The BMO Premium Rate Savings Account is one of the few savings accounts that actually lets you get at your money whenever you want, including unlimited free Interac e-Transfers. And this is great for what is technically a free account.
On the other hand, you’re getting a very, very low 0.01% interest rate, and you have to have at least one BMO chequing account in addition, all of which have monthly fees (or have a minimum balance requirement). All in all there’s not a lot going for this account – it feels more like a freebie add-on for BMO’s chequing accounts rather than a product unto itself.
BMO Premium Rate Savings Account features
So, what does this savings account offer?
Why You Want It
Earn 0.01% interest + Access your money whenever you need it .
Special Features
- Share transaction limits with your chequing account
- Easy access to funds
- * Only available as an addition to your BMO chequing account. Transaction limits and fees are the same as the chequing account (fees shown are for BMO Performance)
Eligibility
- Age of majority
- Canadian citizen
Provinces
ALL
Interest Rates
Any balance
0.01%
Features
# Of Free Transactions
Unlimited
# Of Free Interac E-Transfers
Unlimited
Max Promotion Rate
N/A
Welcome Bonus Value
N/A
Promo End Date
N/A
BMO Premium Rate Savings Account product rating: 3.9 stars
This savings account really doesn’t have a whole lot going for it. It gained a few points for being a free add-on to one of the BMO chequing accounts, and for having unlimited Interac e-Transfers, but otherwise gets low to no marks in all other areas.
Rating methodology
To calculate our Genius Ratings, we compare the features of the account or product in question with other similar products in Canada. We give each feature a score out of 5 based on that comparison. Once we’ve rated all the features, we run them through our proprietary algorithm to produce a final rating out of 5.
Learn more about our rating methodology.
The pros of the BMO Premium Rate Savings Account
The BMO Premium Rate Savings Account…
Pros
Is technically free
While you do need to have a BMO chequing account before you can open a Premium Rate Savings Account, adding the savings account to your plan is free. But your chequing account is not. You can learn more about BMO chequing accounts and their associated fees.
Makes it easy to get at your money
If you stash some money in your BMO Premium Rate Savings account, you won’t have any problems getting at it whenever you want. You can access it via debit card, or you can take advantage of the unlimited Interac e-Transfers that are part of every BMO bank plan. That said, having easy access to the money in your savings account also makes it easy to raid your rainy day fund for impulse purchases, making it trickier to actually save.
The cons of the BMO Premium Rate Savings Account
There are a few major downsides to this savings account.
Cons
You need to have a BMO chequing account first
While the website says you can call customer service if you want to open a BMO Premium Rate Savings Account without opening a BMO chequing account first, they really intend this savings account to be an add-on to a chequing account. And their chequing accounts all require either a monthly fee or a minimum balance to waive that fee. So, while technically free, this savings account is actually part of a larger non-free package.
The interest rate is a paltry 0.01%
The average base interest rate for big bank savings accounts is an already low 0.05%, and this account’s interest rate is significantly lower than that. There are no fee savings accounts available through other banks that have much higher interest rates (and other perks besides).
Doesn’t help you build your savings
The low interest rate and the fact that you can get at the money in this account so easily means that this account is not helping you build your savings at all. There are accounts, such as BMO’s Savings Builder Account, that actually reward you for saving and give you higher interest rates to boot.
Has no welcome bonus or intro offers
Similar to BMO’s other savings accounts, the BMO Premium Rate Savings Account has no introductory bonuses or welcome offers at all, so you have no incentive even to sign up to try it out for a while.
BMO Premium Rate Savings Account alternatives
Here we’re going to look at the BMO Premium Rate Savings account in comparison to one other BMO savings account and also see how it measures up against one of the better savings accounts offered by an online bank.
 |  | |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account | BMO Premium Rate Savings Account | Scotiabank Money Master Savings Account | Scotiabank MomentumPLUS Savings Account | Tangerine US Dollar Savings Account |
| Genius Rating | ||||
| Why You Want It | Earn 0.01% interest + Access your money whenever you need it . |  $50 GeniusCash + Automatically save with every debit purchase through Bank The Rest. | Get up to 4.75%* interest on your money + No monthly fees. | Earn 0.1% interest on every dollar + Keep your USD funds safe with free transactions. |
| Interest Rates |
|
|
|
|
| # Of Free Transactions | Unlimited | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| # Of Free Interac E-Transfers | Unlimited | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Max Promotion Rate | N/A | N/A | 4.75% | 4.5% |
| Welcome Bonus Value | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Promo End Date | N/A | N/A | See Issuer for Details | October 31, 2025 |
| Open an account See more BMO products Compare | I Want This Deal See more Scotiabank products Compare | Open an account See more Scotiabank products Compare | Learn More See more Tangerine products Compare |
* Interest calculated daily on the total closing balance and paid monthly. Rates per annum are subject to change without notice.
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BMO Premium Rate Savings Account FAQs
We don’t get a lot of questions about this savings account, but here are a few that have come in.
What’s the interest rate for the BMO Premium Rate Savings Account?
The interest rate for this savings account is 0.01%. This is very low compared to the average 0.05% interest offered by most of the big banks’ savings accounts, and exceptionally low compared to interest rates available on savings accounts offered by some of the new online banks (such as EQ Bank and Tangerine).
Can I open a BMO Premium Rate Savings Account on its own?
The BMO website says you can call customer service if you want to open one of these accounts on its own, but it’s really designed to be an add-on for one of BMO’s chequing accounts.
Is the BMO Premium Rate Savings Account free?
The Premium Rate Savings Account is a free add-on for one of BMO’s chequing accounts, so technically yes, this account is free. On the other hand, none of BMO’s chequing accounts are free, so realistically this savings account is part of a larger non-free package. You can learn more about BMO’s savings accounts here.
Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone, and is not endorsed or sponsored by a bank, credit card issuer, rewards program or other entity. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website.
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