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 to take a humiliating step back after the move was swamped by a wave of anger from Australians. Politicians and the media labeled it the “worst Christmas gift ever.”
Comyn said he only learned of the decision to switch customers from the ‘Full Access Account’ to a ‘Smart Access Account’, which charged the $3 fee for over-the-counter, post office and telephone withdrawals, through the media that reported on the public relations debacle.
“I was surprised and disappointed to see that change,” Mr Comyn told the Australian Financial Review in an article published Tuesday.
“I made a couple of phone calls to try to understand, I think, the root cause of this.”
The decision was made by the Commonwealth’s retail division, headed by Angus Sullivan, who reportedly thought the change was “innocuous”.
However, Comyn said he immediately understood what the decision would look like, as many Australians face financial hardship and his bank posted a near-record profit of almost $10 billion last year.
“Frankly, the reaction didn’t surprise me,” Mr. Comyn said.
Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn said he only learned of the decision to charge account holders $3 to withdraw their money over the counter after it was reported in the media.
Two days after the bank emailed one million customers informing them of the change, Sullivan announced there would be a six-month pause on account switching for customers who are “worse off under the new rate.”
“We recognize that we have not adequately communicated this matter,” Mr. Sullivan said.
While the change would continue for customers who are better off with the new account, Sullivan admitted that the bank had made the change “more difficult than we should have made.”
He said the bank would consult individually with around 100,000 customers who were worse off and move them to a new type of account that better suits their needs.
The assisted cash withdrawal fee will remain in effect for customers who already have the Smart Access account.
Commonwealth Bank retail division head Angus Sullivan thought $3 fee removal move would be ‘harmless’
Those account holders can make free withdrawals at ATMs and the fee is waived for pensioners, those under 18 years of age and those who deposit $2,000 a month.
Despite pressure from politicians, including treasurer Jim Chalmers, who contacted Comyn directly, the bank has refused to scrap the plan.
The bank has complained that operating in cash costs it around $400 million a year, which breaks down to a cost of $40 a year for each of the Commonwealth’s 10 million customers.
“Many of our customers do not use cash and these customers subsidize those who do,” Comyn said last year.
‘Five years ago, 43 percent of all point-of-sale transactions were cash. Today, the figure is around 15 percent.
“And yet, every week, customers transact more than $18 billion through the CommBank app, a 64 percent increase in just two years.”
The Commonwealth continues to make access to cash more difficult, having closed 73 branches in 2023 and more than 800 ATMs.
However, there remains strong community sentiment that banks should deal in cash for those who want or need to do so, as evidenced by the strong backlash against the Smart Access withdrawal fee.