FundsNow @ BMO Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2025

Providing immediate funding access to fit the diverse needs of our customers via 'FundsNow'

FundsNow is an enhancement to our customer’s digital banking experience. This initiative is a revolutionary check deposit solution that grants users immediate and guaranteed access to their eligible mobile-deposited checks. BMO had prioritized the customer’s needs by addressing a critical pain point that both our consumer and small business banking users had experienced, ‘delayed access to funds’. At BMO, we diligently review our user’s feedback month over month and nearly 20% of the mobile deposit feedback, prior to launching FundsNow, revealed a strong customer desire for more immediate access to their funds.

While the concept of immediate funds availability for mobile check deposits is not novel, our implementation distinguishes itself through a unique blend of cutting-edge technology and a deeply customer-centric approach. Recognizing the importance of customer trust and convenience, we prioritized a seamless and reassuring user journey. At the core of our innovation, lies a deep understanding of our customers’ diverse needs. We have an expanding U.S. presence with an increasing number of customers residing outside of areas with a physical branch access. We also need to address the needs of our customer base that require servicing outside of banking hours. Additionally, BMO faces stiff competition from a mix of national & regional banks, as well as fintech disruptors in the US. To stay competitive, we continuously keep track of emerging features and find ways to innovate & enhance customer experience. FundsNow is not only a solution to address competitive actions but most importantly address the needs of our diverse customer base. Through this solution, we also address the needs of our underserved segment of customers that live paycheck to paycheck and heavily depend on instant fund access while protecting them from predatory lenders.

To build this solution, overall, close to a thousand individuals worked on this project, as well as multiple vendors in teams of five to six. Individuals were engaged from both the business and technology teams in the following roles:

On the technology side, teams included Developers, QA resources, Business Analysts, Project Managers, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Delivery Leads, Architects, Release Managers, Change Management, Cyber Security Advisors, Cloud Engineers, Tech Leads, Information Security Advisors.

On the business side, teams included Product Managers, Change Management, Fraud, Risk Management, Model Risk, Deposit Operations, Content Writers, UX/UI Designers, Legal, Compliance, Marketing

For specialized check processing, we carefully selected industry-leading vendors: FIS FXD: As our primary check deposit vendor, FIS FXD leverages MiTek for image analysis, ensuring efficient check processing. FiServ: Provides immediate funds availability, enabling faster access to deposited funds for our users. Valid Systems: Plays a crucial role in immediate funds decisioning, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and minimizing risk.

Following the launch of FundsNow, our data revealed that 40% of users accessing this service were located beyond BMO’s traditional service area. Most evident around the true value since launching FundsNow was that 52% of the users that leveraged this service are those with deposit accounts with less than $100k. FundsNow fee revenue projections were surpassed by 1.3X, growing over $500K in just the first six-month post launch. Results also show FundsNow mitigates fraud losses for the bank. Every check that is deposited digitally through FundsNow has ‘zero’ fraud impact to the customer and BMO. In six months, $137K was the avoided fraud impact to BMO and our customers.