ME Bank has had a 10 per cent spike in inflows into its first home saver account since the government announced changes to the FHSA scheme in the Federal Budget.Banks have been critical of the government's changes, which they said had not addressed the main flaw in the scheme, so the pickup in business since May surprised executives at ME Bank, which claims to be the biggest provider in the FHSA market.Maybe the coverage given to the issue after the Budget raised awareness. FHSAs have not had much marketing spend devoted to them. According to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the 19 deposit-taking institutions offering FHSAs had an aggregate balance of $75.7 million at the end of March, up from $60 million in the December quarter.In the original scheme first home buyers had to contribute to their FHSA over four financial years to qualify for concessional tax treatment and government contributions, and could not put the money to a home purchase until after that time passed.If they bought a house before the four years was up the money in the FHSA would go into their superannuation account.Now the government will allow people to buy a home and then put the money saved in the FHSA into the mortgage after the qualifying period has ended.The government has not changed the four-year qualifying period, which was seen as a big turnoff.Other FHSA providers, including Teachers Credit Union and AMP Banking, said they had not experienced any increase in inflow. The reason for this may be that ME Bank has by far the highest interest rate in the FHSA market, at 6.25 per cent.Teachers Credit Union chief executive Steve James said: "It's a great initiative, but it hasn't been widely adopted because locking the money away for four years is still too long for many people. It would be better if the duration of the account was lowered to three years."Also, if the saver had an opportunity to genuinely buy a home before the three-year term was up, say if they received a windfall from elsewhere, then the money saved in the FHSA should be fully released to them.  There could be a penalty for early withdrawal, perhaps forfeiting a portion of the co-contribution." Teachers Credit Union offers five per cent on FHSAs.