{"id":101992,"date":"2026-02-11T11:24:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101992"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:24:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:24:56","slug":"bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it has applied a $4 million penalty on Bank of Montreal for overcharging customers after it failed to properly disclose fee details. The watchdog which is tasked with protecting users of financial products says the violations relate to charging clients monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted. The agency says 101,091 customers were affected between 2010 and 2024 and that the bank has issued refunds totalling more than $3 million. The bank has donated a further $600,000 for amounts that couldn\u2019t be refunded. A BMO spokesperson says the bank holds itself to the highest standards of conduct, that it proactively reimbursed its customers and it reported the issue to the FCAC. The penalties relate to discounted bank accounts for newcomers,&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F11%2Fbmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it has applied a $4 million penalty on Bank of Montreal for overcharging customers after it failed to properly disclose fee details. The watchdog which is tasked with protecting users of financial products says the violations relate to charging clients monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted. The agency says 101,091 customers were affected between 2010 and 2024 and that the bank has issued refunds totalling more than $3 million. The bank has donated a further $600,000 for amounts that couldn\u2019t be refunded. A BMO spokesperson says the bank holds itself to the highest standards of conduct, that it proactively reimbursed its customers and it reported the issue to the FCAC. The penalties relate to discounted bank accounts for newcomers,... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F11%2Fbmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it has applied a $4 million penalty on Bank of Montreal for overcharging customers after it failed to properly disclose fee details. The watchdog which is tasked with protecting users of financial products says the violations relate to charging clients monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted. The agency says 101,091 customers were affected between 2010 and 2024 and that the bank has issued refunds totalling more than $3 million. The bank has donated a further $600,000 for amounts that couldn\u2019t be refunded. A BMO spokesperson says the bank holds itself to the highest standards of conduct, that it proactively reimbursed its customers and it reported the issue to the FCAC. The penalties relate to discounted bank accounts for newcomers,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-11T16:24:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sandy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sandy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sandy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b\"},\"headline\":\"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-11T16:24:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":190,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/\",\"name\":\"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-11T16:24:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/11\\\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b\",\"name\":\"Sandy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sandy\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/sandy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it has applied a $4 million penalty on Bank of Montreal for overcharging customers after it failed to properly disclose fee details. The watchdog which is tasked with protecting users of financial products says the violations relate to charging clients monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted. The agency says 101,091 customers were affected between 2010 and 2024 and that the bank has issued refunds totalling more than $3 million. The bank has donated a further $600,000 for amounts that couldn\u2019t be refunded. A BMO spokesperson says the bank holds itself to the highest standards of conduct, that it proactively reimbursed its customers and it reported the issue to the FCAC. The penalties relate to discounted bank accounts for newcomers,","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-11T16:24:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sandy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sandy","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/"},"author":{"name":"Sandy","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b"},"headline":"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans","datePublished":"2026-02-11T16:24:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/"},"wordCount":190,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Local News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/","name":"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-11T16:24:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/bmo-fined-4-million-by-watchdog-for-overcharging-customers-on-discounted-plans\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BMO fined $4 million by watchdog for overcharging customers on discounted plans"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b","name":"Sandy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sandy"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/sandy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101993,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101992\/revisions\/101993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}