Aussie bank warns customers: Mean comments online may get your account frozen or closed

REBEL STORE AUSTRALIA

Get Rebel News Australia merchandise! All our products are printed in and fulfilled from Queensland.

SHOP NOW

• By Avi Yemini

Sign up for Rebel News Australia!

Get updates on Rebel News coverage in Australia delivered straight to your inbox so you never miss a story!

Sign Up

National Australia Bank has sparked outrage after warning customers it may close their accounts if they make comments it views as unacceptable using NAB's electronic banking services.

The bank’s updated terms and conditions, displayed on their website and effective from November, state that the NAB will “investigate” customers who make “profane, derogatory or discriminatory comments” online using its services.

The new terms state that, in such instances, the bank may suspend, cancel, or deny a customer’s access to their account.

The published terms and conditions include a support number where customers can report other account holders they are “concerned about”.

The policy purports to be an effort to counter domestic violence and elder abuse.

The move follows uproar in the UK where former politician Nigel Farage and Anglican Minister Reverend Richard Fothergill had their accounts closed after their financial institutions took exception to their views.

Coutts Bank apologised to Farage after it was revealed the bank’s risk management committee had discussed his political views before advising his accounts would be closed.

Reverend Fothergill had his Yorkshire Building Society account closed after he wrote to them asking if their promotion of LBGTQ Pride was appropriate.

The bank advised him that they had a “zero tolerance for discrimination” and closed the accounts he had held for more than a decade.

In 2022, Canadians participating in trucker protests against Justin Trudeau’s government had their accounts frozen as punishment for opposing vaccine mandates.

Story updated September 1, 2023