on 13-month CDs and maintains a higher interest rate of APY on longer-term CDs up to 59 months.
US Bank
While it is true that the U.S. Bank has more products and services than BMO, more isn’t always better. When an issue arises, BMO is much easier to get in contact with to solve any issues.
However, the U.S. Bank app is superior. While BMO’s app is nice, simple, and gets the job done, the US Bank app offers intuitive and helpful features that are not found with BMO.
However, it’s the fees that truly set BMO apart. In contrast to U.S. Bank’s fees, such as a $6.95 monthly maintenance fee that can be waived, BMO offers a $0 fee checking account..
Final Take
BMO is an ideal choice for individuals seeking a simple banking experience with low fees and minimum deposit requirements, particularly for those residing in one of the eight states where the bank has physical branches. Additionally, individuals looking to open an account online can also take advantage of BMO’s services.
Although the APYs for accounts, excluding CDs, may not be particularly impressive, it is ultimately up to you to weigh the benefits against the drawbacks.
More on BMO
Compare To Other Banks
FAQ
Here are answers to some of BMO's more commonly asked questions.- Is BMO an American Bank?
- BMO Financial Corp. is an American company headquartered in Chicago and is a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal in Canada.
- Is it safe to bank with BMO?
- BMO is an established bank that has been in operation since the 1800s and is considered a very large bank according based on total assets. All deposits made to BMO are insured by the FDIC.
- What are BMO's best features?
- BMO has low fees and deposits, high APYs for CDs and nationwide ATM access.
Caitlyn Moorhead, Daria Uhlig, Cynthia Measom and Melanie Grafil contributed to the reporting for this article.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 18, 2023.
To determine rankings for the Best Checking Accounts, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors from all banks (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (5) APY on the checking account; (6) overdraft fee amount; (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1), (2) and (5) were weighted 0.5 times, and factor (4) was weighted 1.5 times.
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