BMO InvestorLine | Page 2 | General financial discussion | Discussion forum

DIYers trade online. No need for phone calls. I made both a buy and a sell. Instantaneous as expected.

AltaRed said

These ISAs (AAT770 for example) are bought and sold like mutual funds so they have a T+1 settlement. Which is fine because whatever you buy on the market will have a T+2 settlement. That way you can buy your stock on Day 1, sell enough of your ISA on the same day that you bought your stock, and the cash will be there at the end of Day 2, in time to pay for your stock when it settles on Day 3.

I always wait until Day 2 to sell AAT770. That way, besides earning interest for another day, I can reduce the sale amount if some dividend or GIC interest is posted on Day 2.

Unfortunately, BMO still have archaic systems whereby banking and brokerage systems dont talk to each other. So they have a patch called 'Move my Money'. That said, it is not supposed to be more than 1, maybe 2, business days.

Do you not have a BMO AccountLink chequing account associated with your BMO InvestorLine account, toto?

One can deposit cheques at an ATM into the AccountLink chequing account after adding it to your BMO bank card. One can transfer funds from another BMO account into it. One can even push funds into it and pull funds out of it at another financial institution, just like any other chequing account.

Overnight, the funds will become available for trades through your BMO InvestorLine cash or margin account.

I've not tried this method. But, apparently BMO InvestorLine accounts can also receive funds through bill payments: InvestorLine FAQ: Account Features

Can one add the AccountLink chequing account and the BMO savings account to one's BMO online banking profile?

That way, one can move funds between the accounts oneself via online banking.

What I meant was that one should move money through the regular BMO Bank of Montreal online banking site. Not through the BMO InvestorLine site.

It sounds like when someone goes through the BMO InvestorLine site and does "Move My Money" through Account Services, it creates a request for some agent to later process.

In contrast, when one goes through the BMO Bank of Montreal online banking site (or an ATM using the BMO debit card) and transfers funds from a BMO savings account to the AccountLink chequing account, it should be instant. The additional purchasing power would visible the next day on the BMO InvestorLine site.

It was reasonable to think the BMO InvestorLine "Move Your Money" feature would be instantaneous. But, what really happens behind the scenes can be surprising.

Reminds me of an old story about an electronic billing service offered by former online company CompuServe. One user kept on getting dinged by late fees by his utility company for paying his bill late.

He called the utility company to complain. He thought their accounts receivable department should get their act together and post his electronic bill payments to his account promptly, instead of a week or two later.

Customer was surprised the agent knew about him!

"So, you're the one who mails in those strange-looking corporate cheques to pay their bill!"

Thanks for the update, toto. Glad to hear you were able get through eventually.

Now we know that "Move Your Money" feature in BMO InvestorLine should be avoided. It seems to generate a request to an agent to transfer the funds! It doesn't do an actual transfer, like going to BMO online banking or to an ATM and doing a transfer to the associated AccountLink chequing account.