Commonwealth Bank apologises for staff manipulation of children’s accounts
Bank’s employees reactivated dormant accounts with loose change to boost their bonuses and hit performance goals
Commonwealth Bank has apologised for the widespread manipulation of Dollamites accounts by its retail staff in an effort to inflate their bonuses and hit performance targets.
The practice, revealed by Fairfax Media on Saturday, involved CBA’s Youthsaver accounts, commonly known as Dollarmites, which are created by school-age children and their families.
Staff used loose change – either their own money or the bank’s money – to activate dormant Youthsaver accounts that had been created by customers who later failed to make a deposit.
By “activating” the accounts, staff could count them towards sales or bonus targets.
Commonwealth Bank released a statement on Saturday confirming it had taken action to stamp out the practice in 2013.
The bank’s new chief executive, Matt Comyn, said it did not financially harm any customer. But he conceded it was a breach of their trust.