BMO Launches AI Agent Assist to Accelerate Credit Card Support and Refund Processing

BMO has launched AI Agent Assist, an internal agentic AI tool designed to streamline credit card transaction inquiries at its Virtual Connect contact centre. For fintech professionals, this represents a shift toward operationalising "human-in-the-loop" AI to drive measurable productivity gains and faster client resolutions in high-volume retail banking environments.

What was announced

BMO is introducing AI Agent Assist to its Virtual Connect contact centre to help employees resolve Canadian client inquiries regarding credit card transactions. The tool is designed for internal use, providing team members with AI-enabled transaction matching, policy retrieval, and case preparation. By surfacing relevant data directly to employees, the technology aims to reduce the time spent navigating multiple systems and minimize the need to place clients on hold.

The scale of the implementation is significant; BMO's Virtual Connect centre receives over 500,000 calls annually related to credit card transactions, with each call currently taking an average of 12 to 14 minutes to resolve. With the new AI capability, BMO targets a 20-30 per cent reduction in resolution time for eligible inquiries. Furthermore, the bank expects to process approximately 40 per cent of eligible credit refund requests automatically, potentially allowing qualifying clients to receive credits as soon as the same day.

The system operates on a "human-in-the-loop" principle, meaning employees remain accountable for reviewing AI-generated information and making final servicing decisions. This work is part of BMO’s broader enterprise AI ambition, which includes a goal of generating more than $1 billion in AI-enabled revenue growth, productivity improvements, and operating efficiencies by 2030. The bank is also designing these capabilities for reuse across other business processes and client experiences.

The companies involved

Bank of Montreal (BMO) is a major North American financial institution providing a wide range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking products. Operating under a "digital-first" strategy, the bank has increasingly focused on translating AI investments into measurable value. Its progress in the sector was recently highlighted in the 2026 Evident AI Index, where BMO received the highest available scores in several Responsible AI categories and was ranked second among 50 global banks for reported AI use-case outcomes. Overall, BMO maintains a position among the world's top 20 banks in the Index.

The bank's Virtual Connect contact centre serves as a primary touchpoint for its Canadian client base, handling hundreds of thousands of complex inquiries annually. By integrating agentic AI into this high-volume environment, BMO is positioning itself as a leader in the practical application of AI within the "Big Five" Canadian banking landscape, moving beyond experimental pilots to integrated, employee-facing solutions.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has tracked BMO's activity across various financial sectors, including its expansion into specialized investment products. In August 2026, we reported that BMO and REX Shares Launch 3x Leveraged Semiconductor ETNs on Cboe BZX. This launch demonstrated the bank's capability to partner with fintech innovators to bring sophisticated leveraged products to the Cboe BZX Exchange, catering to professional investors seeking targeted exposure to the semiconductor industry. This prior coverage highlights BMO's broader strategy of leveraging technology and partnerships to diversify its product suite and enhance its market presence in both retail and capital markets.

What this means

This announcement signals that the "agentic" phase of AI in banking has arrived. While many institutions have focused on client-facing chatbots, BMO’s focus on "Agent Assist" targets the more complex, back-end friction that often slows down resolution times. By aiming for a $1 billion efficiency gain by 2030, BMO is putting significant pressure on its peers to move beyond generative AI experiments and deliver hard ROI. The move also raises questions for the wider sector about the long-term role of human staff; while the "human-in-the-loop" model is currently a safety guardrail, the successful automation of 40 per cent of refunds suggests a future where human intervention is reserved only for the most exceptional cases.