canadian.100 said

Yes I understand you don't "need" the Accountlink but it remains as it is embedded in the Investorline setup and I don't think you can close it whether you have a Practical Chequing acct or not. The Accountlink will continue to reflect the cash balance and cash deposits (credits) and cash withdrawals (debits) to the Investorline acct.  

Yes, that describes my setup exactly. I have a practical Checking account and the Accountlinks were set up when I transferred my holdings to BMOIL. In fact, to suit my requirements, I needed a USD Accountlink attached to one of my investment accounts to preclude USD dividends being automatically converted to CDN, which seems to be the default BMOIL setup.

Stephen

Those AccountLink chequing accounts are special. Net cash in one's non-registered BMO InvestorLine account is swept to the AccountLink chequing account overnight. Shortfalls in the cash balance of BMO InvestorLine account are automatically covered from the AccountLink chequing account.

It is more likely one would need to designate the AccountLink chequing account to be the chequing account of the Practical banking plan going forward and close the former plan's chequing account.

AltaRed said
Norman1 said you don't need the BMO Investorline AccountLink account if you instead link the BMO Banking Practical Plan account to BMO Investorline as your AccountLink.

The Investorline AcccountLink account is only needed if one (like me) does not otherwise have another BMO chequing account, and does not want one.  

Yes I understand you don't "need" the Accountlink but it remains as it is embedded in the Investorline setup and I don't think you can close it whether you have a Practical Chequing acct or not. The Accountlink will continue to reflect the cash balance and cash deposits (credits) and cash withdrawals (debits) to the Investorline acct.

The Investorline AcccountLink account is only needed if one (like me) does not otherwise have another BMO chequing account, and does not want one.

Norman1 said
BMO offers seniors who have reached age 60 the Practical Plan for $0/month.

Such seniors can sign up for the Practical Plan and designate the AccountLink chequing account to be the plan's chequing account to increase the free transactions from 2/month to 12/month.  

I understand how one can increase the free transactions from 2 per mo to 12 per mo because the Practical Plan allows 12 debits per month. It does not change the fact that more than 2 debits (withdrawals/bill payments/transfers out etc.) on the Accountlink account triggers a $1 fee on the 3rd debit. In simple terms if you only do 2 transfers per month from the Accountlink to the Practical Chequing or to an external linked acct you won't incur the $1 fee - is the way BMO agent explained to me.

Such seniors can sign up for the Practical Plan and designate the AccountLink chequing account to be the plan's chequing account to increase the free transactions from 2/month to 12/month.

• If you select the Practical Plan, you can have one Canadian or U.S. Dollar Primary Chequing Account, Interest Chequing Account (existing customers), BMO InvestorLine¹ AccountLink account or your BMO Nesbitt Burns Preferred Plus account and one Canadian or U.S. Dollar Premium Rate Savings Account under the Plan. One account must be designated as the Lead Account (defined below).
• If you select a Bank Plan other than the Practical Plan, you can have up to twenty Canadian or U.S. dollar accounts including BMO InvestorLine AccountLink account and/or your BMO Nesbitt Burns Preferred Plus account under one Plan. One account must be designated as the Lead Account (defined below).
• Savings Amplifier Accounts, Smart Saver Accounts and Savings Builders Accounts cannot be included as part of a Bank Plan.

…

One can designate the AccountLink chequing account as the Lead Account of the plan and not need another BMO chequing account.

Earlier info about sharing free transactions with Practical Chequing Account is incorrect. The AccountLink chequing account needs to be the chequing of that plan and not a second plan account.

The AccountLink chequing account can be added to the banking plan for another BMO chequing account to share the free transactions of the plan. If one has the $4/month BMO Practical Chequing Account, for example, one can add the AccountLink chequing account as one of the two additional accounts of the plan and share the 12 free transactions per month. Some other plans allow up to 19 additional accounts.

Hopefully, plan membership of the AccountLink chequing account wasn't eliminated with the new $0 commission fee structure!

