Update 5/7/25: Deal is back, now $400 instead of $350. There is also a $600 link, but that contains mailer language. If you’re using that link read this comment.
Update 2/4/25: Extended to May 2, 2025. Bonus now $350.
Update 11/3/24: Bonus has been reduced to a maximum of $300. Extended until February 3, 2025
Update 9/10/24: Extended through October 31, 2024. Can also get a $100 for meeting with a banker.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $560
- Availability: Nationwide now
- Direct deposit required: Yes, direct deposits totaling $4,000+ or $7,500+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Cannot fund with a credit card
- Monthly fees: $25, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: $50 if closed within 90 days,
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date:
September 30th, 2020 October 31, 2020November 11, 2020January 29, 2021April 30, 2021June 3, 2022September 9, 2024
Contents
The Offer
- BMO Harris is offering a bonus of $600 when you open a checking account:
- Open a Smart Advantage Account and get a bonus of $300 when you have at least $4,000 in qualifying direct deposits within the first 90 days of account opening
Open a BMO Relationship Checking and get a bonus of $500 when you have at least $7,500 in qualifying direct deposits within the first 90 days of account opening
Plus, get a $100 digital gift card2 when you meet with a BMO banker to discuss your financial priorities after opening your account online- You can also open a savings account and get $5 monthly savings bonus for each month that you save $200 or more, for up to 12 months.
Open a Platinum Money Market account and get a bonus of up to $300:Get a $100 bonus when you deposit $10,000 or more in the first 30 days and then keep it in your account for at least an additional 90 daysGet a $200 bonus when you deposit $25,000 or more in the first 30 days and then keep it in your account for at least an additional 90 daysGet a $300 bonus when you deposit $50,000 or more in the first 30 days and then keep it in your account for at least an additional 90 days
The Fine Print
- You are only eligible for one checking account cash bonus; you cannot open multiple checking accounts and receive multiple cash bonuses.
- You can apply online or at a branch.
- To apply online, use the “open now” links above and we’ll automatically apply the promo code for you.
- Before you apply at a branch, enter your email and click “Send Me My Coupon Above” to receive the promo code you must use when opening your account. You must open your accounts between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020.
- Offers A & B can be combined but each are limited to one per customer.
- Offer A is not available for existing BMO Harris personal checking customers (including signers on joint accounts) or those who have closed a BMO Harris personal checking account within the past 12 months.
- Offer B is not available for existing BMO Harris personal money market or savings customers (including signers on joint accounts) or those who have closed a BMO Harris personal money market or savings account within the past 12 months.
- Offer B is available for existing BMO Harris personal CD or IRA customers (including signers on joint accounts) and those who have closed a BMO Harris personal CD or IRA in the past 12 months.
- Bonuses are not considered part of the opening deposit and will be reported to the IRS for tax purposes.
- You are responsible for any applicable taxes.
- Offers can be changed or cancelled without notice at any time, and cannot be combined with any other offer.
- Your accounts must be open, in good standing and must have a balance greater than zero when the bonuses are paid approximately 100 days (Offer A) and 130 days (Offer B) after opening.
- Offer A: Get up to a $350 bonus when you open a new BMO Harris Smart Advantage™ Account or BMO Harris Premier™ Account and have qualifying direct deposits of a paycheck, pension payment, Social Security payment, or other government benefits payment electronically deposited into the account from an employer or outside agency. We reserve the right to request documentation to confirm that the direct deposits qualify.
- 1) Get a $200 bonus when you open a new BMO Harris Smart Advantage™ Account and have a cumulative total of $4,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 90 days of opening. OR 2) Get a $350 bonus when you open a new BMO Harris Premier™ Account and have a cumulative total of $7,500 in qualifying direct deposits within 90 days of opening.
- You are only eligible for one bonus; you cannot open both checking accounts and receive both bonuses.
- Day 1 is the day you open your account and begins the tracking period.
- If you open your account on a day other than a Business Day, Day 1 is the next Business Day.
- The checking account type you have on Day 90 will determine which bonus you are eligible for. In order to receive the bonus, you must meet the associated criteria for that account.
- Offer B: Get up to a $300 bonus when you open a new Platinum Money Market account and make qualifying deposits of new money. New money is defined as funds not currently on deposit at BMO Harris Bank or its affiliates.
- 1) Get a $100 bonus when you deposit at least $10,000 in new money into your account by Day 30. Beginning Day 31, your balance must be $10,000 and it cannot drop below $10,000 for the next 90 days. OR 2) Get a $200 bonus when you deposit at least $25,000 in new money into your account by Day 30. Beginning Day 31, your balance must be $25,000 and it cannot drop below $25,000 for the next 90 days. OR 3) Get a $300 bonus when you deposit at least $50,000 in new money into your account by Day 30. Beginning Day 31, your balance must be $50,000 and it cannot drop below $50,000 for the next 90 days.
- You are only eligible for the bonus amount corresponding to your account balance on Day 30.
