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Apr 24, 2017
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Asad_A203 wrote: Ah damn, just signed up for the PCF WE card. Would have chosen the BMO WE (better travel insurance and free lounge passes) over it and not sure I want to take another hit to my credit so soon.
That should be fine if you are not going to apply mortgage anytime soon. I would say it is worth it. No fee WE card and no dead money in your chequing account. YES!
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EmmEmm wrote: well $100 minus taxes isnt a big deal when you are getting a free safety deposit box ($60 annually), monthly fees rebate ($360 annually), free bank drafts ($8 each), free Aeroplan infinite credit card ($120 annually), non-TD ATM fees waived across Canada and even in the US and Open on Sundays plus $300 one-time checking account bonus.

show me any other account that comes close ??
OK, let's see. you made, 1, 2, 3... a bunch of points ...
  1. I can get a safety deposit box for under $50 from my local credit union *IF* I actually needed one.
  2. $360 in waived account fees is a joke as well because if you choose any other number of totally free bank accounts you pay $0 fees regardless. PCF, Tangerine, EQ Bank, my local credit union, Line of Credit used as a chequing account at various banks, etc, etc, etc
  3. free bank drafts are great if you need them often. I've used one draft in the past 2 decades.
  4. $120 TD Aeroplan Infinite is okay, but the BMO WE is $150 fee, so that's more, right? If we are just comparing size of fees. LOL. But anyways, both cards are actually 'meh'. The lounge passes with BMO may be more enticing to some who can use those often (4 per year). The TD AVI is available FYF quite often (offer going on right now, 25k bonus, $0 spending, FYF). It's quite easy to get it and cancel it every 6-12 months, never paying the fee at all. Nevermind the card itself is not very good to use on a daily basis as there are a number of better cards out there (SPG Amex, Gold Amex, 2% straight up easy rewards like MBNA RWE, Cap1 WE, ...)
  5. non-TD ATM fees waived is a joke, because have you tried using your TD card at another bank? I did (and canceled it). The other bank charges you a fee ($3?) anyways. So it's fairly useless.
  6. open on Sundays - we are comparing an online-only BMO account. Presumably we don't need to go to a branch for anything. Why do I care if it's open at all? ;) Tangerine has no branches and it suits me fine :D
  7. $300 one-time chequing account bonus - this one's good. It's the only reason I have this account right now :D CIBC gave me $300 too though, and BMO gave me $350. My credit union $200, Meridian $100. Tangerine $50 + more for chequing at one time + more for payroll at another time + $50 for referrals... anyways one-time signup deals. They're fun! We agree.


... and the kicker here is that the 2% = $100 in taxable (yes) interest income is just an absolute MINIMUM.

Try putting $5k into the S&P500 and collect dividends and see where it's at at the end of your banking career.

Person A does above + banks at ACTUAL free banking.
Person B keeps $5k at 0% interest in TD to get "free" banking.

Fast forward 20, 30, 40 years ... person B has $5k. Person A has a LOT more. How "free" was that banking now?
(after 40 years in a TFSA at 7% the $5k is $75k ... so ... $70k of banking fees... OUCH!)

Well, that's only $145/mo ... pretty good deal still, right? I mean ... look at all the fees you saved. Like $50 x 40 = $2000 in SDB fees. I guess you could pay that out of your dividends on that $75k?
Last edited by ace604 on Mar 11th, 2017 2:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Apr 24, 2017
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EmmEmm wrote: well $100 minus taxes isnt a big deal when you are getting a free safety deposit box ($60 annually), monthly fees rebate ($360 annually), free bank drafts ($8 each), free Aeroplan infinite credit card ($120 annually), non-TD ATM fees waived across Canada and even in the US and Open on Sundays plus $300 one-time checking account bonus.

show me any other account that comes close ??
The main thing about this offer is the BMO WE credit card instead of the bank account itself. If you ask me to choose between TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite and BMO WE, I will get the latter one because of no card is better than it (overall tied with C1 WE). But Amex Gold is better than the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite.

With $5k in hand, you can do some small inverstment, and the gain will be likely much greater than 2%.
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Aug 28, 2016
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EdisonL299 wrote: No. But you can easily deposit your cheque into your Tangerine account then set up a monthly transfer to BMO.
Oh that might work then.
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Jan 26, 2007
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... until they unilaterally change the terms, and you have all sorts of hassle switching banks again.

Just switch to Tangerine. You won't regret it.
There is no god. But it still feels good to be kind to people, animals, and the environment, so keep doing that.
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Feb 1, 2006
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Ontario
lorax1284 wrote: ... until they unilaterally change the terms, and you have all sorts of hassle switching banks again.

Just switch to Tangerine. You won't regret it.
Yes, this could very well happen. I don't think that they'd grandfather this plan forever. Potential switching back costs must be kept in mind but I think this is a hot deal for the free World Elite card only.
Cards:HSBC WE MC 1.5%/3% travel 0 FX MC acceptance 31 day med AF $49
CTC WE MC 3% grocery, 3.54% CTC, RA, billpay, AF $0
MBNA RWE 5.4% grocery/resto
Bank: EQ (1.5%)
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Feb 1, 2017
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Asad_A203 wrote: Ah damn, just signed up for the PCF WE card. Would have chosen the BMO WE (better travel insurance and free lounge passes) over it and not sure I want to take another hit to my credit so soon.
Taking another hit to your credit won't really make a difference, unless you have bad credit as it is.
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Jan 26, 2007
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minimalist wrote: Yes, this could very well happen. I don't think that they'd grandfather this plan forever. Potential switching back costs must be kept in mind but I think this is a hot deal for the free World Elite card only.
I had a plan with BMO that was $11 unlimited everything... until they decided "NOPE" and moved me to a $13 per month plan that had lots of additional fees, and over time some of the free included services suddenly were $5 PER TRANSACTION. Fu**ers... and that is only one of the sickening abuses heaped on me and other BMO customers even as they report record profits.... like their points credit card that allows you to save for a downpayment on your house... BUT THEY DON'T NEGOTIATE ON THE RATE if you use that. S*it like that is all over the place with BMO. Avoid.

