CBA boss says he was unaware of $3 fee before it was announced

The boss of Australia’s largest bank says he was unaware of the controversial $3 service fee being applied to one account before it was announced.

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has claimed he first heard about the bank’s decision to charge customers $3 to access their own money through the media.

Dubbed the “worst Christmas present ever” by Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, CBA had planned to automatically move customers using a Complete Access account to a Smart Access account from January 6.

The Smart Access account includes a $3 “assisted withdrawal fee” for customers taking out their cash from bank branches, post offices or over the phone. This account does not have a fee on ATM withdrawals.

Mr Comyn told the Australian Financial Review that he only learnt of the decision to switch customers to the Smart Access account when he saw it in the news.

CBA boss Matt Comyn says he was unaware of the controversial $3 fee. Picture: NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

“I was surprised and disappointed to see that change go out,” Mr Comyn told the Australian Financial Review.

“I made a couple of phone calls to try to understand, I think, the root cause of that.”

Commonwealth Bank previously revealed the controversial move was led by its head of retail division Angus Sullivan, who has since apologised for the decision.

Mr Comyn said given the business’s large profit, he was not surprised by the backlash.

“Frankly, the reaction didn’t surprise me,” Mr Comyn said.

CBA quickly walked back the move, emailing customers advising them of a six-month pause in swapping accounts.

It says it will make sure customers are not “worse off with the new fee” before their accounts are changed.

“We acknowledge we haven’t got the communication right about this,” Mr Sullivan said.