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Email this2:35 pm
May 20, 2016
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I hope I have the correct thread.
I was wondering if there are any long time BMO US Mastercard customers who may have been told at one time that BMO would waive their annual fee, even if they don't go over the annual $1000 in spending. Essentially, the existing customers who have this card would be grandfathered.
I have been told many times when I visited a BMO branch or even when I called customer service that should I receive the charge, just call it in and get it waived; however, there is nothing documented on file.
As such, I am wondering if anyone was told the same?
Much thanks.
1:14 pm
July 28, 2016
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I have the BMO US since 2010, never happened to me that I did not put $1000 on it for a year. That said, BMO could be very accommodation about certain fee if you are a long time client and do your main banking with them. I would not be surprise if they would reimburse you the fee if its the case.
1:31 pm
May 20, 2016
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I had the BMO US card since 2006. The annual fee came to be in 2012.
BMO did reimburse me for the $35, this time. However, the CSR manager is looking into their archival records to determine if my account was supposed to be grandfathered. The manager feels that I am not grandfathered, but at my insistence she will look further so I don't have to call back each year to get the fee waived should I not spend more than $1000.
Researching a bit tells me some people were told they are grandfathered while others were told they must cough up the annual fee regardless if they applied for the card long before the annual fee came to be. There definitely is an inconsistency. The annual fee was never an issue in the past as I always had managed to reach the $1000 limit.
11:52 pm
May 20, 2016
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Slybanking said
I have the BMO US since 2010, never happened to me that I did not put $1000 on it for a year. That said, BMO could be very accommodation about certain fee if you are a long time client and do your main banking with them. I would not be surprise if they would reimburse you the fee if its the case.
I cancelled my US BMO credit card. I applied for the RBC Signature Black (No fee version) VISA but the entire application and approval process was extremely sketchy including the email (only) correspondence I received from their RBC Affiliate in the USA. I never completed the entire process as they refused to provide proof of who they were and the email included a suspicious header, attachment, from to, and more to verify it wasn't a scam. They wanted me to send them by email a copy of my driver's license et al through an unknown suspicious link. They never sent me a letter or anything.
3:30 am
October 5, 2017
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Every year about this time BMO hits me with a US dollar $35 annual fee .
And every year I call in an request they wave the fee .
So far they have never refused me.
If and when the do refuse to wave the fee, I will then cancel the card.
I think its more important to BMO/Mastercard to keep me as a customer and not lose me to the competition.
2:21 pm
May 20, 2016
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bhuc said
Every year about this time BMO hits me with a US dollar $35 annual fee .
And every year I call in an request they wave the fee .
So far they have never refused me.
If and when the do refuse to wave the fee, I will then cancel the card.
I think its more important to BMO/Mastercard to keep me as a customer and not lose me to the competition.
Same here. Except the last time, they refused and I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. They were willing to grant me as an exception and they laid it really thick this will be the last time they'll be doing this. I gave them all the usual responses about keeping me as a customer (for more than a quarter of a century) and I was laying it thick on them too.
I was told that the fee would remain as outstanding balance on the card even if I cancelled it (after the annual fee was charged).
At the end they said, if you like, I'll cancel your card. I said, fine. Do it. That was that.
2:58 pm
December 20, 2016
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Depending on your relationship with BMO in Canada, a referral to BMO Harris in the U.S. can get you a BMO Harris Cashback Mastercard based in the U.S.
The current offering is:
-
no fee
5% cash back on eligible streaming, cable TV and satellite services
3% cash back on eligible gas and grocery purchases
1% cash back on all other eligible purchases
Welcome Bonus: $200 cash back bonus when you spend $2,000 within 3 months of opening your account
With the appropriate referral, you are provided with all necessary documentation, including the IRS W8-BEN form that identifies you as having foreign status, now required for Canadians to get a U.S. credit card.
Stephen
12:21 am
May 20, 2016
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Nehpets said
Depending on your relationship with BMO in Canada, a referral to BMO Harris in the U.S. can get you a BMO Harris Cashback Mastercard based in the U.S.The current offering is:
no fee
5% cash back on eligible streaming, cable TV and satellite services
3% cash back on eligible gas and grocery purchases
1% cash back on all other eligible purchases
Welcome Bonus: $200 cash back bonus when you spend $2,000 within 3 months of opening your accountWith the appropriate referral, you are provided with all necessary documentation, including the IRS W8-BEN form that identifies you as having foreign status, now required for Canadians to get a U.S. credit card.
Stephen
Given it's not a Canadian domicile bank, the issue I raise is paying for the credit card with BMO Harris.
5:36 am
April 21, 2022
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Hmm said
Given it's not a Canadian domicile bank, the issue I raise is paying for the credit card with BMO Harris.
