- BMO has launched a Real Financial Progress Hub.
- The bank uses the hub to guide customers through financial topics and recommend products.
- The launch comes after two standalone PFM tools have recently shut down.
BMO revealed this week it has launched personal financial management tools for its clients. The digital resource, called the Real Financial Progress Hub, will offer personal finance advice, tools, and resources to help customers reach their financial goals.
“For the first time, our customers can explore any financial goal and even multiple goals at once – whether it’s budgeting, saving, homebuying, retiring, building credit and more – from one easy-to-navigate digital platform. We have brought all of our personal finance resources into one convenient spot to make financial progress easier,” said BMO Head of U.S. Customer Strategy Paul Dilda. “As we welcome new customers across the Western United States to BMO, we are proud to bring them our innovative products and services that were built with customers’ progress in mind.”
Among the tools available are expense management education, monthly expense tracking, advice for planning larger purchases, and tools to help users understand credit. The Real Financial Progress Hub offers BMO a channel to promote its own accounts, products, and services to less financially savvy customers while acting as a financial guide.
The launch comes at an interesting time. Two independent PFM sites have shut down so far this month, indicating a lack of consumer interest for standalone budgeting tools.
However, just because consumers don’t want to think about budgeting, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. Consumers are digging into their savings are leveraging credit at higher rates than before, and according to CNBC, Gen Z consumers are less into retiring early and more into what they call “soft saving.”
BMO’s free tool is currently live and available to its digital banking users.