Bank’s system limitations inconvenient but no breach of any obligation to customer

Categories:

Service problems, Investment,

Summary:

In 2019, Freya began having trouble using the bank’s online banking system to open term deposits from her call account. She said limitations in the system prevented her from completing the task online, forcing her to phone the bank each time for help. Freya said these calls invariably took more than 30 minutes and were an inconvenience. She said that, during these calls, staff would tell her that she could complete the task online, but when she explained the problem in person to staff at a branch, they acknowledged the system had limitations and advised her to keep calling the help line. She also said the bank told her it was actively looking into the problem.

Published:

November 2026

In June 2025, Freya proposed opening term deposits online from a newly opened account. This allowed her to open term deposits through internet banking and resolved the problem. She also said that after opening term deposits online, the system defaulted to sending quarterly interest statements online, and so she no longer received them by post. The bank later agreed to send the statements by post.

Freya complained that the service she received, along with the way the bank handled her complaint, was inadequate and had wasted her time and caused her stress. She asked the bank to compensate her for this inconvenience and for her time, which she calculated at her discounted hourly rate as a chartered accountant. The bank offered $500. She considered this inadequate and complained to us.

Our investigation

We found that limitations in the bank’s system did prevent Freya from opening term deposits online from a call account. We also found that the system defaulted to sending online statements for term deposits opened online. However, we considered these limitations did not in themselves breach any obligation the bank owed to Freya. We also found that the bank’s communication with Freya fell short of its obligations under the Code of Banking Practice to communicate clearly and effectively with customers. In Freya’s case, it had failed to adequately explain how she could access and use her accounts. Nonetheless, the impact on Freya did not, in our view, warrant any more compensation than that already offered by the bank, particularly since we do not award compensation for time spent dealing with banking matters or complaints at professional hourly rates, and nor do we expect banks to do the same.