The Commonwealth Bank’s decision to cut fees for cash withdrawal customers has unleashed a groundswell of widespread anger among politicians, media figures and ordinary Australians.
The bank will abolish its ‘Complete Access Account’ and replace it with a ‘Smart Access Account’, with a $3 fee imposed on every withdrawal from a branch, post office or telephone from January 6.
Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones branded the move a “slap in the face” to loyal customers and the “worst Christmas present imaginable”.
“The Commonwealth Bank must reconsider this terrible decision,” he said.
“This appears to be a tax on Australians demanding the right to use their cash. And the government will not support that.
“We’re working for Australians to ensure they can continue to use cash if they want to.”
North Queensland-based federal MP Bob Katter described the new charges as “an act of defiance and contempt for the people of Australia.”
He said the bank was making a “counterattack” against the recent announcement that businesses selling essential goods and services such as groceries, medicines and fuel will be forced to accept cash from their customers unless they receive a special exemption in early 2026.
The Commonwealth Bank has announced that from January it will charge a $3 fee for people making cash withdrawals at the counter in a branch, post office or by telephone.
Mr Katter told Channel 10’s The Project on Tuesday evening that he “hasn’t had a good relationship with the banks in recent years” and that he doesn’t need their permission to get a loaf of bread.
He said the first thought that came to his mind was that the compensation was similar to the way Indigenous people were once treated in Queensland.
“If you were a black compatriot, instead of a white compatriot, your wages were deposited into a government account,” he said.
“And the only way you could get your money was to go to the local police officer and give him the reasons why you wanted to get that money out so you could use it.”
Panelist Hamish Macdonald asked Mr Katter why he thought the fee was an attempt to control people who were just using cards to buy things.
“You can use that card because the bank gives you permission to use that card,” Mr. Katter replied
If the bank says no, you can’t use that card, then you can’t go to another bank because they send the details to them.
“So it’s on the records of every bank in Australia that we don’t like you, you speak badly about banks and you’ve been a bad boy at times, so we won’t allow you to use the bank account. If you can’t do that, you can’t buy a load of bread.
Federal MP Bob Katter argued that the fee was part of a ‘counter-attack’ by the banks against the use of cash
Chris ‘O’Keefe, presenter of Sydney radio station 2GB, was even more scathing, branding the cash grab “beyond obscene”.
“Charging a fee to access our own money is nothing more than a dirty little money grab,” he said.
“How much blood do they want from us?”
He could barely contain his disbelief at the bank’s claim that the move was “all part of our efforts to provide Australians with the best banking experience”.
“They’re definitely joking,” O’Keefe said.
“Are these people real?”
O’Keefe said cash deposit customers cost the financial giant about $400 million a year, but noted that the bank made a whopping after-tax profit of nearly $10 billion last fiscal year.
“This is all about improving the bottom line,” O’Keefe said.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia it “continues to offer customers free cash withdrawals from our national ATM network.”
They added that the company would “continue to offer waivers on assisted withdrawal fees for customers who meet certain criteria, including certain types of pension recipients, those who contribute $2,000 per month and those under 18 years of age.
‘Our Streamline Basic account has no monthly account fees or assisted withdrawal fees and is available to customers who hold an eligible concession card.’
Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones called the bank’s move a “slap in the face” for loyal customers
The new withdrawal fees for Commonwealth Bank customers will come into effect on January 6
O’Keefe was concerned the most disadvantaged in the community because that is who the Commonwealth Bank is targeting’.
“Consider the elderly, the disabled or people living in rural areas where access to an ATM and digital banking is virtually impossible,” he said, noting that these problems are of the bank’s making,” he said.
“Going to a branch may be the only way these people can pay their bills for the week, and now they have to pay $3 for the privilege.
O’Keefe pointed to the Commonwealth’s policy statement around accessibility and inclusion.
The bank’s website says it aims to create “inclusive products, services, experiences and workplaces that provide equitable access and dignity for all our customers, people and communities.”
Talkback radio host Chris O’Keefe (pictured with his wife Yvonne) branded the Sydney bank’s move as ‘greedy as all nonsense’
“We call this ‘dignity by design,'” the website says.
“Where is the dignity of charging, I will charge CEO Matt Comyn $3 for a disabled person who cannot use an ATM, a blind person, a retiree, a homeless person waiting for their payments to drop, where is the dignity? in it?’ O’Keefe asked.
He called the move “greedy as all nonsense.”
“This compensation is wrong, morally, ethically and financially. Wrong, wrong, wrong,” he said.
Social media users were equally outraged; some threatened to leave the bank.
‘Absolute disgrace as a 55 year old State Savings Bank/Commonwealth bank customer. I will seriously consider switching banks,” one X user tweeted on Tuesday.
“If the Commonwealth Bank imposes a fee set by them to access my own money, how is that not extortion? …and that’s why you don’t bank with the Commonwealth Bank.”
Some argued that this was a good reason to take the Commonwealth back into public hands, with the institution sold off under the Hawke and Keating Labor governments in the early to mid-1990s.
“Renationalise the Commonwealth Bank,” one X user wrote.
‘It should never have been privatized in the first place.
“Our politicians are criminals for once selling off public assets such as this bank, Telstra, the energy sector and more.
‘This makes us bleed dry’
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