Allison Langdon has lashed out at the Commonwealth Bank for dampening Australians’ confidence after it was forced to backtrack on its withdrawal fees following a severe backlash.
The A Current Affair host delivered the withering criticism on Wednesday night, hours after the bank announced it would be taking a “pause” on fees.
Commonwealth Bank had initially planned to move customers from its Complete Access account to a Smart Access account and charge them a $3 fee when withdrawing cash from a branch, post office or their phone from January 6.
The bank revealed the change would be delayed by six months for customers who are “worse off under the new rate” following intense backlash.
Langdon claimed the damage had already been done to customer confidence.
‘How can a bank that raised $9.8 billion last year justify charging its customers to access their own money? “You can’t,” he told his viewers.
‘Once upon a time loyalty was rewarded, but not anymore.
“The damage caused by this only increases widespread distrust of banks and they have no one to blame but themselves.”
Ally Langdon (pictured) said the “damage” from Commonwealth Bank’s now-waived cash withdrawal fee had already been done and “they have no one to blame but themselves”.
His comment came after Langdon questioned CommBank group retail banking services executive Angus Sullivan about the withdrawal fee on Tuesday night.
“It doesn’t sit well with families who are struggling while our banks make billions,” he said.
“What a way to say Merry Christmas and thank you for your loyalty.”
But Sullivan responded by arguing that the new fee was a “very modest cost.”
“The reality is that handling cash is expensive,” he said, despite the bank’s profits of nearly $10 billion this year.
He also insisted that the change was only “relevant to around 10 per cent of CBA’s customer base”.
“And for our Full Access customers, about 90 percent of them will be better off or have a neutral outcome.”
Langdon lashed out at the executive in response.
Defending the new fee, Angus Sullivan (right) told Ally Langdon (left) that handling cash was “expensive”
“I don’t know if most Australians feel the same way about their bank supporting them,” he said.
‘Do you know what would be welcome? An interest rate cut. That would get you off the naughty list.
Mr. Sullivan laughed at the suggestion.
“This is not my responsibility to make that happen,” he said.
‘But I appreciate that customers are having a hard time right now. I certainly hope that we can explain these changes in a way that makes our customers feel that we have taken them into account.’
Viewers were outraged to see Mr Sullivan argue that the fee was necessary for Commonwealth Bank operations.
‘What a pathetic response… just be sincere and honest. It’s about profits,’ said one.
“Tomorrow I will close my 35-year account with you and withdraw the $365,000 in cash,” wrote another.
The Albanian government also weighed in, criticizing the bank’s decision to introduce the fee.
‘It doesn’t seem fair or appropriate and this is a huge bank making huge profits. Come on guys,” Housing Minister Clare O’Neil told Sunrise.
‘It’s Christmas. We don’t need this now. “This is not something the bank should do and we ask them to reconsider.”
Queensland Rural MP Bob Katter also spoke about the fee.
He called it an “act of defiance and contempt for the people of Australia”, in an interview with Channel 10’s The Project.
Sullivan, in a statement Wednesday, said the change had been “poorly communicated” to the bank’s customers.
“The changes that are occurring are such that approximately 90 percent of the customers we intend to move, and who we expect to be better off or equally well off, will be moved to the lower monthly rate account,” he said.
‘If those clients do not want to move, they can contact us to discuss their options. For remaining customers, we are changing our approach and pausing the migration. Instead, we will contact these customers over the next six months to communicate appropriate product options.
‘The changes described above do not affect approximately nine million CommBank customers who do not have the Complete Access product.
‘Commonwealth Bank maintains the largest branch network. Each of our branches has free ATMs and we have a moratorium on regional branch closures until at least the end of 2026.’