Consumer complaint received 2023-11-30
Company: BMO HARRIS BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: CD (Certificate of Deposit)
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Unable to open an account

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2023 I was researching longer term interest rates to invest money currently held in a deposit account in another XXXX bank and found VERY attractive rates on CDs at BMO XXXX, a new, on-line only subsidiary BMO Bank N.A. XXXX XXXX BMO Harris Bank XXXX XXXX 

I applied for the account online, but after entering the required information, I received a message stating " Sorry! We're unable to approve your application today. We'll send you an email with further information '' ( see attached screen shots ). 

The email stated the following : " Thank you for your interest in BMO XXXX. Unfortunately, your account application has been declined. If you believe you have entered information incorrectly, we invite you to re-apply. '' Certainly, I could have mis-keyed a data entry in the application, so I repeated the application process, MULTIPLE times, carefully checking my inputs, with the same result ( see attached PDF with several, but not all, automated emails from BMO XXXX confirming repeated declination of the account. 

Thinking that perhaps a mis-typed entry might have been stored in my browser cache, causing continued errors in the application process, I closed my browser, cleared its cache and history and rebooted my computer. Additional attempts to open the account after the PC reboot also resulted in denied applications. 

I called the toll free customer service number listed on the bank 's web site and received a return call ( due to an inordinately large queue of backlogged calls ) several hours later. The representative with whom I spoke proceeded to read me a canned script indicating that my account was denied due to inaccurate or incomplete information in the application that resulted in failure to satisfy XXXX banking safety/disclosure requirements. I asked the bank representative to tell me what information was defective/inaccurate. She stated that she had no access to the reason for the account declination and couldn't help me- but had I tried entering the online application on a different device. As she suggested, I used another laptop in our home to enter an application, carefully checking the accuracy of my inputs, with no success. Account declined. 

At this point, I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told none was available. The bank rep then offered to open an internal ticket regarding the problem, but then incredulously told me that she couldn't guarantee I would receive a call back. I gave her the personal information she requested and asked for a call log number or other identifier that would reference our conversation. She gave me the following : " Request # XXXX. '' What is even more frustrating, my wife and I were customers of the parent BMO Bank XXXX ( and its predecessor market identity as BMO Harris Bank XXXX ) for well over 20 years, having held multiple checking, first mortgage and HELOC accounts with BMO. The parent entity certainly has records that would confirm my identity. We have paid BMO hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest over the years. 

Now, we were refused the opportunity to open an account, but the bank can't or won't tell me what information is inaccurate or offer any assistance in remedying the problem their automated online system flagged. 

My wife and I have numerous CDs and a deposit account held at online-only banks, so this application process isn't our first rodeo. Likewise, we are well familiar with Federal banking regulations that require accurate information about depositors - and support those common sense regulations. But I have never experienced a problem entering an account application online EVER before. The fact that the reason for declination of application can't/wo n't be disclosed by the bank is doubly unreasonable.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation