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Australia

ASIC takes CBA to court over allegedly undisclosed business fees

2026-11-12

Illustrative accounting documents, not CBA accounts or records of the disputed fees

ASIC has started Federal Court civil penalty proceedings against Commonwealth Bank over allegedly undisclosed fees charged to CommBiz business customers. The proceedings were announced on November 12.

The regulator alleges about 42,000 customers were overcharged roughly A$8.5 million between November 2020 and May 2025. It says customers were charged an extra fee for money moving into or out of their own CommBiz account alongside payments to third parties.

CBA apologised but said it disputes how some allegations are framed and intends to defend aspects of the case. A broader remediation program has paid more than A$26.4 million to about 93,000 customers. That longer-period repayment figure is separate from the alleged A$8.5 million in the proceedings; the allegations are not a court finding.

November 13 update: regulator details the allegations

ASIC says the allegedly undisclosed charge applied to the corresponding movement into or out of a business customer's own account. In its example, paying ten employees from two CommBiz accounts generated twelve fees: ten for the employee payments and two for withdrawals from the business accounts. These remain allegations in civil proceedings, not findings that the bank has broken the law.

The regulator says complaints dated back to at least 2015 and a 2016 internal audit identified Direct Debit overcharging. Its release distinguishes the approximately $8.5 million alleged overcharge during November 2020 to May 2025 from the wider remediation program covering December 2006 onwards, which paid more than $26.4 million to approximately 93,000 customers, including about 40,000 small businesses.

ASIC says the relevant fees were temporarily stopped in June 2025, terms were amended in August 2025 and the disputed corresponding-account fees have been waived since February 2026. The regulator is seeking penalties and other orders. Its release says no case-management hearing had yet been listed. Customers who believe they were affected and have not received remediation should contact CBA.

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