RaboDirect's new GM Melanie Templeton calls on other banks to be more transparent with their savings accounts. Your experience?
Melanie Templeton, the new General Manager of RaboDirect in New Zealand, has called on other banks to be more transparent with their savings accounts.
Templeton welcomed competition between the banks, but said customers should be aware that some savings accounts offered by other banks may be more like a cheque account than a savings account.
"It's very important they understand what some of the terms and conditions are in some of the products advertised nowadays," Templeton said in a DoubleShot interview.
Templeton returned to New Zealand this year after a stint overseas with RaboDirect as its marketing manager in Australia, having been with Rabobank in New Zealand when it launched Raboplus and its 'Your significant other' campaign.
"At Rabodirect we feel we're very transparent about what we do with our products and sometimes we feel there's a lack of transparency in the naming of products," Templeton said.
"You might have a product that's called a savings product of some kind with one of the other banks. But really it's just a hybrid transaction account. But it's called a savings account and it might not meet even the minimum criteria like paying basic OCR (Official Cash Rate) level," she said.
"It's an absolute minefield for consumers and I want to help streamline some of that and try and get some more like-for-like comparisons for them so it's not such a minefield."
See all bank term deposit rates from 1 month to 9 months here and all term deposit rates for 1 to 5 years here.
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