ASIC sues Commonwealth Bank after allegedly overcharging business customers millions of dollars for years

Detailed summary

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is being taken to court by the Australian corporate watchdog over allegations it overcharged businesses for years.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)is being taken to court by the Australian corporate watchdog over allegations it overcharged businesses for years.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Thursday announced it had commenced civil penalty proceedings against CBA over alleged overcharges through its CommBiz arm since it was launched in 2006.

It comes a day after Macquarie admitted it failed customers in the way it advertised a special Welcome Rate offer, leading the bank to repay millions of dollars to more than 40,000 customers.

ASIC alleges CBA’s CommBiz terms and conditions were “misleading” and failed to “clearly and accurately disclose all the fees business customers would be charged for Direct Debit and Direct Credit payments”.

While business customers were told they would be charged a fee for a payment to or from a third-party account, ASIC alleges CBA also charged an additional, undisclosed fee.

The alleged practice led about 42,000 CommBiz customers being overcharged a total of about $8.5 million between November 2020 and May 31, 2025.

“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 Commissioner Alan Kirkland said.

“Small businesses are busy enough. They should not have to scrutinise every transaction to make sure that their bank is charging them the right fees.”

ASIC alleges customers issued complaints to the bank from as early as 2015, with an internal audit the following year allegedly identifying “overcharging of Direct Debit fees and required corrective action”.

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