Customers are missing out on bonus savings rates — and banks don’t have to actively warn you

ING says customers can check if they are eligible for bonus interest on their app but declined to comment on why the bank does not alert customers in real time. Photograph: Mauritz Antin/EPA

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.