Karl Stefanovic calls out Commonwealth Bank as it ends over-the-counter cash withdrawals and deposits at new ‘cashless’ branches
Some bank branches do not handle cash in person Karl Stefanovic was confused by the move
Karl Stefanovic spoke of the Commonwealth Bank’s decision to open new ‘cashless’ branches where money cannot be withdrawn and deposited over the counter.
The bank has opened new ‘Expert Centre’ branches located in metropolitan areas, where access to cash is available only through ATMs.
‘Don’t worry there’s no cash in the bank…is there a problem with the matrix or something going on right now?’ No cash in the bank?’ Stefanovic said this at an event on Wednesday morning.
In-person teller transactions are not available at specialist centres, which focus on ‘complex’ banking, including business customers and loan products.
Today show host Carl Stefanovic questioned whether some bank branches going cashless was a ‘fault in the matrix’
A spokesman said: ‘The Commonwealth Bank has established a small number of specialist centers in major metropolitan areas, designed to help individual and business customers with their more complex banking needs.’
‘These specialist centers provide customers with face-to-face access to specialist home and business lenders and also offer the latest self-service technology.’
‘All our specialist centers are very close to full-service branches.’
‘We continue to maintain Australia’s largest branch network for customers.’
But the move to digital money, which is being followed by other ‘big four’ banks such as ANZ and NAB, has raised concerns particularly among older Australians and those in regional areas.
National Senior Australia’s chief operating officer, Chris Grace, said the program appeared to be a ‘deliberate game’ to get people to cash out.
‘Checks will be phased out by 2030 so there will be a big shift in digital transactions,’ he said.
‘It’s simple and not tap-and-go for some, especially in regional communities where internet access can be a problem.’
‘If you’re a gray nomad, for example traveling the length and breadth of the country, you’ll need cash with you if you’re in the Australian outback and want to pay for fuel.’
Mr. Grace also noted that digital transactions often have fees added to them.
‘We’re seeing more transaction fees added to accounts, especially if people want to access their cash through ATMs that the big banks don’t offer.’
The Commonwealth Bank has opened specialist centers where cash is not available over-the-counter and only through ATMs
Mr Grace called for more education and advertising by financial institutions to raise awareness of digital apps and how to use them, especially for seniors.
But moving to digital money in favor of cash brings more risks.
In June, the CommBank app experienced an outage that lasted several hours preventing customers from accessing their money.
‘We know how much customers depend on us and we are very sorry for the occasional service issues many people are experiencing today,’ said CBA Chief Information Officer Gavin Munro.
The outage was caused by an application that connected CBA’s in-house systems and was not connected to a cyber security incident.