BMO Harris Bank VS Bank of the West

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • MMA earns competitive rates
  • Good variety of accounts available
  • Special CDs earn competitive rates
  • Many ways to open accounts

Cons:

  • High opening required amounts
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Most interest rates not competitive
  • Tiered interest rates on accounts
  • Financial Rates: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Business accounts are available
  • Direct deposit is not required
  • A variety of different lengths of CDs
  • Transfer money to others with PopMoney

Cons:

  • Low-interest rates on accounts
  • High initial required amounts for CDs
  • High required amounts for accounts
  • Products change based on states
BMO Harris Bank Review

The BMO Harris money market account offers competitive interest rates. These rates are competitive with other online accounts. They are much higher than typical bank rates. There are no monthly fees for this account.

BMO Harris offers a good variety of personal and business accounts. Those accounts include:

  • Checking accounts
  • Savings and money market accounts
  • CD terms from three to 60-months
  • IRA savings accounts and CDs
  • Lending options
  • Credit cards
  • Investment options

BMO Harris Bank offers specific CD terms with more competitive interest rates. Their CD terms range from three to 60-months. They offer a six-month, 12-month, and 18-month CD with more competitive interest rates. These rates are competitive with other online CD accounts. BMO Harris CDs require $1,000, $5,000, or $100,00 to open.

There is more than one way to open BMO Harris accounts. You can open bank accounts online through the website. Customers can open accounts at a branch location or by calling customer service.

Some BMO Harris accounts have high opening required amounts. The money market account requires $5,000 to open. BMO Harris Bank offers regular CDs and jumbo CDs. To get the most competitive interest rate requires $5,000. The jumbo CDs require $100,000 to open.

Most BMO Harris accounts have monthly fees. The fees for their checking accounts range from $5 to $30. The savings account has a $5 monthly fee. These fees can be waived by keeping a set amount in the accounts. Those balances range from $100 to $50,000 depending on the account. Electronic statements and being under 25 years old will also waive some account fees.

BMO Harris Bank account rates are not competitive with other online accounts. The money market account and some CD terms offer competitive interest rates. Other account rates are not competitive with online accounts.

The premier checking account has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate for this account requires a balance of $50,000. The money market account has tiered interest rates, but the tiers are not on the website.

Read the full BMO Harris Bank review.

Bank of the West Review

Bank of the West offers checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts for your business. Credit cards, loans, and lines of credit are also available. Bank of the West offers payroll services and payment processing options. Foreign exchange services for business accounts are also available. Interest rates for their different business accounts are not listed on the website.

Bank of the West does not require you to have direct deposit into their checking account. There is a monthly maintenance fee, but you can waive that fee by depositing money into your account each month. You can deposit any amount by an ATM, in-branch, direct, or mobile deposit to waive the fee.

Bank of the West offers Flexible-Term CDs, Premium Money Market CD, and a Relationship CD. Within these different CD types are a variety of term lengths, except the Relationship CD. That only has a 12-month term option. To apply for a CD and get the specific term lengths and rates you have to visit a branch. You cannot apply online.

With Popmoney you can send or receive money with only an email, text, or account number. You decide where the money is deposited. You will receive an alert when the transaction is complete. There is a fee to send money overnight, and not all customers qualify to use Popmoney.

Personal banking accounts of Bank of the West do not have competitive interest rates. The rates are much less than online-only banks but similar to typical bank interest rates.

To open a CD, you must have an opening balance of $1,000 for the Flexible-Term CDs and Premier Money Market CDs. To open a Relationship CD, you must have $2,500 and a checking account with Bank of the West.

To waive the Premier Checking account fee, you must have $25,000 in qualifying accounts. The Choice Money Market account requires $5,000. CD accounts require $1,000 to $2,500 to open. The Classic Savings account requires $300. There are other options for ways to have monthly fees waived. Know the options if you cannot keep the required amounts of money in the accounts.

Bank of the West accounts are not available in all states. To apply for an account, you must have an address in one of the states listed. Interest rates and products differ between states. The name of the bank may be slightly different as well depending on the area.

Read the full Bank of the West review.

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