TORONTO,
            August 15, 2008 –  BMO Spend & Payment Solutions,
            a division of BMO Financial Group, announced today that it has been
            awarded a new contract by the Ontario Government to provide a fully
            integrated corporate travel and purchase card program that will enhance
            the Province's ability to track, analyze and manage purchasing
            and employee travel-related expenses. 
      The Province is now partnered with a single card issuer that will deliver
        an integrated solution that enhances reporting, controllership and cardholder
        compliance. 
      “The BMO card program will become an integral part of the Province's
        Single Sign-On Web Portal which enables employees to submit and reconcile
        work related expenses quickly and easily,” said Roman Zydownyk,
        Assistant Deputy Minister. Roman leads the Enterprise Financial Services
        Division of Ontario Shared Services for the government of Ontario. 
      “The Province of Ontario has been a valued strategic partner and
        we're delighted to continue working with them,” said Terry
        Wellesley, Managing Director of BMO Spend & Payment Solutions. “Together
        we have built a card program that will realize potential cost savings
        for the Province by streamlining their spend management functions and
        we're taking our card program to the next level by having it fully
        integrated into their Web Portal for employees."
      “As a result, BMO is able to improve the efficiency of routine
        transactions in a common area already accessed online that minimizes
        steps employees must take to use their cards and reconcile expenses.
        This degree of functionality is increasingly in demand by corporate and
        government organizations,” Wellesley added.
      The fully integrated solution
          for the Province will also work seamlessly with BMO's details Online, the bank's
          proprietary database for reporting, analysis and management that enables
          managers of corporate
        card programs to review employee spending in real time, enabling greater
        expense oversight, streamlined activities, and better cash flow for their
        business transactions.
      “BMO has been a great partner. They helped design a highly efficient
        card program that meets the Province's business requirements,” said
        Roman Zydownyk. “They've consistently demonstrated that they
        have the scale to grow with us and can continue to help improve our operations
        year after year.”
      BMO Spend & Payment Solutions
          is a Top 10 North American provider of advanced commercial and corporate
          card solutions that has continued
        to grow its commercial card business by partnering with large and mid-market
        corporations and public agencies in a range of industries throughout
        North America. 
      In April, BMO Spend & Payment
          Solutions announced that it had expanded its Canadian customer base
          in both the public and private sectors when
        it reached card-issuing agreements with four new card partnerships in
        British Columbia.
      “We find that public sector organizations and corporations often
        have needs that intersect,” said Terry Wellesley. “They want
        to work with a card partner that can help them streamline purchasing
        and accounts payable functions, and apply spend controls that can be
        easily tracked.”
      About BMO
            Spend & Payment
          Solutions
  A division of BMO Financial Group, BMO Spend & Payment Solutions
        (formerly BMO ePurchasing Solutions) is a leading commercial card, spend
        and payment solutions provider in North America. BMO Spend & Payment
        Solutions' products are widely used by Corporations, non-profit
        and government sector organizations to manage, control and gain better
        visibility into their commercial spending. 
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