The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) fined the Bank of Montreal for overcharging customers after it failed to disclose fee details.
The fine is for $4 million, according to CBC, for customers who joined discounted banking programs.
The FCAC says that the BMO was charging clients monthly fees that should have been waived or discounted, and that 101,091 customers were affected between 2010 and 2024. BMO issued refunds totalling more than $3 million (exactly $3,027,956.44), and has made a charitable donation of more than $600,00 for the amounts that it hasn’t able to refund. The specific charity hasn’t been named.
Despite its failure to disclose fees, a BMO spokesperson told CBC that it proactively reimbursed its customers and reported the issue to the FCAC itself. However, the FCAC says that the $4 million penalty reflects the BMO’s negligence in preventing and detecting the error, even after more than 500 customers complained about their monthly fee changes.
The FCAC says that newcomers, medical and dental students, Indigenous banking clients and those who participated in a home financing promotion were affected.
BMO paid the $4 million fine back in April of 2025, but the details of the proceedings were shared Feb. 2.
Source: CBC, Government of Canada
