BMO High-Interest Savings Account Review 2024: Get 5.50% Interest

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BMO High-Interest Savings Account Rating: 3.8/5

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People keep money in savings accounts for various reasons. 

However, one common reason for savings is to allow funds to grow by earning interest.

But since savings accounts vary, it’s essential to choose from the best savings account to earn high interest.

Is the BMO High-Interest Savings Account worth the name?  

In this BMO High-Interest Savings Account review, I will give you all the key information about the account and show you how it compares with other HISAs in Canada

Let’s get into the details!

About Bank of Montreal (BMO)

The Bank of Montreal (BMO) is one of the five big banks in Canada by market capitalization. 

With a long history dating back to 200+ years, BMO is regarded as the oldest incorporated bank in Canada. 

The Bank of Montreal serves more than 12 million customers worldwide with 8 million residing in Canada. The bank has total assets of $1.4 trillion and more than 800 branches.

BMO offers a wide range of financial products including bank accounts, insurance, investments, loans, lines of credit, credit cards and mortgages.

In this article, we will focus on the BMO High-Interest Savings Account. 

Overview of BMO High-Interest Savings Account

BMO offers you several savings accounts to meet the needs of different clients. 

The following are the four types of BMO savings accounts:

• BMO Savings Amplifier Account
• BMO Savings Builder Account
• BMO Premium Rate Savings Account
• BMO U.S. Premium Rate Savings Account

Out of the above savings accounts, only two accounts can be classified as BMO High-Interest Savings Accounts due to their competitive interest rates.

The two accounts are the BMO Savings Amplifier Account and the BMO Savings Builder Account. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of these two BMO savings accounts to help you understand how they compare.

BMO Savings Amplifier Account

The BMO Savings Amplifier Account is a high-interest savings account tailored to individuals looking to earn a high-interest rate on their savings without paying monthly fees. 

This account gives you a high-interest rate of 1.90% on every dollar. This is one of the highest savings rates among brick-and-mortar banks in Canada.

The rate also competes with the savings rate of some online banks such as Tangerine Bank.

Here are some of the key features of the BMO Savings Amplifier Account:

• 1.90% regular savings rate
• 5.50% promotional savings rate
• No monthly fee
• No minimum balance
• Unlimited free transfers to your other BMO accounts
• $5 fee for each transfer, cash withdrawal, and pre-authorized debit made in a BMO branch or with a telephone banking associate

Note: Bill payments and Interac e-Transfers are not supported on this account. 

BMO Savings Builder Account

The name of this account reflects what it stands for. The BMO Savings Builder Account is tailored to Canadians looking to “build” their savings with high interest. 

When you open the account, you will get a low-base interest rate of 0.50% on each dollar saved. 

However, you can earn a high bonus rate of 2.50% when you consistently save a minimum of $200 per month on your BMO Savings Builder Account.

Bear in mind that the 2.50% bonus rate only applies to an account balance of up to $250,000.

Besides offering high-interest earnings, the BMO Savings Builder Account doesn’t charge monthly fees. 

The account also allows you to make 1 free transfer per month to another BMO account.

Note: This account doesn’t also support Interac e-Transfers and bill payments.

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Other BMO Savings Accounts

As noted earlier, two BMO savings accounts offer high interest on savings while the remaining two offer low-interest.

Let’s discuss the two BMO Savings accounts with low-interest rates.

BMO Premium Rate Savings Account

This is a convenient and flexible savings account that’s offered simultaneously with a BMO chequing account.

The BMO Premium Rate Savings Account is a regular savings account that provides quick access to funds.  

Below are the key features of the BMO Savings Account:

• 0.01% interest on every dollar saved
• No minimum balance required
• Full access to withdrawals at anytime
• Access to one monthly payment plan fee (covering your savings and chequing accounts)

BMO U.S. Premium Rate Savings Account

As the name implies, this account allows you to save US dollars and earn interest on US dollars while banking with BMO in Canada.  

If you earn in USD or want to save in a stable currency, a USD savings account is worth it. 

However, the BMO US Premium Rate Savings Account has one of the lowest rates at 0.05%.

Below are other key features of the BMO U.S. Premium Rate Savings account.

