Commonwealth Bank fined $3.5 million after sending millions of emails to its customers
- CBA has sent over 60 million spam emails
- Bank hit with Australia’s largest-ever spam fine
The Commonwealth Bank has been hit with the largest fine ever imposed by the communications watchdog for violating spam laws.
The bank was fined $3.55 million by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for sending more than 65 million spam emails to its customers.
The record penalty came after CBA, who showed ‘complete disregard’, failed to act despite repeated warnings.
An ACMA investigation found that the bank had sent 61 million emails that illegally required recipients to log into their accounts if they wanted to unsubscribe.
Another four million emails were sent with no option for people to unsubscribe, while 5,000 were sent to people who had already asked to unsubscribe.
Commonwealth Bank hit with biggest fine ever imposed by communications watchdog for breaking spam laws involving 60 million emails (stock image)
Australia’s Spam Act requires marketing messages to have working unsubscribe options and generally prohibits customers from logging in to do so.
The fine is the largest monetary fine imposed by ACMA for violating spam laws.
The bank said the breaches of spam laws followed updates to its e-banking terms and conditions in November 2021.
ACMA President Nerida O’Loughlin said companies should make sure customers have the option to opt out of messages they don’t want to receive.
“The scale and duration of the CBA’s breaches are alarming, especially when the ACMA gave it early warning that there might be problems and the actions taken were ineffective,” she said.
“Consumers become frustrated with marketing invasions of their privacy, especially when there is no option, or it is difficult to opt out…
“The failure to resolve the issues shows a complete disregard for spam rules and the rights of its customers.”
Ms O’Loughlin added: ‘This action is a further warning to all businesses that non-compliance with Australian spam laws will not be tolerated.’
Monique Macleod, Commonwealth Bank’s director of marketing and corporate affairs, said the company had resolved the issues at the center of the fine and had reported the issues itself to the authority.
“Since we reported this matter to ACMA, we have resolved the issues that were the subject of ACMA’s investigation and have strengthened our systems, processes and controls to support continued compliance,” she said.
“We apologize to all customers affected by these issues that should not have occurred.”
The Commonwealth Bank has agreed to an independent review of its e-marketing practices, as part of a three-year court-enforceable undertaking.
The bank will also be obliged to provide regular compliance reports to the communication watchdog.
Current spam laws prohibit companies from sending messages to customers after they have opted out, while marketing messages must have features that allow people to opt-out of receiving further communications.
The Commonwealth Bank (pictured) has agreed to an independent review of its e-marketing practices, as part of a court-enforceable three-year commitment
Companies have been fined more than $11 million in the past 18 months for violating spam laws.
“We continue to see large and well-known companies that should know better than to break spam laws,” said Ms. O’Loughlin.
“We will closely monitor Commonwealth Bank’s compliance and commitments it has made to review its practices.
“If we identify non-compliance in the future, we will not hesitate to take further action.”