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Australian corporate watchdog sues CBA over alleged business customer overcharging

By Reuters News

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said on Thursday it has launched civil penalty proceedings against Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX in the Federal Court over allegations it overcharged business customers through undisclosed fees.

The case is the first major action under Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Chair Sarah Court, who took office on June 1, and extends the regulator's recent tough stance on major financial groups.

The regulator alleged that about 42,000 of CBA's CommBiz customers were overcharged roughly A$8.5 million ($5.82 million) in fees between November 2020 and May 31, 2025.

CommBiz is CBA's flagship online business banking platform for medium-to-large businesses.

ASIC said CommBiz's terms and conditions failed to accurately disclose all fees charged for direct debit and direct credit transactions.

The regulator further said the issue extended far longer, with misleading terms in place since CommBiz was launched in 2006, resulting in business customers being overcharged for about 19 years.

CBA had received customer complaints from at least 2015, while a 2016 internal audit identified overcharging issues and called for corrective action, ASIC said.

The lender temporarily ceased charging the relevant fees in June 2025, amended CommBiz terms in August 2025 and has waived the "contra leg" fees for processing direct debits and direct credits since February 2026, ASIC said.

"What makes this particularly concerning is how long the alleged conduct went on, despite customer complaints to Commonwealth Bank pointing to a problem years earlier," ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said.

CBA said it had self-reported the matter and cooperated fully with ASIC's investigation, but does not accept some of the allegations, adding it expects to defend certain aspects of the claim while continuing to engage with the regulator.

CBA shares rose 1.6%, while the banking sub-index .AXFJ was up 0.2%.


($1 = 1.4601 Australian dollars)

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