- If your account balance increases or decreases between Day 31 and the next 90 days, you will not be eligible for a different bonus amount. Day 1 is the day you open your account and begins the tracking period. If you open your account on a day other than a Business Day, Day 1 is the next Business Day.
- Deposits received on a day other than a Business Day will be posted the next Business Day.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Smart Advantage Checking Account ($350 Bonus)
This account has no monthly fees to worry about
BMO Harris Premier Account ($350 Bonus)
This account has a $25 monthly fee. This is waived with one of the following:
- $10,000 minimum daily balance,
- $25,000 in combined balances with Relationship Waiver,
- or a BMO Harris Financial Advisors, Inc. investment account
Early Account Termination Fee
There is an early account termination fee of $50 if the account is closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
If you’re doing the savings bonus ($200 or $300) then you’ll have enough money in combined balances to keep the Premier account fee free as well. The savings account earns 0.05% APY for balances $25,000 or under and 0.1% APY for balances $25,000+. The most recent BMO Harris offer was for $200 for opening a checking account, but has been as high as $500 with the same requirements.
This bonus is up to an extra $150 compared to that $500 bonus, but the requirements are much higher. We obviously don’t have any idea if/when that bigger bonus will return so if you can do the full $650 bonus this might be worth considering. Because of that we will add it to our list of the best bank bonuses.
Hat tip to readers JohnnyBoyJr & raekwon
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Post history:
- Update 5/6/24: Extended through 9/9/24
- Update 1/10/24: Extended until 5/3/24
- Update 12/11/23: Bonus is back but now only $250/$400.
- Update 10/9/23: There is now a savings bonus as well, not worth considering due to the current high interest rates.
- Update 9/19/23: Deal is back and valid until 12/8/23 and now officially $400/$600
- Update 9/10/23: Looks like people are actually getting $400/$600.
- Update 6/21/23: Looks to be nationwide now.
- Update 5/16/23: Extended through September 15, 2023.
- Update 1/9/23: Extended through June 2, 2023.
- Update 10/6/22: Bonus is now $350, valid through 12/30/22
- Update 7/11/22: Bonus has been increased to a maximum of $560. Hat tip to reader Matt J
- Update 2/7/22: Maximum bonus is now $350.
- Update 9/27/21: Extended until October 15.
- Update 6/10/21: Deal is back and has been increased from $200/$400 to $300/$500. Valid until September 30, 2021.
- Update 2/13/21: Deal is back and valid until
4/30.May 28, 2021June 4, 2021 - Update 1/5/21: Deal is back for $350. There is also a $5 savings bonus per month for 12 months. Hat tip to reader JohnnyBoyJr
- Update 10/14/20: Deal is back for the $350 checking bonus, savings bonus is not available this time. Deal is better when savings is also offered as that is enough to keep the Premier account fee free as well. Hat tip to reader Snowbird
- Update 8/3/20: Link for FL added. Hat tip to reader Zach
– I had a question about the current offer. The current offer that is going on is that $400 for opening either of “BMO Smart Advantage Checking” (0$ monthly fee) or “BMO Smart Money Checking” ($5 monthly fee) and the 4k DD in 90days. However, when I see the Terms, it says this:
” Your account must be Relationship Checking when the cash bonus is paid into the checking account approximately 100 days after account opening.”
Relationship Checking is $25 monthly fee unless 10k daily balance.
I interpret this as that I need to “upgrade” my 0$ or $5 fee accounts into $25 one within 100 days to get the bonus. Is that correct?
– If so, can I upgrade it after completing the criteria and pay 2-3 months of $25 monthly fee. Then receive the bonus, and downgrade it back to $0 monthly fee checking account?
Likely that is leftover language from the past promo that required the Relationship Checking. I have never seen a bank offer where they required a person to change the account tier mid-promo. Up to you on what to do about it. I would likely ignore it.
cerrug
Good catch. Seems like a mistake in the terms. If you decide to upgrade, the fee is waived for at least 2 calendar months from when you upgrade, so you shouldn’t have to worry about any fees if you upgrade closer to day 90.
That’s a good catch by you. I’m surprised that no one else noticed that. I’m off the hook as I only reviewed the terms for the $600 offer that I signed up for. 😉
BTW, why not go for the $600 offer instead of the $400 offer?
4/9/2025 opened the account online for the $350 bonus
5/16/2025 completed the last real DD to meet the requirements (all other DDs were also real)
6/13/2025 still no bonus
Same still no bonus
Very similar time and still no bonus. Got a call from BMO a few times but I couldn’t talk to them. Would that have anything with no bonus yet?
… The bonus usually pays out after day 90.
In the US and recently got a mailer from BMO offering $600 for checking with $10k DD over 90 days. I went ahead and did it.
good _ucking luck.
When I was trying to make an ACH through wise, it gives an error “when sending USD to USD domestically, send from your bank” and does not allow me to go through.
You have to push money into your Wise account first and then transfer those funds through ACH.