BMO Harris, now known simply as BMO in the US, offers a free checking ( chequing ) account to Canadians which can be used to pay off the credit card. The challenge is, how to get USD into the checking account? There are a number of ways, one is, if you bank with BMO in Canada, open a USD account here and transfer funds to the BMO checking account to pay off the credit card.
7:19 am
December 20, 2016
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JohnnyCash said
.....The challenge is, how to get USD into the checking account? There are a number of ways, one is, if you bank with BMO in Canada, open a USD account here and transfer funds to the BMO checking account to pay off the credit card.
In fact, once the BMO Harris Mastercard is issued, and you have online access to your account, you can set up EFT transfers from any U.S. based checking account to pay your credit card balance, not necessarily your BMO Harris USD account.
Stephen
6:27 am
November 8, 2021
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Hmm said
Given it's not a Canadian domicile bank, the issue I raise is paying for the credit card with BMO Harris.
Adding to what is mentioned by JohnnyCash and Nephets, if you set up an account with BMO U.S., you might be able to convert/transfer from Canada through cross border funds transfer in CAD $. RBC allows that.
9:36 pm
May 20, 2016
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BlueSky said
Adding to what is mentioned by JohnnyCash and Nephets, if you set up an account with BMO U.S., you might be able to convert/transfer from Canada through cross border funds transfer in CAD $. RBC allows that.
I called RBC on this. I applied for the RBC (Georgia) US Black Visa. I was told that I couldn't pay the Visa statement through my Canadian RBC. I would need to set up an actual savings or "checking" account with RBC Georgia, something that is not beneficial it for me as it requires an annual fee. I cancelled the application.
10:44 pm
September 29, 2017
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Not sure if it is a grandfathered case but having a savings accounts with RBC Georgia costs nothing if you hold a minimum balance of $1,000.
8:39 pm
May 20, 2016
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smayer97 said
Not sure if it is a grandfathered case but having a savings accounts with RBC Georgia costs nothing if you hold a minimum balance of $1,000.
Probably not grandfathered as there is a minimum balance needed. I declined the Georgia account including no fee US Black Visa a few times as I have no way of paying/transferring funds into the account from my free RBC Canadian domicile US account. I also refuse to keep a balance in the account. However, I know for some people it works great.
9:04 pm
September 29, 2017
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Transferring US$ from RBC US acct in Canada to RBC in Georgia is supported on the RBC website, so it is a trivial, and instantaneous, transaction, and is free.
1:02 am
May 20, 2016
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smayer97 said
Transferring US$ from RBC US acct in Canada to RBC in Georgia is supported on the RBC website, so it is a trivial, and instantaneous, transaction, and is free.
Your comment is trivial and an example if misinformation, perhaps due to your reading comprehension challenges or nefarious objectives.
6:07 am
April 6, 2013
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smayer97 said
Not sure if it is a grandfathered case but having a savings accounts with RBC Georgia costs nothing if you hold a minimum balance of $1,000.
The RBC U.S. Preferred Money Market Savings account is still offered by RBC Bank (Georgia).
Personal Schedule of Fees says the $5/month maintenance fee is waived with a minimum balance of $1,000. First six debits each month are no extra charge. $5 per debit after that.
"Free" and "no delay" but not completely free and without any delay! No extra charge for crossing the funds over the Canada-US border. But, any regular account withdrawal fees would apply:
Unlimited and instant transfers3 between the U.S. and Canada
No worrying about drafts and wires. Enjoy free transfers between your RBC Royal Bank and your RBC Bank U.S. accounts — 24/7 with no delay.
…
3 Standard account charges may apply. Maximum transaction limits may apply and are subject to change. Availability of the money will depend on the time when it is sent from Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Bank. Transaction may not appear on your RBC Bank account transaction history until the following day but will reflect the date of transfer.
6:59 am
November 28, 2019
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"Transferring US$ from RBC US acct in Canada to RBC in Georgia is supported on the RBC website, so it is a trivial, and instantaneous, transaction, and is free"
As someone who has used this account regularly (just now in fact) for years, I agree with this statement with one modification as noted by Norman1 - minimum balance required.
7:55 am
April 21, 2022
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firaxa said
"Transferring US$ from RBC US acct in Canada to RBC in Georgia is supported on the RBC website, so it is a trivial, and instantaneous, transaction, and is free"As someone who has used this account regularly (just now in fact) for years, I agree with this statement with one modification as noted by Norman1 - minimum balance required.
If you have to maintain a minimum balance then it's not free. I dislike the term ' free ' when describing products and services, nothing is free in life, there's always a gotcha somewhere.
8:06 am
September 29, 2017
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JohnnyCash said
If you have to maintain a minimum balance then it's not free. I dislike the term ' free ' when describing products and services, nothing is free in life, there's always a gotcha somewhere.
Fair point, and you are right...but the minimum balance was discussed and established, so that is the context of following comments. Interpretation is then up to the reader.
Please write your comments in the forum.