Macquarie Bank pays $14 million fine for misleading savings account ads

Australia's financial watchdog, ASIC, has fined Macquarie Bank $14 million after admitting it failed to accurately advertise its welcome offer on new customer savings accounts. Between December 2021 and September 2022, the bank described a promotional rate as a 'bonus' that could be paid in addition to the standard variable rate. In reality, this fixed-rate promotion replaced rather than supplemented the standard rate during the four-month period.

As interest rates rose in 2022, customers expected an extra margin over their existing rate but received only the higher of either the welcome or standard rate instead. Macquarie admitted breaching the Corporations Act due to unclear website wording that caused confusion among savers. The bank agreed not to contest ASIC's findings and will pay a $14 million civil penalty alongside $8.8 million already paid in remediation to nearly 40,000 affected customers.