BMO Debit Card Controls & Alerts
View and manage your BMO debit and ATM card in one place with BMO Digital banking footnote 1, available on mobile and desktop.
Lock and unlock your card
Turn your card on or off anytime - at home or on the go.
Set card controls
Decide where, when and how your card can be used by setting controls for location, merchant type, transaction type and amount.
Get alerts in real time
Customize your alerts for online and contactless purchases, spending abroad, and transactions that exceed your limits.
Choose how you’re notified
Select how you want to receive alerts – by email, text or push notification. footnote 2
How to set up controls and alerts
You can modify your preferences and contact information as often as needed.
Access BMO Digital Banking
Log in to BMO Digital Banking or enroll here
Navigate to your profile
Select your name in the top right-hand corner of any page in BMO Digital Banking or the More menu from your mobile phone
Select your controls & alerts
Select Manage debit/ATM cards and choose preferences from menu - Lock Card, Set Controls or Manage Alerts.
Manage alert notification preferences
Select Manage delivery settings to turn on and select your alert notification preferences.
Frequently asked questions
Immediately after you set and save the option.
Yes, multiple controls or alerts can be turned on at the same time.
Controls will continue to work. Alerts will continue to work via email and text, but push notifications via BDB app will not work at this time. If only mobile app is impacted, you will be able to make updates to controls and alerts through the desktop.
If the card number remains the same at reissue, controls and alerts will carry to the new card. However, if a new card number is issued then you must reestablish controls and alerts for the new card number.
Transaction Type “Auto Pay” is specific to recurring payments and is the only control that will cause a decline of the transaction if disabled. None of the other available controls apply to recurring payments.
Locking a debit card does not close the card. However, all non-recurring transactions will be declined until the card is unlocked. All recurring transactions will continue to be processed when the card is locked. To block recurring transactions, see previous question on recurring payments (automatic payments).
Yes, Location Controls will only cover in-store transactions, not Online, Mail Order, and Phone Orders.
The total transaction amount (including tip, delivery, etc.) must be equal to or less than the set Spending Limit.
Once a card is enrolled in Controls and Alerts (card is considered enrolled once you access Controls or Alerts setting in BDB), a declined transaction will always generate an Alert whether or not the Alert function was set.
Need help?
We’re just a phone call away.
Give us a call
Reach out any time with questions or if you need to report a lost or stolen card.
Visit us in person
Drop by your nearest BMO financial center and we'll help you get set up.
