Category Archives: Commonwealth Bank

Adrian was ‘gutted’ to be underpaid by the Commonwealth Bank. He hopes new laws will protect workers

Posted on by

Criminal penalties for employers who deliberately underpay workers have come into effect, including up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $7.8m

Adrian Thoen, a Commonwealth Bank call centre worker was devastated when he found out he was among thousands of workers at the nation’s biggest bank being underpaid to the tune of $16m.

He was employed on a flexible contract instead of a standard enterprise agreement, with more than 7,000 workers losing out on money and entitlements.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Commonwealth Bank says it has resolved duplicate transaction issue after funds wiped from accounts

Posted on by

CBA says ‘the process to reverse these transactions has been completed’ and any fees charged will be refunded

The Commonwealth Bank says it has resolved the error which left customers’ balances lower than they should have been after the bank charged some transactions twice, and left some worrying about how they would buy essentials and pay rent.

The duplicates involved transactions from recent days and resulted in some people having their bank accounts overdrawn.

Continue reading...

Commonwealth Bank CEO labels Greens’ tax policy ‘insidious populism’ after firm’s $9.8bn profit

Posted on by

Matt Comyn tells parliamentary inquiry that criticism of business profits ‘erodes trust in institutions’

The Commonwealth Bank chief executive, Matt Comyn, has described a proposed excessive profits tax as “insidious populism” and labelled criticism of profitable businesses as “fact-free rhetoric” that is damaging trust in public institutions.

Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday, the head of Australia’s biggest bank appeared frustrated by questions about payment surcharges and corporate relationships and abruptly turned his attention to address criticism of big business.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australians’ mortgage payments hit high not seen since before GFC, data shows

Posted on by

The average mortgage holder is parting with more than a fifth of their pre-tax income, double what they were spending in the 90s

Mortgage holders are spending well over 20% of their pre-tax income on their loans, representing one of the highest levels on record, data compiled by Commonwealth Bank shows.

It has rocketed in recent years amid rising interest rates and high living costs to a level last seen two decades ago when frothy property prices took hold before the 2008 global financial crisis.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Microsoft IT outage: Australian airlines, banks and supermarkets begin return to normal operations

Posted on by

IT support staff need to implement the fix in person, one computer at a time, experts have said

Supermarkets, banks, airlines and industries across Australia are slowly recovering on Saturday morning from the massive global Windows outage caused by a CrowdStrike software update gone wrong, with experts warning it could take weeks to resolve.

On Friday morning, the CEO of the Texas-based cybersecurity company, George Kurtz, apologised for the outage, and said it was not a cyber-attack, but a software update issue on its cloud-based cybersecurity platform Falcon for Microsoft Windows. It had since been fixed.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Commonwealth Bank posts $5bn half-yearly cash profit after ‘deliberate’ shrinking of home loan book

Posted on by

Latest financial results show CBA now targeting savers over mortgage holders, amid concerns over weakening competition among major lenders

Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, is losing market share in its home loan book through a deliberate strategy of not competing for less lucrative mortgage customers.

The bank’s tactics feed into concerns there are few signs of healthy price competition between Australia’s major lenders operating in one of the most concentrated sectors among comparable economies.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Commonwealth Bank posts record $10bn profit amid rising stress for borrowers

Posted on by

Annual results for CBA are 6% higher than previous year, buoyed by expanded profit margins during interest rate hikes

Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, has posted a record $10.16bn cash profit, even as more of its customers succumb to rising borrowing rates, prompting a sharp increase in bad debts.

The bank’s 2022-23 results were 6% higher than a year earlier, buoyed by expanding profit margins generated during a period of fast-rising interest rates.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Young renters reducing spending amid cost of living crisis more than any other group: CBA boss

Posted on by

Commonwealth Bank head Matt Comyn said people who bought their first home during the pandemic had also reduced spending by around 30%

Renters are hitching their belts even tighter than mortgage holders as rising prices erode their savings capacity.

Commonwealth Bank data suggests those aged between 25 and 29, who are likely facing sharp rental increases, are pulling back on spending more than any other group.

Continue reading...

Major Commonwealth Bank outage prevents some customers from accessing accounts

Posted on by

CBA says issue resolved without reporting cause, but advises delay in some payments as services brought back online

Commonwealth Bank suffered a major outage on Monday, with customers unable to access their accounts, including transfers and payments, for several hours.

Customers reported not being able to check their account balances or transfer funds in the Netbank app and some said they were unable to make purchases. Credit cards appeared unaffected at the time of reporting.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Philip Lowe says RBA ‘still unsure’ how high interest rates will go during Senate estimates grilling

Posted on by

RBA boss tells Senate estimates about rationale for rate rises as Adam Bandt demands end to new coal and gas projects. Follow live

Around and around we go …

So CBA shareholders are to get a (fully franked) dividend of $2.10 for each of their share – 20% more than the last time dividends were sent out.

We reported strong financial and operational performance in our financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2022. Our cash net profit after tax of $5,153 million reflects the Bank’s customer focus and disciplined strategic execution. Our continued balance sheet strength and capital position creates flexibility to support our customers and manage potential economic headwinds, while delivering sustainable returns to shareholders. A fully franked interim dividend of $2.10 per share was determined, an increase of 20% on 1H22, driven by organic capital generation and a reduction in share count from share buy-backs. Despite the current uncertainty, your Board and management feel optimistic for the future and are committed to delivering for our customers and for you, our shareholders

Continue reading...

Australia should force banks to repay scam victims and adopt better protections, advocates say

Posted on by

Calls for federal government to mandate the checking of account details before money transfers are made

The federal government should take action to force banks to reimburse scam victims and check the account details match up on transactions to stop scams before the money is lost, consumer rights advocates say.

The call comes as Australia’s big four banks pushed back on mandatory reimbursements, arguing they could “inadvertently lead to increases in scam activity” and that customers should keep themselves safe.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia’s banks likely to reduce lending to regions and sectors at risk of climate change impacts, regulator says

Posted on by

Apra finds country’s banks may be more vulnerable to economic downturns as they face threefold increase in lending losses

Banks expect to reduce lending to households and businesses in northern Australia and to fossil fuel industries across the country as the risk of losses due to the climate crisis escalates, the industry regulator says.

A new report by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) found climate change could make banks more vulnerable to economic downturns as they face up to a threefold increase in lending losses by 2050, but that the system should be able to absorb the impact.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...