News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 2, 2012) - With the Federal Government announcing spending and expense measures in the Budget last week, BMO Bank of Montreal is encouraging Canadians to review their personal finances and take steps to balance their own budgets.

According to BMO Economics, the ratio of Canadian household debt to disposable income is approximately 153 per cent, higher than the U.S.

For the past year BMO has offered a free tool for customers - BMO MoneyLogic, an online personal financial management tool that enables customers to set and track savings goals and budgets.

BMO MoneyLogic is linked to BMO bank accounts, lines of credit and BMO credit card accounts, and automatically provides a total view of these accounts, including:

• Transaction Management: Customers can see their spending and saving within categories, such as 'auto', 'grocery' or 'home.' Additionally, customers can create categories that match their own spending habits.
  
  
• Savings: Customers can set savings goals and track their own progress. They can even link specific goals to their BMO saving accounts.
  
  
• Budgeting: Customers can set budget limits and receive notifications when limits have been reached. For instance, a $300 limit can be assigned to 'monthly entertainment,' and the customer will receive a notification if the amount is exceeded.
  
  
• Reporting: BMO MoneyLogic collects the customer's spending and saving data and produces easy-to-read charts and graphs, providing a better perspective on day-to-day spending and saving.
  
  

"With almost half of our personal banking customers doing their day-to-day banking online, an intuitive, online personal financial management tool such as BMO MoneyLogic brings clarity to our customers on where their money is going - which is the first step towards setting and achieving both short and long term savings goals whether it's for your house or your child's education," said Su McVey, Vice President, BMO Bank of Montreal.

BMO MoneyLogic is part of BMO's ongoing commitment to Making Money Make Sense. Since 2009, BMO has launched BMO SmartSteps, BMO SmartSteps for Business, BMO SmartSteps for Students, BMO SmartSteps for Parents and BMO SmartSteps for Investing.

Please visit www.bmo.com/moneylogic for more details.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly-diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $538 billion as at January 31, 2012, and more than 47,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.