Consumer complaint received 2025-07-29 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: BMO BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
This financial institution has engaged in a systemic practice of violating XXXX XXXX  of their own Deposit Account Agreement for Personal and Business Accounts, in which it is stated as a [ g ] eneral policy for all Checking Accounts, in relation to Check deposits made at one of our branches, with one of our bankers or by ATM will be made available to you on the first Business Day after we receive your deposit and states that funds from checks will be available the next business day, in a similar section of the same chapter. The policy then goes on to state [ s ] ome cases, we will not make all of the funds that you deposit by Check available to you as described above. In these cases, funds will be available on the second Business Day after we receive your deposit ; however, the first {$270.00} of your deposit will still be available on the first Business Day after we receive your deposit. If we will delay availability, we will notify you at the time you make your deposit and will tell you when the funds will be available and this directly contradicts the previous policy statement, but in any case it is stated that it is strictly in speficic cases and not as a general policy. 

In another section of the chapter, it is stated, [ f ] unds you deposit by Check may be delayed for a longer period under the following circumstances : if we believe a Check you deposit will not be paid ; if you deposit Checks totaling more than {$6700.00} on any one ( 1 ) day ; if you redeposit a Check that was returned unpaid ; if you have overdrawn your Account repeatedly in the last six ( 6 ) months ; or if there is an emergency such as failure of communications or computer equipment, or severe weather and based on the language of this policy, the delaying of funds is for a guarantee that the supposed funds were purported to be satisfied by the remitter of the supposed check. 

However, it has come to my attention on the XXXX of XX/XX/year>, that this financial institution has engaged in a systematic breach of their agreement as it is registered, in that, instead of invoking this policy in specific cases as stated in the policy, it has employed the policy as a BLANKET GENERAL POLICY that directly violated the rules and regulations of the agreement. 

On or about the XXXX of XX/XX/year>, I presented to a teller of this financial institution to deposit XXXX ( XXXX ) checks in my small business account numbered XXXX and upon deposit, I was provided a NOTICE OF HOLD, a document that stated : Reason : Large Deposit We are delaying the availability of {$23000.00} from this deposit. These funds will be available on the XXXX business day after the day of your deposit. We are taking this action because the checks you deposited on this day exceed {$6700.00} When I inquired as to why a 7-day hold was placed instead of a period that was sufficient time to guarantee the satisfaction of funds for the deposit, it was stated that this is a blanket policy of the bank and any funds deposited over the amount will be withheld for this period. 

Upon discovering this information, I believe that this financial institution has engaged in a systemic practice of violating XXXX XXXX  of its own Deposit Account Agreement for Personal and Business Accounts, warranting investigation due to its violation of consumer rights.

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