Your rights under the Code

The Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice outlines several commitments to you, whether you’re an individual or small business customer.

Importantly, the Code outlines how you can expect your credit union, mutual bank or mutual building society to behave towards you if it is a Code Subscriber. Among other things it ensures that:

  • Customer owned banks use plain English when they communicate with you.
  • You can clearly tell the difference between terms and conditions and promotional offers.
  • All payment fees and exception fees are fair to you.
  • You always have access to the right advice.

The Code also offers protection for consumers and small business consumers experiencing financial difficulty.

What the Code covers

Some of the things the Code covers include:

  • Transaction accounts, personal loans, home loans, credit and debit cards, cheques and other financial products and loans issued by customer owned banks.
  • Products and loans issued by another organisation and introduced, arranged or distributed by customer owned banks (note only the selection and distribution of the product or loan is covered).
  • The responsibility of customer owned bank employees, and their agents and representatives when they are acting on the customer owned bank’s behalf.

10 Key Promises

The Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice is how credit unions, mutual banks and mutual building societies deliver on their pledge to always put customers first.

The Code contains 10 key promises that outline how they will do this.

Find out more

Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice (PDF, 781 KB, 32 pages).

Check our Code Subscriber register to find out if your customer owned bank subscribes to the Code.

Lodge a complaint.

In this section

  • What are customer owned banks?
  • Your rights under the Code
  • Before you report a concern
  • Report a concern
  • Resources for consumers

    • Back to the top