2015 - 2016

Investment

Term deposit

Mr T set up a 24-month term deposit with his bank. Several months later, the bank introduced a requirement that Mr T now give 31 days’ notice before withdrawing his term deposit early.

Mr T complained the bank had breached its contract by doing this and also claimed he wasn’t given sufficient notice of the change.

We found the introduced notice period wasn’t a variation of Mr T’s contract. The bank was already allowed to accept withdrawals at its discretion, and these new terms didn’t change its existing contractual rights and obligations. Although there was no specific early withdrawal criteria when the term deposit was set up, the bank always had the right to decline such a request. The fundamental nature of Mr T’s relationship with the bank hadn’t changed.

The bank had also written to Mr T about the changes two months before it was introduced, which we found reasonable.

We further found that the introduction of this kind policy isn’t something the bank needed to consult customers about.