Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is facing civil court action initiated by the local securities watchdog, which claims the lender levied “millions of dollars” in over charges against “tens of thousands” of CommBiz business users.
The litigation centres on the terms and conditions governing CommBiz.
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged these documents breached disclosure standards by omitting full details of the charges applicable to direct debit and direct credit transfers.
While commercial users were informed of fees applied to transfers involving third-party accounts, ASIC contends CBA routinely deducted an “additional, undisclosed” levy for the linked movement of capital into or out of the client’s own CommBiz facility.
Regulators estimate that roughly 42,000 CommBiz users incurred approximately $8.5m in unauthorised deductions between November 2020 and 31 May 2025.
ASIC asserted the wider overcharging practice persisted for nearly two decades, stating the “misleading” contract terms remained active from the platform’s introduction in 2006.
Customer grievances regarding the billing discrepancies date back to at least 2015.
A subsequent internal audit in 2016 confirmed that direct debit fees were being improperly applied and instructed bank management to execute remedial action.
ASIC alleged systemic governance breakdowns within CBA prevented staff from discovering and amending the defective statements, leading to a failure by the bank to provide financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly.
ASIC is petitioning the Court for declarations, pecuniary penalties, adverse publicity orders, ancillary orders, and legal costs.
The Court has not set a date for a case management hearing.
ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland said: “We allege Commonwealth Bank broke a basic promise to its business customers, many of them small businesses, that the fees it told them they would pay were the fees they would actually be charged.
“ASIC will continue to take action where banks don’t have the systems and processes in place to deliver on the basic promises they make to their customers.
“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.”
