Overdraft protection
If you’re concerned your account may not have enough funds to cover upcoming expenses, overdraft protection can help you avoid the inconvenience of extra fees and declined transactions.
Ready to get started? Visit your branch to set up overdraft protection.
What are the benefits of overdraft protection?
Peace of mind
Forget the stress and potential embarrassment of declined transactions, and don’t get caught paying unwanted non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees.
Select your overdraft protection
We offer two types of overdraft protection, so you can choose the plan that suits your needs.
- Standard Overdraft Protection: Find you’re frequently going into overdraft? No matter how often you do, this plan is $5.00 a month. This fee is waived for Premium Chequing account customers*20.
- Occasional Overdraft Protection (Not available for residents of Quebec): Take precaution against occasional overdrafts. Forget the monthly fee, and instead pay $5.00 per transaction*21.
- Still not sure? We also offer an Overdraft Transfer Service. This service lets you pre-arrange to have funds moved from one BMO account to another to cover you in case of overages or insufficient funds. A $5 transaction fee applies*22.
Overdraft protectionFrequently Asked Questions
Overdraft protection is a simple way to cover for shortfalls in your account. It protects you against declined transactions, non-sufficient funds fees and returned cheques when your account is overdrawn.
You can apply for overdraft protection in any of our branches. Make an appointment to visit us.
Think of overdraft protection as a mini-loan to cover your account when it’s overdrawn. You’ll be charged interest for the amount of overdraft protection you use, so it’s a good idea to pay off that loan as soon as you can.
If that’s not possible, we recommend you make a deposit into your chequing account every 30 days, and don’t carry a negative balance for more than 90 consecutive days.
We can let you know when your account balances are low. Sign up for low-balance alerts in Online Banking to stay up to date with your accounts.
Overdraft protection is meant as a short-term solution to cover unexpected shortfalls. If you find yourself consistently going into overdraft, you may want to consider other solutions, like a line of credit or a personal loan.
Interest will be calculated on your daily balance and charged to your account on the last business day of the month - see the terms and conditions for your overdraft protection type. Please note the interest rates on Overdraft are traditionally higher than other lending options. Interest rate is available online at bmo.com/rates
Yes. Just make an appointment to visit a branch, and we can change your overdraft protection service.
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Set up with overdraft protection? Here are some other things to try.
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Transfer money
No need to head into a branch. Move your money whenever you want by using Online Banking.
Deposit money into your account
Save yourself a trip to the bank or ATM and get immediate access to your money with mobile cheque deposit.
Want to know more? That’s what we’re here for.
Come in and talk to us
Drop by your nearest branch to chat about your financial future.
