Access bond: additional deposits impossible to access, and more

It appears that I was completely misled when thinking that, once my access bond was activated, I could easily deposit lump sums (that I had saved up) into the account (to help reduce interest charges) and be able to see that money as available and readily "accessible" as needed.

After making an initial deposit, and following up several times as to when I will see the money as available i.e. “accessible” (because apparently there’s this very complicated thing depending on when you make the deposit, if it’s within 10 days before or after the debit order date, besides the 10 day clearance period for deposits anyway, and if the amount is less than the premium, etc.), after exactly 45 days I finally receive the option to make the funds available to me. On top of that, by doing so the premium payable will actually increase. Yes, you read that correctly — it will increase, based on the amount outstanding PLUS the amount available! So one is being penalised for making one’s own additional money accessible again. I never thought I’d see the day. Times are tough, sure, but this appears to be ****************.

So I’m asking myself what good is a home loan when you not only wait forever to see additional funds as available, but get penalised for making any additional deposits accessible for withdrawal? I’ve had a home loan with another bank before and their access facility was an absolute breeze, no fuss at all, simply transfer in or out of the bond at your leisure and the interest gets calculated accordingly.

I’m still waiting for my Prestige Banking team to take this seriously, to escalate this matter to the manager of home loans for further clarity, before escalating to the Ombudsman.