ASIC sues Commonwealth Bank over alleged customer overcharges

Australia’s corporate regulator filed civil penalty proceedings against Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) on Thursday, alleging the lender overcharged business customers through fees that were not properly disclosed.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said about 42,000 CommBiz customers were overcharged approximately A$8.5 million ($5.82 million) in fees between November 2020 and May 31, 2025. CommBiz is the bank’s online banking platform for medium-to-large businesses.

ASIC said the platform’s terms and conditions failed to accurately disclose all fees charged for direct debit and direct credit transactions. The regulator said misleading terms had been in place since CommBiz launched in 2006, meaning business customers were overcharged for about 19 years.

The bank received customer complaints from at least 2015, and a 2016 internal audit identified the overcharging issues and recommended corrective action, ASIC said.

Commonwealth Bank temporarily stopped 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, according to the regulator.

"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.

Commonwealth Bank said it self-reported the matter and cooperated fully with ASIC’s investigation. The bank said it does not accept some of the allegations and expects to defend certain aspects of the claim while continuing to engage with the regulator.

The case marks the first major action under ASIC Chair Sarah Court, who took office on June 1.