Working in code
Respect of confidentiality is one of the core tenets of banking practice around the world. In this modern world, this includes digital encryption, which protects information being processed by encoding the information so that it can only be accessed by authorized personnel with the correct translation key.
Did you know that BMO has protected the privacy of our customer’s information going back more than 150 years? In a world before computers, the Internet, and even the telephone, BMO used specialty code books to conceal sensitive financial data being shared between our branches. Coded messages were sent from branch to branch, often by rider on horseback, and eventually with the help of a telegraph machine, to instruct employees to conduct transactions on behalf of their customers.
BMO produced highly sensitive code books that were distributed to branches to allow all messages to be ciphered to protect the information held within. The code books were kept in a safe or locked compartment in the custody of the manager or accountant. It was often the junior, the youngest employee on staff, and typically a young boy, who had the responsibility of deciphering incoming encoded messages.
BMO’s Corporate Archives has a wonderful collection of these code books, which speak to a long history of valuing our customer’s privacy as we help them make real financial progress. The collection dates from 1878-1965.
Some code words found in these books include:
| CODE WORD | DECODED MESSAGE | |
| Jerking | Panic in Montreal | |
| Jerks | Panic in New York | |
| Plutonic | Bank of Montreal Head Office | |
| Notoriety | You have made a mistake |