I will NEVER EVER EVER bank with BMO again as long as I live.
Last edited by lorax1284 on Mar 11th, 2017 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
There is no god. But it still feels good to be kind to people, animals, and the environment, so keep doing that.
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Oct 15, 2015
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Does anyone know if you can withdraw $50 bills at BMO ATMs (preferably in the greater vancouver area? I used to be with RBC and some ATMs did. When I switched over to TD, I've never seen any that did.

I do need to withdraw $50 bills sometimes as gifts for weddings, etc so it's a nice perk. Plus since this account charges for teller transactions, it'll be a pain to have to transfer $ over to a different bank acct just to withdraw $50 bills.
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Apr 24, 2017
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lorax1284 wrote: I had a plan with BMO that was $11 unlimited everything... until they decided "NOPE" and moved me to a $13 per month plan that had lots of additional fees, and over time some of the free included services suddenly were $5 PER TRANSACTION. Fu**ers... and that is only one of the sickening abuses heaped on me and other BMO customers even as they report record profits.... like their points credit card that allows you to save for a downpayment on your house... BUT THEY DON'T NEGOTIATE ON THE RATE if you use that. S*it like that is all over the place with BMO. Avoid.

I will NEVER EVER EVER bank with BMO again as long as I live.
How many years have you had the plan?
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I was wondering if I might have some NSF issues if I set up the following automated transfers:

1st of the month: $1500 my other bank to BMO
2nd of the month: $1500 from this BMO account to my other bank

Would having these processed on weekends or a national holiday cause an NSF? (There will be more than enough $$$ in my external bank account but I want to basically keep $0 in this new BMO account)
Cards:HSBC WE MC 1.5%/3% travel 0 FX MC acceptance 31 day med AF $49
CTC WE MC 3% grocery, 3.54% CTC, RA, billpay, AF $0
MBNA RWE 5.4% grocery/resto
Bank: EQ (1.5%)
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minimalist wrote: I was wondering if I might have some NSF issues if I set up the following automated transfers:

1st of the month: $1500 my other bank to BMO
2nd of the month: $1500 from this BMO account to my other bank

Would having these processed on weekends or a national holiday cause an NSF? (There will be more than enough $$$ in my external bank account but I want to basically keep $0 in this new BMO account)
I am thinking it is safest to do this 3-4 days apart to account for long-weekends.

Another consideration might be to switch a mortgage PAD to BMO, and then automate a transfer to BMO monthly a couple days before that.

Another thing I'm considering is doing $400/wk, say in on Tuesday, back out on Thu. Then you have the same weekdays every time and don't have to worry about Mon/Fri stats, just the occasional mid-week July 1 or Nov 11.

I haven't committed to bothering with this deal yet ... but these were my ideas so far.
POLL: How frequent is your RRSP-matching?
Plastiq: Pay any bill with credit card for 0-2.5% fee (help meet min spending and keep old cards active!)
Rewards program transfer times (e.g. SPG->Aeroplan, Marriott->SPG, Amex MR->SPG...)
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Oct 13, 2015
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Vancouver
If I close the account after a few months, would BMO charge partial fee of the WE MC?
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ziyizhu9 wrote: If I close the account after a few months, would BMO charge partial fee of the WE MC?
Probably. I think someone mentioned upthread that they got charged a pro-rated MC fee upon closing the Premium Plan.
Cards:HSBC WE MC 1.5%/3% travel 0 FX MC acceptance 31 day med AF $49
CTC WE MC 3% grocery, 3.54% CTC, RA, billpay, AF $0
MBNA RWE 5.4% grocery/resto
Bank: EQ (1.5%)
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Oct 17, 2007
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Is this offer per household? Can I apply for one CC and my wife for another one so we get 2 cards for free?
I see this offer is not anymore posted on the BMO site, the link on the first thread still works though...
Thanks.
CoS
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ziyizhu9 wrote: If I close the account after a few months, would BMO charge partial fee of the WE MC?
Yes. BMO is very good at that unfortunately.
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cstca wrote: Is this offer per household? Can I apply for one CC and my wife for another one so we get 2 cards for free?
I see this offer is not anymore posted on the BMO site, the link on the first thread still works though...
Thanks.
CoS
Yes, you and your wife can apply individually, but remember you need to deposit $1500 to each account every month.
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Sr. Member
Apr 23, 2008
675 posts
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Toronto
How is the BMO Word Elite card compared to TD First Class Visa Infinite card, which also has good travel benefits such as concierge service? How is the travel insurance comparison between these two cards? Not sure if the TD card offers lounge access.
Thanks
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Feb 19, 2014
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smehmood wrote: How is the BMO Word Elite card compared to TD First Class Visa Infinite card, which also has good travel benefits such as concierge service? How is the travel insurance comparison between these two cards? Not sure if the TD card offers lounge access.
Thanks
Travel rewards for TD First class is only 1.5%, but if you redeem for non-TD Expedia purchases, it's only 1.2% back.
- The only thing TD has up on BMO is that you can redeem for non-TD Expedia purchases, but then you only get an effective 1.2% rewards rebate.
- BMO WE card is better in every aspect.

BMO WE is 2% back across the board.
- Has better travel insurance
- Has 4 free lounge passes
- Travel insurance + concierge

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