Macquarie faces proposed $14 million penalty over savings rate promotion failures

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Macquarie faces $14m penalty

Highlights

Macquarie Bank admitted in NSW Supreme Court to breaching the Corporations Act 2001 over unclear Welcome Rate disclosures for new savings accounts.
ASIC proposed a $14 million penalty, in addition to $8.8 million in remediation already paid to nearly 40,000 affected customers by Macquarie.
ASIC links the case to its 2026 enforcement priority on pricing practices and ongoing focus on systemic compliance failures causing consumer harm.

Court action over Welcome Rate disclosures

As reported by ASIC, Macquarie Bank Limited has admitted in NSW Supreme Court proceedings that it breached the Corporations Act 2001 in connection with its Welcome Rate offer for new savings account customers. The proposed resolution remains subject to court approval, with the Court to decide whether the orders are appropriate and whether any additional orders should be made.

ASIC alleges Macquarie described the offer as a "welcome variable rate" and a "bonus" in ways that could lead customers to believe the rate was paid on top of the standard variable rate. In practice, the Welcome Rate generally operated as a fixed rate applied instead of, rather than in addition to, the standard rate during the four-month promotional period.

Macquarie has also admitted it did not take necessary steps to ensure its statements about the offer were clear and unlikely to confuse new customers. The bank further admitted its advertising framework was not rigorous enough to identify the risk of misunderstanding, lacked clear internal guidance on how the product worked, and did not respond quickly enough when customer complaints emerged.

Consumer impact and enforcement focus

The proposed $14 million penalty comes on top of $8.8 million in remediation that Macquarie initiated and has already paid to nearly 40,000 customers. The matter adds to regulatory scrutiny of how banks present savings products and interest rate offers to retail customers.

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland says banks must have systems and processes that match the promises they make to customers, and that consumers should not need to closely examine every transaction to confirm they received the correct interest. He says the issue goes beyond unclear wording, arguing Macquarie's controls were not strong enough to identify the risk that customers would misunderstand how the Welcome Rate worked.

ASIC says the case aligns with its 2026 enforcement priority on pricing practices affecting Australians' cost of living, as well as its longer-running focus on systemic compliance failures at large financial institutions that cause consumer harm.

This adds to earlier discussion around Chariot Claims Series A, as legal tech tools target consumer disputes and compliance issues.

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