Karl Stefanovic calls out Commonwealth Bank as it eliminates over-the-counter cash withdrawals and deposits at new ‘cashless’ branches
- Some bank branches do not conduct cash transactions in person
- Karl Stefanovic seemed confused by the play
Karl Stefanovic has criticized Commonwealth Bank’s decision to open new ‘cashless’ branches where withdrawals and deposits are not available over the counter.
The bank has opened new ‘specialized center’ branches, located in metropolitan areas, where access to cash is only available through ATMs.
‘Don’t worry, there’s just no cash in this bank… is there a problem in the Matrix or is something going on right now?’ No cash in the bank? Stefanovic said on the show Wednesday morning.
Personal ATM transactions are not available at specialized centers, which focus on ‘complex’ banking, including business customers and loan products.
Today, the show’s host, Karl Stefanovic, questioned whether some bank branches running out of cash were a “failure in the matrix.”
‘Commonwealth Bank has created a very small number of Specialist Centers in major metropolitan areas, which are designed to help personal and business customers with more complex banking needs,” a spokesperson said.
“These Specialty Centers provide customers with one-on-one access to specialty home and business lenders, and also offer the latest self-service technologies.”
‘All of our Specialty Centers are very close to full-service branches.’
‘We continue to maintain Australia’s largest branch network for customers.’
But the move towards digital money, which is also being pursued by other ‘big four’ banks such as ANZ and NAB, has raised concerns especially for older Australians and those in regional areas.
National Seniors Australia chief operating officer Chris Grace told the show there appeared to be a “deliberate game” to get people out of cash.
“By 2030, checks will be out of circulation, so there will be a big shift towards digital transactions,” he said.
“It’s not that easy for some, especially those in regional communities where there might be problems with internet access.”
“If you’re a gray nomad, for example, traveling the length and breadth of the country, if you’re in the Australian outback and you want to pay for fuel, you’ll need cash.”
Mr. Grace also noted that fees are often added to digital transactions.
“We see more and more transaction fees being added to accounts, especially if people want to access their cash through ATMs that are not provided by the big banks.”
Commonwealth Bank has opened specialized centers where cash is not available over the counter and only through ATMs
Mr. Grace has called for more education and publicity by financial institutions to raise awareness of digital apps and how to use them, especially for older people.
But moving to digital money in favor of cash also brings more risks.
In June, the CommBank app experienced an outage that lasted hours, preventing customers from accessing their money.
“We know how much customers depend on us and we are very sorry for the intermittent service issues many people are experiencing today,” said CBA Chief Information Officer Gavin Munroe.
The outage was due to an application connecting CBA’s internal systems and was not related to a cybersecurity incident.
