BMO Bank FAQ

Canadian multinational Bank of Montreal has a subsidiary bank called BMO Harris in the United States. BMO Harris Bank is run by its CEO, Dave Casper. As of 2016 BMO Harris had 14,200 employees and was founded by Norman Wait Harris. BMO Harris has headquarters in a three-building complex in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood. BMO Harris is the 16th largest commercial bank in the US by total assets. BMO Harris has grown quickly by acquiring competitors at fair market value. The first of such acquisitions was First National Bank of Barrington in 1985. The second was purchased around the same time frame as one another, and this consisted of State Bank of St. Charles and First National Bank of Batavia both in 1988. In 1990 BMO Harris acquired Libertyville Federal Savings Bank and Loan, and Frankfort Bancshares. In 1994, Suburban Bancorp and Harris Bancorp merged under the Harris name before acquiring 54 branches of Household Bank in 1996. In 1999, Burke, Christensen, and Lewis were merged with Harris Investors Direct to form the company Harris Investorline. BMO Harris then continued its acquisitions by purchasing Freeman Welwood in 2000, Village Bank of Naples, Century Bank of Arizona, First National Bank of Joliet and Northwest Trust and Investors Advisory Company in 2001 and 2002. Later in 2002, BMO Harris purchased Sullivan, Bruyette Speros, and Blaney Incorporated along with Lakeland Community Bank and Trust and Savings Bank in 2005.

The company insists that its name is pronounced “B-MO,” and the SWIFT Code for BMO is BOFMCAM2. The SWIFT code is an international bank code that identifies banks worldwide. It is also known as a BIC code, which stands for Bank Identifier Code. This code is utilized by any bank sending money overseas and will need to be given to whoever is sending money in this way to identify the bank they are sending it from.

Checks from the Bank of Montreal are accepted anywhere checks from other institutions are. These cheques are routed to BMO Financial Group before being honored.

Bank of Montreal money orders can be cashed at www.checkintocash.com, on the Western Union website or in person at any Western Union Retailer Kiosk, and at any BMO Harris Bank location.

After beginning business on November 3, 1817, Bank of Montreal began to open new branches. As of today, there are more than 900 individual branches that serve over seven million customers.