Westpac is tightening conditions on its savings account for younger customers as growing numbers of banks make it harder to earn advertised interest rates on their deposits.

The bank has joined smaller competitors in changing interest-related restrictions on some accounts – despite the Reserve Bank of Australia leaving interest rates on hold in September .

Conditional accounts, such as Westpac’s Life account, help banks access customers’ money and finance their lending business at a discount, according to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission analysis, because two in three savers miss out on their headline interest rate .

In November, Westpac will quadruple the number of transactions required to achieve the full 5% rate for 18 to 29-year-olds with Life accounts, from five a

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