Bank of Montreal (BMO) is looking to modernize its technology stack by investing in cloud architecture and tech talent. 

WHY IT MATTERS: The $805 billion bank saw a 4% year-over-year bump in expenses due to “higher employee costs and technology investments,” Tayfun Tuzun, chief financial officer at BMO, said during the bank’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call.  

“Despite challenging markets in 2022, we delivered underlying revenue growth for the year, reflecting strategic investments in talent, technology modernization and expanded investment capabilities that resulted in a record year for net new asset growth,” BMO Chief Executive Darryl White said during the call. 

THE BIG PICTURE: The Canadian bank will begin to employ data-driven analytics within its business, according to White. 

Earlier this year, BMO employees were trained on cloud technology, which was key for the bank to be cloud-ready, BMO U.S. Technology Officer Victor Tung noted during the Bank Automation Summit Fall 2022.

BY THE NUMBERS: BMO reported for its fiscal Q4: 

• Non-interest expenses increased 4% YoY to $660 million USD; 
• Total revenue jumped 18% YoY to $1.2 billion; and 
• Net income jumped 30% YoY to $660 million. 

NOTEWORTHY: The bank also noted the growing number of active digital users within North America, with a rise of 6% YoY to 3.7 million. BMO also saw a 12% YoY increase in active mobile users and a 7% YoY bump in digital transactions. The bank did not disclose the number of active mobile users or digital transactions in the earnings supplement. 

THE BOTTOM LINE: BMO will continue to automate processes and modernize its core architecture, White said. 

“We’ve also made significant progress advancing our digital-first approach, aimed at enhancing employee and customer experiences to drive revenue and efficiency,” he said. “We’ve invested across our businesses to modernize technology and expand the use of cloud and employ data-driven analytics.” 

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