Proposals for $3 fee for cash sparks outrage among customers

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The commonwealth bank is being urged to walk back changes that would see some customers charged a three- dollar fee if they withdraw cash from a branch or post office.

Transcript

00:00To say these changes from the Commonwealth Bank have been received badly would be an

00:06understatement. The ABC has been speaking to people throughout Sydney's CBD just this

00:11morning and already there was apoplectic rage at the move to charge people three dollars

00:17when they want to withdraw money in person from bank branches or post offices or withdrawals

00:23using a phone.

00:25People's money. They deserve to take their money when they want without fee. It's just

00:29banks grabbing money for the sake of it.

00:30I think it's ridiculous, especially for the elderly because my father, he's got a Commonwealth

00:35Bank and he draws cash out because if you go into the branch you've got to line up.

00:40There's no staff there that wants to assist. If you need to go into the branch you've got

00:44to wait there for hours for assistance.

00:45It's a little bit silly. I mean it's my money. Why should I have to pay the bank to keep

00:52my money? We already pay for fees. We already pay for overcharge fees. Why should we have

00:57to pay for fees to get our money out?

01:00So how do these changes work? Well the Commonwealth Bank of Australia says everyone using a complete

01:06access account will be shifted over to a smart access account in January next year, just

01:12weeks away from now. And at that point if they want to use money withdrawn from post

01:17offices, bank branches or via the phone they'll be charged this fee.

01:22Now there are some exemptions that the Commonwealth Bank has already flagged. They include for

01:26concession card holders such as pensioners, people under 18 and defence veterans.

01:33Commonwealth Bank estimates that about 90% of the customers won't be impacted by these

01:38fees and changes. But nailing the specific number of those who will be impacted is a

01:43little bit trickier. There's more than 11.5 million people who hold accounts with the

01:49Commonwealth Bank, whether that's as a business or as an individual. And it's not clear how

01:53many will be smart access customers henceforth. What is clear though is that both major parties

02:00in Australian politics think this is a bad idea and the Commonwealth Bank should reconsider

02:06it.

02:07I would really think that some goodwill here just before Christmas is for the CBA to have

02:12a think about the announcement they made yesterday.

02:15I'm thinking about those same senior citizens who are struggling because all of their life

02:20they become accustomed to walking into a branch. I think for them to be stung by $3, I think

02:26it's certainly worthy, let me say, at least of a serious rethink on behalf of the bank.

02:32The Commonwealth Bank isn't the first bank to charge people fees for withdrawing their

02:36own money from their own accounts. However, this move has, as stated earlier, been received

02:42extremely poorly. Whether or not they'll move and change their mind over these decisions

02:48remains to be seen. But there's clearly plenty of advice from the public and politicians

02:53to the bank that they should change their ways.

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