BMO: Conversion and Migration of Bank of the West Customers
Winner of the 2024 Celent Model Bank Award for Integration Excellence
Abstract
Bank of Montreal (BMO) completed the acquisition of Bank of the West in February 2023 and converted and migrated almost two million customer relationships in September. The core and digital platform integration was completed eight months after Legal Day 1 (first day of legal ownership) without significant production problems or delays. The customer and banker experiences were transitioned nearly seamlessly in the largest acquisition in Canadian banking history. The acquisition and conversion were critical steps toward BMO’s ambitious US growth goals.
Celent recognizes BMO as its 2024 Model Bank for Integration Excellence for the bank’s technical achievement in the accelerated conversion of an acquired bank and for best practices in migration and onboarding of the new customer base. The bank took a digital-first, customer-centric approach to deliver in a short timeframe while providing exemplary customer experience before and after the transition. These accomplishments stand out in the industry over the past several years of acquisition-driven conversions.
The case study highlights the dual aspects of this initiative: Conversion and integration excellence, and the high-quality customer experience delivered before, during, and after the migration date. This was the largest conversion in Canadian banking history and Celent recognizes the technical excellence required to pull it off.
(Above: One of the approaches taken by BMO was a digital-first customer messaging and support approach)
Related Research
North American Pacesetters in Retail Banking Customer Engagement
March 2024
Technology Trends Previsory: Retail Banking, 2024 Edition
November 2023
Retail Banking IT Spending Forecasts by Domain 2023-2028
October 2023
How Banks and Credit Unions are Solving the Digital Value Puzzle
September 2023
The Future of Retail Banking Customer Engagement
September 2023
Deposits, Competition, & Digital: Where Big U.S. Banks Are Focused Now
May 2023
Innovation in Banking and Payments 2023: A Snapshot Through the Lens of Model Bank (2023 Model Bank Awards Roundup)
March 2023
BMO: Delivering Digital Banking Channel Modernization at Scale
March 2023