BMO is giving you 90 days to accumulate $4,000 in direct deposits to earn a $400 cash bonus* for opening a new BMO Smart Money Checking, BMO Smart Advantage Checking or BMO Relationship Checking account.
This offer is available nationally if you open online, or in-branch if you live in a state within their brick-and-mortar footprint. What's even better? They're also offering a $5/month reward on their Savings Builder account every month you grow your balance by $200 or more for the first year..
This reward has increased compared to the bonus they offered earlier this year, with the same requirements.
How To Earn The Bonus
The BMO Personal Checking promotion requires you to set up eligible direct deposits in order to earn the $400 Cash Bonus* (step-by-step breakdown is listed above!).
As with any offer, don't forget to read the fine print before opening your new account. It's where the bank will clearly state who is eligible for the deal along with any nuances you'll want to be aware of.
The fine print
- Qualifying direct deposits are any paycheck, pension payment, Social Security payment, or other government benefits payment electronically deposited into the account from an employer or outside agency.
- If you choose to open an account at a branch, you'll need to first receive a promo code by entering your email. If you open online, the promo code is automatically applied.
- Not available to existing personal checking customers, or to those who have closed a personal checking account within the past 12 months.
- You cannot combine this offer with any other personal checking welcome bonuses
Learn more about the $400 Cash Bonus* from BMO before the offer expires on May 4, 2026
How does this personal checking offer from BMO compare?
To help you determine how this bonus stacks against the rest, here are some of the most popular offers available right now:
PNC
Virtual Wallet® with Performance Select
- Bonus
- $400
- Account Type
- Personal Checking
- Expires In
- 85 days
- Requires
- Qualifying Direct Deposit
Chase
Chase Total Checking®
- Bonus
- $400
- Account Type
- Personal Checking
- Expires In
- 42 days
- Requires
- Direct Deposit
Bank of America
Advantage Banking Account
- Bonus
- up to $500
- Account Type
- Personal Checking
- Expires In
- 88 days
- Requires
- Direct Deposit
Why BMO?
BMO is headquartered in Chicago, and serves more than 13 million customers. For their checking accounts, BMO expands its reach by joining the Allpoint ATM network, which gives you access to about 40,000 fee-free ATMs nationwide. They also offer online and mobile tools to help you take care of most banking tasks without needing to go in-branch.
BMO offers personal checking, savings, MMAs, CDs, business and commercial accounts, home and auto loans, credit cards, and IRAs. They also offer their "Premier Services", which gives you an exclusive banking experience and expert financial advice from a Senior Premier Relationship Manager to help you define and work toward a financial plan.
While BMO offers more accounts and services than some of the online-only banks, most of their rates are only competitive with the big banks (read: not very high), so keep that in mind.
BMO Smart Advantage Checking
BMO Smart Advantage Checking is BMO's basic checking account and there's no monthly maintenance fee.
While this is a straightforward account without many frills, the account does give you access to BMO's network of 40,000 ATMs nationwide, their mobile app and online tools (including access to Total Look®, which helps you manage all of your accounts, even those external to BMO), and a chip-enabled debit mastercard
Fees
BMO Smart Advantage Checking does not charge a monthly maintenance fee.
BMO Smart Money Checking
Fees
BMO Smart Money Checking does charge a monthly maintenance fee of $5, but there are ways to get this waived:
- Be under 25 years of age
Relationship Checking
Relationship Checking is BMO's premium checking account, which offers tiered interest – the higher your balance, the more you earn.
You'll have access to BMO's network of 40,000 ATMs, PLUS they'll rebate ATM surcharge fees charged by other banks, up to $25 per monthly statement period. The account comes with their mobile app and online tools (including access to Total Look®, which helps you manage all of your accounts, even those external to BMO) and a chip-enabled debit MasterCard®.
Fees
Relationship Checking does charge a monthly maintenance fee of $25, but there are ways to get this waived:
- Maintain a minimum daily balance of $10,000
- OR, maintain a minimum daily balance of $25,000 in linked accounts under a Relationship Waiver (the accounts are not automatically linked, you MUST take this step)
- OR, have a BMO Harris Financial Advisors, Inc investment account
Learn more about the BMO checking accounts to earn the $400 Cash Bonus*
*Conditions apply. Accounts are subject to approval and provided in the U.S. by BMO Bank N.A. Member FDICShare Your Thoughts or Questions
There have been 17 comments about the BMO Personal Checking $400 Cash Bonus*.
