BMO Survey: Inflation Has Caused One Third of Canadians to Reduce Savings Contributions

• BMO's new Savings Amplifier Account and Savings Goals feature helps Canadians achieve their financial goals
• BMO offers tips to maintain financial progress and savings habits through inflationary period

TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2022 /CNW/ -BMO Financial Group is helping Canadians save and effortlessly track their progress with the newly launched Savings Amplifier Account. The Savings Amplifier Account has no monthly fee, a competitive interest rate and unlimited no-fee transfers to other BMO accounts.

BMO has also launched the Savings Goals feature in its Mobile Banking app which enables customers to set their financial goals in minutes, track their progress right from the account summary page and celebrate when they reach milestones towards achieving their goals. In addition, the ability to set custom transfers makes it easy for customers to set and forget their regular savings contributions by setting a minimum balance on their source account.

According to the BMO Real Financial Progress Index, one third of Canadian adults (36 per cent) have reduced their savings contributions due to rising costs of living with almost one quarter (22 per cent) cutting their retirement savings contributions. The BMO Real Financial Progress Index, which provides a quarterly measurement of consumer sentiment around financial confidence, also revealed that 61 per cent of Canadians without financial goals wish they had them in place.

"With the daily cost of living on the rise, it can be tough to prioritize saving," said Gayle Ramsay, Head of Everyday Banking and Customer Acquisition at BMO. "BMO's Savings Goals feature is designed to simplify the process and ensure that our customers don't lose sight of their plans. BMO's new Savings Amplifier account further enhances Canadians' ability to save with benefits like no-fee transfers. Whether it be education, travel, or a big-ticket item they've been saving for, BMO is committed to helping our customers make real progress towards those goals despite economic challenges."

BMO has already helped over 150,000 customers set their financial goals. Customers can set goals digitally or by booking an appointment at a branch.

BMO offers the following tips to help customers start saving, stay on track and achieve their goals:

• Set financial goals then save automatically. Digital tools like Savings Goals on the BMO mobile banking app are an easy way to set and track goals. Digital tools also allow customers to set up automatic transfers to help them stick to their plan.
  
  
• Talk to the experts to learn about managing money. Need more guidance than friends or family can offer? BMO bankers offer Real Financial Progress Checks for customers to discuss their finances and provides advice based on their individual situation.
  
  
• Choose banking options that best suit your goals. Different goals require different financial tools. For example, for those looking to build their emergency savings or save for a down payment or renovation, products like BMO's new Savings Amplifier Account let customers earn money back when they save, helping funds grow faster while providing flexibility to adjust savings goals as life circumstances change.
  
  
• Set up a Custom Transfer that meets unique requirements. A Custom Transfer is a safe and reliable method to transfer money into Savings Accounts when certain conditions are met. Customers can set conditions like a minimum balance from a source account; and BMO's automated solution takes care of the rest. Set it up once, forget about it, and watch your savings grow.

BMO's Savings Goals feature complements a host of digital capabilities focused on helping customers make real financial progress, including BMO Insights, BMO CashTrack, and Selfie ID.

For more information on how BMO's products and services can help consumers make real financial progress, visit www.bmo.com/main/personal and to learn more about BMO mobile banking, visit www.bmo.com/main/personal/ways-to-bank/get-started/mobile/.

Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $1.07 trillion as of July 31, 2022, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

Launched in February 2021, the BMO Real Financial Progress Index is an indicator of how consumers feel about their personal finances and whether they are making financial progress. The Index aims to spark dialogue that will help consumers reach their financial goals and to humanize a topic that causes anxiety for many – money. The research detailed in this document was conducted by Ipsos in the United States and Canada from March 30 to April 25, 2022. A sample of n=3,403 Canadian adults ages 18+ were collected. Quotas and weighting were used to ensure the sample's composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group

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