• Agriculture customers can now secure a loan for up to $1,000,000 via BMO Business Express in less than a day

TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2020 /CNW/ - Tending to a farm can demand around-the-clock attention. To help, BMO has made its leading small business lending platform, BMO Business Xpress, available to customers operating in the agriculture sector to allow them to obtain capital more quickly and conveniently.

Agriculture customers will benefit from the following:

• Added flexibility for agriculture customers of being able to access capital at their farm or home without ever having to visit a branch, with the help of BMO Agriculture Managers.
• Data analytics technology that takes into account the specific needs, complexities and risks of farm loans.
• Significantly reduced approval time for agriculture loans, down from roughly a week to now less than a day.

"We recognize the importance of the agriculture sector to the Canadian economy – BMO has been supporting Canadian farmers for over 200 years – and want to help those operating in the sector stay competitive and grow their operations," said Arun Kumar, Head, Small Business Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal. "We see this as a significant step forward and will continue to look for ways that help agriculture customers and small businesses driving the real economy."

BMO Business Xpress is currently available to agriculture customers in Ontario. The solution will be rolled out to agriculture customers nationally this spring.

BMO, as part of its Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in Business and Life, is committed to supporting Canadian small businesses. Outside of dedicated technology solutions designed specifically for the sector, BMO has committed to further its support of small businesses by doubling small business lending in Canada to $10 billion by 2025. As well, the bank is increasing its support of women entrepreneurs. As part of that, BMO is increasing the number of relationship managers dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs across the country and has earmarked $3 billion in capital for women entrepreneurs.

To learn more about how BMO is supporting small businesses, please visit: https://www.bmo.com/main/business/.

About BMO Financial Group 
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $880 billion as of January 31, 2020, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group

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