Bank not required to directly notify customer of interest rate changes

Categories:

Bank accounts, Fees, charges & rates,

Summary:

Jeremy opened an interest-bearing savings account online and deposited $30,000 into it. A year later, he noticed the account's interest rate had fallen significantly. He complained that the bank had not notified him directly of changes to the interest rate and said it should have done so in an email, text message or in-app notification. He also said customers could be misled by the bank's decision not to include the applicable interest rate on account statements. Jeremy sought compensation for the extra interest he said he could have earned elsewhere.

Published:

August 2026

Our investigation

Banks are required to disclose the applicable interest rates. However, they are not required to notify customers directly when they change interest rates on savings accounts, or to include the interest rates on account statements.

Jeremy could have viewed the applicable interest rate by clicking on a tab within the savings account in his mobile and internet banking. The bank also published interest rates on its website and made them available through branches and media releases. This was consistent with the terms and conditions of his account, which said the bank could change savings account interest rates at any time, and that customers could view the current rate on the bank's website.

In short, we were satisfied that the bank had made interest rate information readily available to Jeremy through numerous channels and had therefore communicated with him clearly and effectively.