Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn says he was unaware of the disastrous decision to charge account holders $3 to withdraw cash until he read about it in the media.
The bank was forced into a humiliating backdown after the move was swamped by a tidal wave of anger from Aussies. with politicians and the media labelling it the ‘worst Christmas present ever’.
Mr Comyn said he only learnt of the decision to switch customers from the ‘Complete Access Account’ to a ‘Smart Access Account’, which charged the $3 fee for over the counter, post office and phone withdrawals, from media reporting the PR debacle.
‘I was surprised and disappointed to see that change go out,’ Mr Comyn told the n Financial Review in an article published on Tuesday.
‘I made a couple of phone calls to try to understand, I think, the root cause of that.’
The decision was made by the Commonwealth’s retail division, headed by Angus Sullivan who reportedly thought the change was ‘innocuous’.
However, Mr Comyn said he immediately understood how the decision would be viewed with many ns facing financial hardship and his bank recording a near-record profit of nearly $10billion last financial year.
‘Frankly, the reaction didn’t surprise me,’ Mr Comyn said.
Two days after the bank had emailed a million customers advising them of the change Mr Sullivan announced there would be a six-month pause in swapping accounts for customers who are ‘worse off with the new fee’.
‘We acknowledge we haven’t got the communication right about this,’ Mr Sullivan said.
While the switch would continue for customers who are better off on the new account, Mr Sullivan admitted the bank had made the change ‘more difficult than we should have’.
He said the bank would individually consult with around 100,000 customers who were worse off and move them to a new type of account that best suits their needs.
The assisted cash withdrawal fee will still remain for customers who are already on the Smart Access account.
Those account holders can make free withdrawals at ATMs and the fee is waived to pensioners, those under 18 and those who deposit $2,000 a month.
Despite pressure from politicians, including by Treasurer Jim Chalmers who directly contacted Mr Comyn, the bank has refused to scrap the plan.
The bank has complained that dealing in cash costs it around $400million a year, which breaks down to a $40 per annum cost for each of the Commonwealth’s 10million customers.
‘Many of our customers don’t use cash and these customers cross-subsidise those that do,’ Mr Comyn said last year.
‘Five years ago, 43 per cent of all point of sale transactions were cash. Today, the figure is around 15 per cent.
‘And yet, every week, customers transact more than $18 billion through the CommBank app, an increase of 64 per cent in just two years.’
The Commonwealth continues to make cash harder to access having closed 73 branches in 2023 and more than 800 ATMs.
However, there remains a strong community sentiment that banks should deal in cash for those who want or need to as evidenced by the strong backlash against the Smart Access withdrawal fee.