Thousands of children’s bank accounts were fraudulently tampered with by Commonwealth Bank staff in order to meet targets and earn bonuses, it has been revealed.
A statement from CBA chief executive Matt Comyn confirmed the malpractice of the so-called ‘people’s bank’, which saw staff depositing either bank funds or their own money into Youthsaver accounts in order to illegitimately activate them.
Any Youthsaver or ‘Dollarmites’ accounts that don’t receive deposits within 30 days of kids being signed up to them don’t count toward sales targets.
Thousands of children’s bank accounts were fraudulently tampered with by Commonwealth Bank staff in order to meet targets and earn bonuses, it has been revealed
The bank confirmed the malpractice, which saw staff depositing either bank funds or their own money into Youthsaver – otherwise known as ‘Dollarmites’ – accounts in order to illegitimately activate them
Thus the transfers – which Mr Comyn claims were sometimes as meagre as 10 cents – were simply for the purpose of making the accounts appear active, thereby boosting staff’s incentives, ABC News reports.
In his statement issued on Saturday, Mr Comyn asserted that action had been taken in 2013 to bring an end the scam.
‘While this practice did not financially harm any of our customers, it was a breach of their trust. For that I’m deeply sorry,’ he said.
‘After we identified this practice by some staff in 2013, we immediately made changes to end it, and we are not aware of any evidence that the practice has occurred again in the past five years… There is now a line in the sand.’
In a statement issued on Saturday, CBA chief executive Matt Comyn (pictured) said that ‘While this practice did not financially harm any of our customers, it was a breach of their trust. For that I’m deeply sorry’
That apology was little consolation for Federal Opposition finance spokesman Jim Chalmers, however, who condemned the actions of CBA staff and declared that the culture of the big four banks needs to change.
‘These new revelations about the meddling of little kids’ bank accounts are extraordinarily troubling,’ he said.
The scam is the latest in a long string of controversies that were recently unearthed as a result of a banking royal commission.
That apology was little consolation for Federal Opposition finance spokesman Jim Chalmers, however (pictured) who condemned the actions of CBA staff and declared that the culture of the big four banks needs to change