How to Invest in the AAT770 High Daily Interest Savings Account Fund, HISA, at BMO InvestorLine

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Recently BMO InvestorLine updated its HISA offerings with a daily interest savings account fund of its own called AAT770. (It also offers AAT780 for US dollar transactions.) This is a no-load purchase. It’s also CDIC insured.As of October 3, 2017, it is paying 0.95% and the minimum holding of this investment is $1 000. As of February 20, 2014  April 12, 2013 it is paying 1.25%  1.27% per year.  UPDATE: On March 18, 2017 AAT770 is paying 0.75%. The minimum holding of this investment is $5000, considerably less than the minimum $25,000 holding for other HISAs. Of course, BMO could have just started paying interest on cash balances over $5000 as it used to do in the past and saved investors a hassle. Presumably they expect many investors to overlook this possibility and save themselves some money. Luckily, an observant investor noticed it and advised me which led to me writing the post Investing in the AAT770 Daily Interest Savings Account for InvestorLine RRSP and TFSA Accounts.

UPDATE: As of November 2013, AAT770 is only paying 1.25% per year. Grrrr.
UPDATE: As of January 2015, AAT770 is only paying 1.20% per year.
UPDATE: On March 18, 2017, AAT770 is paying 0.75%.
UPDATE: On October 3, 2017, AAT770 is paying 0.95% per year.
Here’s how to invest in AAT770:

Sign in to your BMO InvestorLine account.

  1. From the drop-down menu, select within which account you wish to purchase the high interest savings account fund.
    For example, I selected my LIRA.

How to Buy Units of AAT770 the BMO High Interest Savings Account Fund

  1. From the Trading tab, select Fixed Income.
    1. Under the Inventory Search section, click on the High Interest Savings link.
    2. Click on the BMO CAD High Interest Savings Account link.

    OR

    1. From the Inventory Search menu, select GICs.
    2. Click on the Search button.
    3. Click on the link: Looking for an alternative for the cash in your portfolio?
    4. Review the list (especially in case InvestorLine comes up with a better offer!).
    5. As of April 11, 2013, the best The only Canadian dollar choice is the AAT770 BMO CASD High Interest Savings Account, so click on that named link.

The Mutual Fund Order Entry screen opens.

  1. Check that the Action is Buy. If not, select it from the drop-down list.
  2. Confirm that the Fund Symbol is AAT770.
  3. If desired, click on the Recent Closing Price button.
    This should show a value of 1.00 and state that the fund is No Load.
  4. In the field Amount in Dollars, type in the amount you want to invest in Canadian dollars.
    For this test, I typed 5523.
    (I actually tested it first entering 550 as the Amount in Dollars.
    It came back with the error message:
    Your order was not processed. There is a problem with your order:
    Quantity entered does not meet minimum purchase levels.)
  5. Select where the interest should be paid: to
    • your cash account, or
    • reinvested in more units of the fund,

    by clicking on the radio button beside Cash or Reinvest.

  6. Type your telephone number in the Contact Phone # field.
  7. Click on the Review Order button.

The Mutual Fund Order Review screen opens.

  1. Read through the Mutual Fund Order Review screen to be sure you know what you are buying and the terms.
  2. If everything looks ok, type your password in the field labeled:
    Please enter your password in order to submit your order.
  3. Click on the Submit Order button.
  4. Highlight the information about your order on the Mutual Fund Order Confirmation and paste it into a document.
  5. Save it for reference until the order is successfully filled.

If you want, click on the Trading menu and select Order Status.
You should see a description of your recent transaction.

Be Aware It Will Take Time for the Transaction to be Reported Properly
Today, the first business day after I placed my order:

  • my cash balance is too high.
    It states I still have the cash that I spent yesterday buying the HISA fund.
    Be careful you don’t spend the same cash twice!
  • my Holdings does not include the HISA fund yet
  • if I check my Order Status, however, by clicking on the Trading tab and selecting Order Status, it shows my purchase order as Filled.

I expect to check tomorrow and find that both my Holdings and my Cash balance have been updated.

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Do you occasionally need to park cash in a HISA fund in your brokerage account? Has it ever caused an unexpected problem or delay? Please share your experiences with a comment.

17 thoughts on “How to Invest in the AAT770 High Daily Interest Savings Account Fund, HISA, at BMO InvestorLine”

    • This is not a program. It’s a high interest savings account that is available for clients of the BMO InvestorLine online brokerage in Canada. I think you’ll have to keep searching further.

  2. Do they issue statements for income tax as to amount of interest you made on AAT770 ? for small amounts as well?

    • I’m sorry to say that I don’t have a HISA in an unregistered account at InvestorLine so I don’t have personal experience. I do know their website says “If your mutual funds were held in a non-registered account at BMO InvestorLine, you will receive a T3 or T5 Supplementary from each respective fund company whose funds you own.”

      From my experience with other brokerages, you will get the T5 even for very small amounts. It’s possible InvestorLine is different but I doubt it.

      If any readers know for sure, please let us know. (I’ll also try to get confirmation from InvestorLine and post an update.)

      • OK, InvestorLine replied with the following info:
        “Please be advised that when the total amount of dividends, interest and accrued interest in your account is less than $50 for the year, a T5 will not be issued.”

        I had asked only about interest from AAT770 but this is their reply. So it’s possible that they mean they issue a single T5 for all investment profits that combine to a total of $50 or more.

        Regardless of whether you receive a T5, though, I’m sure you know you have to report any amount of interest earned no matter how small, in a non-registered account.

  3. If you buy stocks would Investorline automatically take money out if AAT770 account, if needs be?

    • No. As soon as you make your purchase, send in a request to sell the required number of $$$ of AAT770. Don’t forget to sell enough to cover the commission for your stock purchase, too.

  4. I noticed on my BMO Investorline statement from April that my high interest Cdn and US accounts didn’t pay any interest! However, they were exchanged for another product.

    • I’m not sure how it would look on the monthly statement. In my case, when I redeemed my HISA into my cash account a few days into the month, the interest was just rolled into the amount that was cashed out. You may want to check to see if that is what happened?

  5. When purchasing, there are two options for receiving your “dividend option”: 1) cash or 2) reinvest

  6. Hi Bet Crooks, Thank you for posting the information. Just want everybody to know that BMO investorline HISA interest is 1.6% now ( September 20, 2019).

  8. HISA’s are a bit tricky to figure out. From my experience (and I have accounts at two investment firms), the following applies. If you have an account at one investment firm (A) and through that firm you buy a HISA from bank (B) – Bank (B) will issue a T5. BUT, since the buying and selling of HISA’s are done the same way as a mutual fund (in my case, and I think that this applies to everyone – without the usual mutual fund commissions), Investment Firm (A) will still issue you a year end statement showing the buying and selling of HISA. However, the gains from HISA holdings are already picked up on T5 slips, I just ignore the transactions on the buy and sell report AS IT RELATES to HISA transactions only.

  9. The interest rate is 0.25% and their fee is 0.25%. Meaning first year you gain nothing. What a rip-off

    Rip-off under their T&C: “A 0.25% commission will be paid to your Dealer for their services as selling agent. This commission will not reduce the interest earned on the Account.”

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