The introduction of the new 'Community' feature gives BMO online customers the ability to compare their spending and saving habits anonymously with the BMO MoneyLogic community.

"BMO MoneyLogic has proven wildly successful with our customers, who set almost 300,000 budgets in just two months since the launch," said Lynne Kilpatrick, Senior Vice President, BMO Bank of Montreal. "Now, we have a great opportunity to introduce the new 'Community' feature and continue to expand BMO MoneyLogic's capabilities."

The 'Community' feature enables users to delve deeper into their spending and saving habits and compare in different categories - such as home, shopping, groceries - with the average across the BMO MoneyLogic community. Customers can also compare with people in the community that have similar profiles, using variables such as age, gender, marital status. All personal customer data is protected and all information shared within the 'Community' feature is anonymous.

Ron Shevlin, Senior Analyst at Aite Group, a Boston-based research and advisory firm, says comprehensive financial management tools have been proven to help consumers gain a better understanding of how they're managing their day-to-day finances.

"Personal financial management tools like BMO MoneyLogic play an important role in helping people manage their money," said Shevlin. "Among consumers that we've surveyed, eight in ten say that personal financial management tools have helped them gain better control of their finances, and 40 per cent say that they're saving more money as a result of using these tools."

BMO MoneyLogic is another example of BMO's commitment to Making Money Make Sense. The tool, introduced in January 2011, allows customers to gain immediate insights into their spending and savings habits and is available free of charge to BMO online banking and MasterCard customers. It offers a total view of all BMO accounts and tools to track savings and set budget goals, view and manage transactions, and generate customer spending and savings reports in easy to read charts and graphs.