BMO Fined $4M for Erroneous Charges Affecting 100K Customer Accounts

Bank of Montreal signage is pictured in the financial district in Toronto, on Sept. 8, 2023. The Canadian Press/Andrew LahodynskyjThe Bank of Montreal was fined $4 million after “erroneous charges” for monthly plan fees affected more than 100,000 customers, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says.Citing violations of consumer provisions in the Bank Act, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) said in a Feb. 2 news release that the bank failed to properly disclose details about monthly plan fees that “should have been waived or discounted for certain personal deposit accounts.”BMO did not disclose all charges applicable to certain personal deposit accounts from 2010 to 2024, and also failed to “clearly disclose” information about when monthly plan fees would begin between 2022 and 2024, FCAC said.The agency noted that a total of 101,091 customers were financially impacted by the violations. BMO has issued more than $3 million in refunds and redressed interest to impacted customers. The bank also donated more than $600,000 to charity for the amount that it could not refund to accounts.