ASIC has started legal action against one of Australia\u2019s biggest banks over its alleged overcharging of business customers.<\/p>\n
Australia’s corporate and financial regulator announced on Thursday that it had commenced civil penalty proceedings against Commonwealth Bank of Australia.<\/p>\n
ASIC alleges that tens of thousands of Commonwealth business customers using CommBiz have been overcharged millions in fees they did not know about.<\/p>\n
About 42,000 customers were overcharged $8.5 million in undeclared fees between November 2020 and May 2025, according to ASIC.<\/p>\n
ASIC claims the misleading terms and conditions had been in place since the platform launched in 2006.<\/p>\n
The bank has already begun the process of remediation, paying $26.4 million to about 93,000 customers including 40,000 small businesses who had been affected since 2006.<\/p>\n
The fees were allegedly slapped onto Direct Debit and Direct Credit payments through business accounts.<\/p>\n
Customers were only told about fees for a payment to or from a third-party account, despite also being charged an additional fee for the corresponding movement money into or out of the CommBiz account, ASIC claims.<\/p>\n
Commbank said the fee was a $25c ‘contra leg’ fee which was “not accurately” reflected in changed Terms and Conditions.<\/p>\n
“While CBA charged the fee consistently over time, the issue arose from changes made to certain Terms and Conditions intended to simplify them, which did not accurately reflect the fee charging method,” the bank said in a statement.<\/p>\n
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said that small businesses should not have to \u201cscrutinize every transaction\u201d.<\/p>\n
“Small businesses are busy enough. They should not have to scrutinise every transaction to make sure that their bank is charging them the right fees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
“We allege Commonwealth Bank broke a basic promise to its business customers, many of them small businesses, that the fees it told them they would pay were the fees they would actually be charged.\u201d<\/p>\n
ASIC alleges that customers complained to the bank about the issue, while a 2016 internal audit identified overcharging of direct debit fees and called for corrective action.<\/p>\n
The government body has pinpointed \u201cgovernance failings\u201d as the cause behind the alleged misleading statements going unnoticed and uncorrected.<\/p>\n
ASIC provided an example of the alleged overcharging, claiming that a small business paying the wages of 10 employees was charged 12 fees.<\/p>\n
Ten fees were charged for payments to employees, while another two undisclosed fees were charged for withdrawing the money from the business’ accounts.<\/p>\n
CBA halted the fees in June 2025 and changed the terms for CommBiz customers in August 2025.<\/p>\n
“CBA self-identified this matter, reported it to ASIC, and has cooperated fully with ASIC throughout its investigation,” Commonwealth Bank said.<\/p>\n
The major bank said it has completed remediation of impacted CommBiz customers, paying a mean amount of $442 to affected customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commonwealth Bank said it is expecting to defend parts of ASICs claims in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“While CBA accepts that it did not get things right for CommBiz customers and apologises to all customers impacted by this matter, CBA does not accept the way that some allegations have been formulated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It therefore expects to defend certain aspects of the claim, or otherwise continue to engage with ASIC to efficiently resolve the proceedings.”<\/p>\n