BOB
April 15, 2025SUPER EASY TO OPEN, Literally was 5 minutes, then another 20 minutes to set up everything else like online banking, e statements, transfer money, and get account info. So far simple! Now $4k in DDs and its Bonus Time!
ReplyReply to BOB
Joseph Lee Robbins
November 17, 2023This was an easy bonus for us to get. Had zero issues. Would highly recommend this one!
ReplyReply to Joseph Lee Robbins
Tom
November 16, 2023This bonus is available nationwide. The application process is difficult. If you are having problems with the application you should try to apply from your personal cell phone, preferably from home (in case they are picking up a location). If you are having problems getting your ID to upload, then exit out of the application. Wait, and BMO will send you an email within 2 days or so to finish the application. From that email there is a link to verify your ID which worked for me. Don't be surprised if you have to try to apply more than once. The bonus pays out on time. Straight forward requirements. For 2 months they will waive the montly fee.
ReplyReply to Tom
Jake
November 16, 2023BMO Harris recently acquired the Bank of the West so if you are in a state where you can't find any BMO Harris locations, you can qualify for this bonus by visiting the Bank of the West (I live in Washington State).
ReplyReply to Jake
John
November 15, 2023Another bonus I want to do that's not available in GA. Oh well.
ReplyReply to John
Ankit Jain
November 15, 2023Reading some of the comments regarding this offer amazes me how easy it is to grab these offers and the way it's all organized by bankbonus.com. My go to site for new bank bonus offers! Thanks for all the help in making all this.
ReplyReply to Ankit Jain
Julia
March 17, 2025 Replying to Ankit JainI agree it's very helpful and tells you the details you might have missed otherwise, like how you can't close account before 6 months or you may be charged for the bonus! Love that I stumbled on this site today ;)
ReplyReply to Julia
tommy
November 14, 2023Not Available in California! Bummer, even though, I see the newly re-branded BMO branches here with bill boards all around the Bay Area.
ReplyReply to tommy
Jamon
November 14, 2023I have earned 2 bonuses from BMO. They require 12 months with a closed account, which is relatively generous, allowing for repeat bonuses. I most recently got a $350 bonus, after direct depositing $7500. A higher direct deposit total than most banks, but worth it for the generous $350 bonus I received. I was charged a $25 service fee at one point, but they reversed it at my request. Had to call to close.
ReplyReply to Jamon
Wayne
November 13, 2023You can do the $400 offer, but I recommend the $600 offer. It requires a little more direct deposit (DD), but I think it's worth it. I used a real DD for this. They have a $25 a month fee. The first two months are fee free then month three you're charged. You can request and receive a one time fee waiver. After the bonus kicks in you can downgrade the account to a fee free one.
ReplyReply to Wayne
Bill B
November 11, 2023I was able to earn the $350 BMO Harris (now known just as "BMO") in mid 2023. This one took a while to earn (90+ days) but it was worth it. It is important to note that you can sign up for their highest-tier account to get the biggest bonus. In my case, I had to direct deposit a total of $7500 over 90 days in order to earn the $350. The fine print indicates that whatever bank account type you have as of the 90th day after the account was opened would be what bonus you would qualify for. So, you could conceivably sign up for the "free" account, deposit $7500, and then change the account type to their "premier" account later on. This would help you avoid any fees. Also, my online account application had some sort of issue, so I had to spend about 30-45 minutes on the phone getting the account opened, which was a pain. However, the bonus was paid as promised.
ReplyReply to Bill B
Jon Snow
November 11, 2023Their application is buggy. I had to try multiple times. I was finally able to open the account by turning off my adblocker and not using autofill on my mobile phone.
ReplyReply to Jon Snow
Klaus Pohlmann
November 6, 2023Was pretty easy to get the $500 bonus. Direct Deposit $7500 w/i 90 days, $10k minimum balance to avoid the $25 monthly maintenance fee (first 2 months waived anyway). Can close in about 100 days if you wanted to. Pretty easy, no surprises.
ReplyReply to Klaus Pohlmann
Nicholas
November 3, 2023I was denied for this account when I tried applying online. I’m in Arkansas, so I wonder if it’s just not available in my state. It seems like this may not be nationwide.
ReplyReply to Nicholas
Stevie
November 3, 2023I tried this one several times and kept getting a message that I needed to contact support after submitting the application. After many many phone calls (and being passed between one person to another over and over again), I finally found a note that I live in a state that isn't eligible for an account. It would've been nice to deny me when filling out the application or speaking to a company rep the first 3x.
ReplyReply to Stevie
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