I have been informed that the Commonwealth Bank’s Wealth Package fee will no longer been withdrawn from saving accounts.
Instead it will be applied to home loan accounts. This means that it has potential to generate interest for the bank.
I requested that this fee be taken out of my savings account as it has in the past, but the bank refused.
I expressed my dissatisfaction with this and said that it is an attempt by the bank to make money via interest.
I have to contact the bank on the day the fee is applied and deposit the fee amount in the home loan - otherwise it will start generating interest I have to pay.
It does not sound right and I wonder how many customers will be paying the fee plus interest.
I thought the Commonwealth Bank was trying to improve and improve its customer service.
Have you asked why this change has occurred? Or is it a mistake on setup and should never have happened…and the bank is now correcting a past error.
It appears that from the Commonwealth Bank’s website that the Commonwealth Bank’s Wealth Package is attached to a loan accounts and not a savings account. I wonder if the change is to rationalise the package and ensure that every customer is dealt with the same. Namely, those with a home loan and without a savings account with Commonwealth Bank would have costs/fees attributed to the loan account…where those like yourself had the option of costs against a savings account when the benefits are accrued in the loan account).
It might be worth asking the question…and also determining whether the changes in the package are still in your interest to continue.
They are changing this to home loan accounts only.
In the past the fee could be taken out of your savings account.
Now they will take it out of the home loan accoiunt which means if you do not log in and deposit the anount on the day they take it out of the home loan account, inrterest will begin to be charged which means this becaomes a money making exercise for the bank.
In summary, it is disgraceful behaviour putting customers in very difficult positions.
Why change something that is working for customers?
I wonder if this is because people’s use of accounts changes over time? The account they take my fee from is a transit account and rarely has the fee amount in it (these days) when it becomes due - previously it was my main account. It’s failed the first hit two years running now, then I’ve put cash in there and all was good.
CBA haven’t advised me of this change though from what I can find … seems the customer should have the option of how to pay, not just have it taken off the loan account … another thing to bear in mind is that banks are rather sensitive to annoying customers at the moment - the prospect of you changing banks might result in some reconsideration …
That is a familiar tactic. Banks work primarily for their shareholders not their customers. They have found a way to extract a few dollars.
ING is about to change its online saver requirements so that at the end of each month the balance has to be higher (not including interest) than it was at the end of the previous month, to get the bonus interest. If you have the max $100,000 for illustration it is the difference at current rates between about $120 and $8 in interest received.
Using the $100,000 example, the game has become moving $99,999 out of the account on the 30th leaving a $1 balance. On the 1st moving the $99,999 back and on the 30th moving $99,998 out again (now a $2 balance so you played the game), and back again on the 1st. It seems like a ridiculous game but every time one forgets ING is about $112 in pocket. ING is far from alone in ‘made up’ requirements and has really just joined the fray.
So the bottom line is the banks are going to win, and the banks generally set the rules, and one has to decide which game to play.
Some affected customers will move the money into the loan account, some won’t bother, and a few might forget on the day, and every dollar they charge in interest helps their bottom line.
The Commonwealth Bank is not helping itself. They say they are trying to improve but behaviour like this just confirms that excellent customer service and valuing customers are not top priorities.
