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Consumer and anti-gambling advocates flagged legal action between hours of the product being revealed at the bank’s full-year profit proclamation in Brisbane yesterday, as revealed only by brisbanetimes.com.au today. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who stanchly opposes gambling, also spoke out about the account today. Mr Xenophon said he would prosecute authorities to give reasons for why the product was approved and he intended to raise the issue in Senate Estimates the following week. The Win Account, to be started on November 15, will be the 1st of its variety in Australia and is based on common products in New Zealand.

It has little fees and offers an annual interest rate of 1 per cent, compared to most other savings accounts that propose about 4.5 per cent. Customers will be lured to the Win Account on the chance they can win the $20,000 first award in a monthly lottery, with an opening total prize pool of $30,000. When a minimal $250 is deposited, every dollar in the account will earn a ticket in the lottery. But a client who deposits $1000 into the account stands to lose about $35 per year in interest. Customer groups GetUp! and Choice, which are already pursuing class activity against 12 banks for what it claims are illegal fees, have mooted uniting action against Bank of Queensland.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said the account was “irresponsible” and would encourage gambling, while GetUp! described it as an “immoral” banking practise. The Salvation Army’s head of problem gambling services, Gerard Byrne, said the product was not likely to affect existing problem gamblers, who mostly did not save money. Still, it would ultimately incite new gamblers. Mr Liddy said yesterday the bank had created the account because it was ineffective to offer competitive interest rates compared to the large four. He rejected suggestions it would incite gaming. “It’s not gambling. You’re putting your money safely in a bank and being potentially rewarded … you’re not putting your money at risk at all,” Mr Liddy said. “It’s a atypical account that will be of interest to some people and some it won’t. We’re not trying to order to people what they do, people will make that choice. “All our market inquiry and the behaviour of the product in other markets suggests many people will love it, others won’t touch it.”

Bank with No Monthly Charging And No Min Balance Required. Sign up today! Australia’s banking regulator says it had no cognition of the Bank of Queensland’s racey fresh savings account that gives tickets in a monthly drawing rather than a competitive interest rate, despite claims it had approved it. The account has been criticized for encouraging gambling because it requires customers to waive an ordinary 3.5 per cent in annual interest for the possibility to win $20,000 a month. In defending the account yesterday, Bank of Queensland (BoQ) chief executive David Liddy said the corporation had gone through two years of examination and been approved by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, as well as and state lottery commissions.

Advertizement: Narrative continues under However an APRA spokesperson said the regulator had only learned about the product yesterday. It had not accepted the account, nor was it mandatory to. BoQ chief operating officer Ram Kangatharan was forced to defend his boss, who was on a airplane when the revelation was made. Mr Kangatharan apologized and said Mr Liddy had been wrong. Nevertheless, he said the account had been given the go ahead by the relevant state and territory lottery commissions, who regulated savings accounts with trade promotions. “We can pretty much go ahead with it,” Mr Kangatharan said.