• Full access to your saved funds at anytime
• No minimum balance or savings requirement
• Can be included with another account in a BMO bank plan while you only pay one monthly plan fee

My BMO High-Interest Savings Account Review Rating

I rate BMO High-Interest Savings Account 3.8 out of 5 stars based on comparative analysis and the in-depth review of the following features:

With the above rating, I can’t recommend BMO High-Interest Savings Accounts to Canadians looking for high-interest earnings on their short-term and long long-term earnings. 

Learn about BMO e-Transfer Limit

BMO High-Interest Savings Account Alternatives

No doubt, BMO High-interest Savings Accounts compete with both traditional and online banks in Canada. 

However, there are several banks in Canada with better savings rates than BMO. Let’s go over some of them below.

EQ Bank Savings Plus Account

Digital banks like EQ Bank are able to offer higher interest rates than traditional banks due to their low operational costs.

EQ Bank is famous for its Savings Plus Account which offers up to 4.00% interest on regular savings, FHSA, TFSA and RSP savings accounts.

In addition to such a competitive savings rate, the EQ Bank Savings Plus Account also offers the following benefits:  

• No monthly fee
• Unlimited free electronic funds transfers and bill payments
• Unlimited free Interac e-Transfers
• Free mobile cheque deposits
• No minimum balance requirement 

Neo Financial Savings Account Account

Neo Financial is another online bank in Canada that offers a competitive interest of 4.00% on every dollar you save.  

The name of Neo Financial’s high-interest savings account is known as Neo Money. The account has the following key features.

• No monthly fee
• No minimum balance requirement
• Unlimited Interac e-Transfer and bill payments

AcceleRate Financial Savings Account [Discontinued]

I added this at the bottom here because AcceleRate Financial is an online-only credit union, not a bank. 

Nevertheless, AcceleRate Financial’s 3.60- 3.65% interest on savings makes it one of Canada’s top high-interest savings account providers.

When you sign up for an AcceleRate Financial High-Interest Savings account, the following benefits apply.

• Mobile cheque deposits (Deposit Anywhere™)
• Free personal cheques
• Free unlimited deposits with no fees
• No monthly fee for account maintenance
• Easy access to all ACCULINK ATMs across Canada with your AcceleRate Debit Card

Update: Accelerate Financial has been merged with Hubert Financial.

Learn more on our AcceleRate Financial Review

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Some other notably online-only credit unions that offer high savings rates on saving  include 

• Read our Saven Financial review to learn how its savings account compares to BMO HISA.
• Read our Achieva Financial review to learn how its savings account compares to the BMO High-Interest Savings Account.
• Read our People Trust review to learn how its savings account compares to BMO HISA.

READ ALSO:

• Read our Tangerine High-Interest Savings Account Review (up to 6% promo rate)
• Learn about the Best Joint Bank Accounts in Canada

Verdict on BMO High-Interest Savings Account Review

BMO is no doubt one of the high-interest-savings accounts providers in Canada but in a distant position.

Compared to other big banks, BMO HISAs perform above average. 

However, you have competitive options to choose from when you compare the BMO High-Interest Savings Accounts with online bank offerings.

I hope you’re now informed about BMO HISA and can determine where you go from here. 

If you need more clarification or have any questions, check out the following FAQs or drop a comment below.

FAQs on BMO High-Interest Savings Account Review

Does BMO charge monthly fee?

It depends on the type of BMO account you use and the BMO bank plan you sign up for.

Some BMO Savings accounts don’t have a monthly fee but other accounts and plans do charge a monthly fee. 

For example, the BMO’s Performance Plan Chequing Account requires a $16.95 monthly fee if your account balance is below $4,000.

Does BMO offer a high interest savings account?

Yes. BMO offers two high-interest savings accounts known as BMO Savings Amplifier Account and BMO Savings Builder Account. 

These accounts have varying features but their interest rate competes even with the interest rate of some online banks in Canada.

What do I need to open a bank account at BMO?

It depends on the type of BMO account you want to open. However, virtually all BMO accounts require you to have a valid government-issued photo ID. 

In addition, you may be required to provide information about your:

• SIN
• Date of birth
• Address
• Income 
• And so on