Mortgage Calculator Match 1: BMO vs CIBC

In this day an age, regardless of what you are looking for, you can always turn to the Internet to help you out. If you are interested in figuring out what the Big Five are offering in terms of Senior chequing account, you can do that easily.

Buying a house has become easier with the help of the Internet as well. Among one of the many tasks that one must undertake when purchasing a house is determining your mortgage. Having said that, mortgage calculators are very important to home buyers in today’s market, and it came to my attention that they do vary from bank to bank.

We here are BankNerd have decided to start a series, in which we will determine which bank offers the best mortgage calculator.

The first match you will be seeing is the Bank of Montreal (BMO) vs the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).

In this comparison, we will be examining the following figures:

Mortgage amount:               $100,000
Mortgage Type and Rate:   Fixed 4.04%
Amortization Period:           25 years

To start things off, I have prepared a comparison of what these two mortgage calculators offer.

Functionality	BMO Mortgage Calculator	CIBC Mortgage Calculator
Mortgage Rate Selection
Evaluate Different Scenarios
Amortization Period Selection
Payment Frequency
Payment Savings Chart
Mortgage Insurance Included
Extra Payments
Compare Scenarios
First Time Home Buyer Credits
Land Transfer Tax Included
Mortgage Calculator App

Appearance	BMO Mortgage Calculator	CIBC Mortgage Calculator
Descriptive
Easy to Read
Colors and Design

As you can see, both BMO and CIBC offer the exact same features, with few differences. Among the differences you will find that BMO offers you the ability to compare various scenarios, which can make it easy for you to determine what rate and mortgage type would suit you best. Meanwhile, CIBC allows you to include any extra payments within your mortgage, allowing you to see exactly how long it would take for you to pay off your mortgage. Another great feature that CIBC’s mortgage calculator has is the fact that it is embedded in their CIBC Home Advisor App (in the app you can estimate your mortgage payments).

Strictly looking at the design of both mortgage calculators, I would have to say that CIBC wins out in all categories. As you can see, below, CIBC clearly shows everything you need to know for your mortgage in one location, and it does so in vivid colors.

BMO on the other hand requires clicking through pages, and honestly, the whole blue and white color scheme doesn’t do much for me. There are other options, however as I said above, it requires you to click through pages to see the same information CIBC is able to show all at once.

Who is the winner?

In the end, the CIBC mortgage calculator is much more straightforward, and it offers you more in respect to figuring out how long your will be paying off your mortgage. The fact is, although comparing scenarios is great, I would prefer opening a few tabs to do that than not be able to add in any extra payments I am entitled to do throughout the year.