But if the money is already in Wise account, the outgoing wise transfer would only go through RTP instead of ACH
New summer offer with $700 bonus
This offer is only for Canadians!
Cheque -ing. ..
Transfer from Relay with a payroll note is coded as CCD. Wise has the same code. Does it work as DD?
apparently not. I got a bonus from my employer as CCD and they said it’s ineligible. Total horse_hit.
Opened: 3/9/25
$4,600 Deposit from tax return: 3/19/25
Bonus Posted: 6/9/25
I was able to get a Chex pull from a failed attempt online and a later Chex pull from a successful branch opening removed by arguing that I’ve had BMO accounts in the past and that they had pulled a few weeks ago.
They removed the most recent successful opening just because you stated you had accounts with them in the past? Basically alluding to the fact that they shouldn’t need to pull your Chex again? I can’t believe that worked.
Ya I was surprised that my rejected online Chex pull was removed. Before that, the last pull was in December 2023.
Damn, guess I’ll pony up the $0.73 to mail in a dispute.
Do it online for free
I would, but my dispute tab is broken. ChexSystems also removed the ability to file disputes online without being logged in.
I have tried over the phone as well, but the Chex reps usually tell me that my reasons for disputing are not valid.
Aren’t you currently working on a bonus with BMO? If so, I wouldn’t recommend trying to dispute a Chex inquiry until after you have received the bonus.
Yes I am, but I would be shocked if requesting a Chex inquiry be removed affected the bonus at all.
Would you be more or less shocked than you were that this actually worked: #2074712 ?
Definitely more.
It seems like you are saying that you requested the in-branch inquiry be removed because you just had the online inquiry but BMO ended up removing both. Is that right?
I requested both be removed. It usually doesn’t work if there is a long time between inquiries but sometimes it does.
Hm, I’d like to learn more about which inquiries could be disputed.
I had one from Sept 2024 where the application was completed, but they needed to speak to me before opening it. It was past the bonus deadline when I finally spoke to them, so I told them to withdraw the application. I had another inquiry in Feb 2025 when I reapplied and opened an account.
I also have 3 inquiries from Schwab Bank for 3 declined applications, each 2 months apart. That was foolish of me.
Try it. Really no harm
None of those are valid Chex disputes. I would know as a Chex supervisor once told me unprompted what’s valid and what isn’t. However, like
Davis wrote, there is really no harm in trying. I’m surprised that Chex doesn’t ban people for making too many invalid disputes.
No, I don’t mind.
The supervisor told me simply that as long as we applied for the account, it is not a valid dispute. Otherwise, the dispute is considered frivolous. This is the word that I meant to use earlier instead of “invalid” but for some reason I thought of it now but not then.
Anyway, of course if someone else applied in your name would be a valid dispute. The only other way it would be a valid dispute, according to the woman, is if the FI told you in writing that there would be no Chex pull before you applied.
That happened to me with Andrews as a rep promised me that there would be no Chex Pull when I applied for their 5.75% Savings account a while ago. I sent Chex print screens of the chat and they eventually removed it.
Thanks. Do you have any insights on requests to move an inquiry from “Inquiries Viewed By Others” to “Inquiries Viewed Only By You”?
I tried that once and they told me that it was an invalid dispute. 🙁
Let me know how your disputes go!
I’m waiting for updates on my questionable Schwab disputes. I left my BMO inquiries alone.
Regarding #2076083 I gathered as much.
No luck here. “The source has verified the information they submitted to be accurate and complete. As a result, it will remain on file at ChexSystems.”
That was incredibly quick. BTW, you are fortunate that Chex even sent the dispute over to Schwab. The last 2 or 3 disputes that I filed, Chex didn’t even send them out as the reps considered them invalid. I haven’t even filed a dispute in a long time. I guess that Chex dislikes me more than most. ☹
I’ve had better luck requesting an inquiry be moved rather than removed. I usually only attempt a dispute if an application is denied or an account is closed due to Chex. It’s still really hit or miss if a dispute gets rejected or not.
6/2 opened relationship checking, 6/5 first statement arrived, anyone else?
Opened the account at beginning of the month specially to reduce the chance of $25 account fee before bonus post, now not sure…….
Interesting… Hopefully you can get the fee waived if it hits.
Looking forward to more DPs about opening dates and statement dates…
They typically waive the 1st fee anyway if you ask. Worst case I think someone got told they were only getting half the fee back. Must have been a really grumpy rep, or the customer, not a very good sweet talker.
So I read a lot that BMO is Chex Sensitive but they approved me (on 4/20) and at the time my CS stats were 5/3 7/6 7/12. Not sure what is considered sensitive but Chartway Credit Union Denied me when my stats were slightly better and I know they are considered Chex sensitive
Chex Score as of today is 654
Were you approved online or by phone? If by phone, you being approved is not surprising at all. However, if you were approved online, it seems like BMO might not be as Chex-sensitive as we previously thought as 5/3 is kind of high.