One of Australia’s most popular savings account operators, ING, has ignored regulatory advice to tell customers when they are about to lose bonus rates on promotional accounts, leaving savers at risk of missing out.
The practice has helped ING and other banks access customers’ money at little or no cost to finance other parts of their businesses, including profitable mortgage books.
Savers can be disqualified from earning the advertised rates if they do not make a required number of transactions, deposit a certain amount, grow their balance or otherwise miss their bank’s list of monthly requirements. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found in 2023 that two in three savers were missing out on bonus rates.
It recommended banks be forced to warn customers at risk of breaching bonus conditions with real-time alerts and prompt savers to consider their bonus eligibility and whether other products may better suit their needs with annual notifications.
An ING spokesperson did not share what proportion of customers received the company’s full rate of interest, but said the bank notified savers when their interest rates changed and helped customers check whether they would get their payments with an in-app feature.
“We know that customers like having the ability to check their monthly eligibility criteria for the savings maximiser bonus rate as it’s one of the most used features in our app,” they said.
The spokesperson declined to comment on why ING did not alert customers in real time, as recommended by the regulator.
At 5% per annum, ING’s full rate is one of the highest interest rates offered to Australian households. But its base rate – given to customers who don’t qualify for the bonus rate – is among the lowest. The base rate is 0.05%.
Customers miss out on the bonus rate if they do not meet the monthly requirements to deposit $1,000, make at least five transactions and add to their savings. A customer with a balance of $20,000 would get interest of just 80 cents at the end of the month if they missed a requirement, when they would have otherwise expected $80.
The spokesperson said the bonus rate structure was designed to encourage customers to stay actively engaged with their finances and the bank adjusted the rates on offer to respond to broader market conditions.
Guardian Australian spoke to one ING customer who received nearly no interest on a large portion of his savings because he breached the deposit limit, another feature of the account.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
The customer put his money in an ING Savings Maximiser account and met the monthly requirements, but was not aware the account only paid bonus interest on the first $100,000 of a balance.
His account surpassed that limit in 2020 and reached $185,000 in 2025, leaving him missing out on the equivalent of $4,000 a year in interest.
“It just had never even crossed my mind that that would be something I had to be aware of, and obviously I never received any notification,” he said.
“They notify you about everything else [except accounts] sitting there with $80,000 not earning interest, which is pretty outrageous.
“When I did look back, I was like, ‘Oh my God’. I felt a bit sick.”
ING’s spokesperson could not comment on individual cases but said the bank made it clear when customers sign up that the bonus rate was only available for balances up to $100,000.
Sign up toAfternoon Update
Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotion
The bank is emblematic of the sector’s push towards low base interest rates, with a typical bonus account offering total interest of 4.2% overall of which the core rate is just 0.2%, according to online database Canstar.
Conditional accounts make up more than half of all savings options, according to financial comparison site Finder’s database. They have soared in popularity since 2010 but have grown far more complex, with much lower base rates, says Rachel Wastell, a personal finance spokesperson at loan comparison site Mozo.
“If you don’t know the rate or the hoops you need to jump through, how are you supposed to get the bonus? It’s like studying for a test without knowing the subject,” she said.
Daniel Mulino, a Labor MP, wrote in a 2024 report that savings rates needed regulatory tightening and recommended a notification trial, before the Albanese government committed to improving awareness of bonus rates.
Mulino, now assistant treasurer, said the government was still working with the banks on reforms.
Each of the big four banks said they prompted customers with push notifications and emails to help them qualify for bonus interest. Olivia McArdle, head of deposits and payments at Macquarie Bank, said complex monthly conditions were the biggest barrier to Australians earning bonus interest rates.
Mozo’s Wastell said every bank should be forced to notify customers to improve transparency.
“Australians deserve a heads-up when they’re about to lose a chunk of their returns,” she said.
“[But] honestly, there’s not much motivation for banks to act here because if customers miss out, the bank can pocket the savings.”
Do you know more? Contact luca.ittimani@theguardian.com