None of the large banks are interested in offering no-fee, unlimited transactions with branch access.

Norman1 said

canadian.100 said

I did check with BMO - there is a charge for blank cheques - no longer free.
While I also use very few cheques, there are times when you need them or it works better to withdraw funds eg to deal with GIC brokers the great majority of issuing FIs require cheques.

The BMO AccountLink chequing account associated with non-registered BMO InvestorLine accounts is handy. If one has a $300,000 bank draft from the sale of a house or business, for example, one can go to a BMO branch and deposit it into the AccountLink chequing account and start investing the money right away through the InvestorLine brokerage account.

For smaller cheques/drafts, one can deposit by BMO ATM.

No need to wait for a bill payment to the InvestorLine account to be posted. One can also push funds from Tangerine or any other online bank to the AccountLink chequing account.  

After a good discussion with an Investorline rep and a BMO accounts person, I conclude that the BMO AccountLink is a bit of a bizarre animal. Sure you can deposit all you want (in many ways eg push or cheque in or interac etransfer in etc.) to the BMO AccountLink but it is very restrictive for any debit transaction (interac etransfer out, electronic transfer out, bill payment, ATM withdrawals, cheques) If you do only 2 debit transactions a month it could work for you but on the third debit transaction you are charged $1. So it certainly does not function well as a chequing account (or let's say it works but with fees after just 2 debit transactions.) Even if you transfer funds out from BMO AccountLink to the simple BMO chequing account you will still pay $1 charge if it is the 3rd debit transaction in the month. It seems bizarre for BMO to charge $1 (after 2 free debits) when you move funds from the BMO AccountLink to the BMO chequing (funds are still remaining within BMO group) - particularly now that they are boasting no trade commissions, nor admin fees on Investorline. I guess this is a way to keep revenue coming in - while no longer 9.99 for a trade commission which is good, many $1 fees for more than 2 debits in the AccountLink can add up in a year.
PS Scotia iTrade charges no fees to transfer funds between Scotia iTrade and Scotiabank Chequing in either direction. Perhaps BMO could consider.

anitavirginia said
should there be a link in the promotions to the investorline current promotion.?
I couldn't find one under direct investing brokerages  

I've added it there now, thanks!

canadian.100 said

So you passed on the BMOIL 2%/1% incentive to move your main account at itrade - and you are happy to keep paying commissions at iTrade. Seems strange since you took the incentive and made the move for your TFSA.  

Not sure I understand. I don't ever move for 1% (can't be bought that cheap) but I could be bought for the 2% portion. My TFSA of just under $300k fit nicely for the BMO IL promotion and it is now at BMO IL for the 2% for for first $250k and 1% for the rest.

Commissions are a non-issue for me. It is, I think, more than 5* years ago that I paid a trading commission at iTrade. Scotia is my primary bank so am happy to stay for the majority of my business.

* Added: Incorrect. My last commission was in 2024 when I sold the SOBO spin off from TC Energy and it appears I had a few others I had forgotten about in the past 5 years. Memory is not as good as I thought.

AltaRed said
I suggested to iTrade in an email when I transferred out my TFSA to BMO Investorline, that I was doing so primarily for the BMO IL 2%/1% incentive but also due to zero commissions and zero transfer out fees (which actually mean nothing to me).

I also said I was keeping iTrade as my primary brokerage for now but that iTrade management should be looking at what they need to do to be competitive with others who are moving well ahead of iTrade. The 50 free trades offer is close to a nothing burger. The rep said she would forward it to management (big black hole).  

So you passed on the BMOIL 2%/1% incentive to move your main account at itrade - and you are happy to keep paying commissions at iTrade. Seems strange since you took the incentive and made the move for your TFSA.

I also said I was keeping iTrade as my primary brokerage for now but that iTrade management should be looking at what they need to do to be competitive with others who are moving well ahead of iTrade. The 50 free trades offer is close to a nothing burger. The rep said she would forward it to management (big black hole).