Bank’s sole focus was profits: CEO
COMPO PAYOUT LOOMS
COMMONWEALTH Bank CEO Matt Comyn admits the bank has prioritised profits over its customers, as it faces potentially compensating more than half a million customers sold dud add-on insurance.
CBA is already paying $46 million to 154,000 customers over the misselling of credit card and loan protection insurance.
An independent review in September raised concerns about the sales process or value of the consumer credit insurance product for another 374,000 customers.
Mr Comyn said CBA would extend its remediation program to cover those customers if necessary.
The banking royal commission has heard CBA knew about problems with its credit card plus product and the risk of misselling of its loan protection products in 2015.
Mr Comyn said the misselling of the insurance products and charging fees for no service were among a number of examples where the bank prioritised profits over customers.
Mr Comyn yesterday said there were a number of ways in which the culture of the bank had to change.
“And of course trying to ensure that we are at all times striking the right balance between delivering good customer outcomes, making a contribution in the communities that we serve, supporting our people, and delivering sustainable, long-term returns for our owners.”
CBA stopped selling two of its three consumer credit insurance products in March this year, days before the banking royal commission examined the issues.
Mr Comyn had been arguing to dump them three years earlier in his previous role as head of CBA’s retail banking.
He said he was willing to forgo the $150 million the bank was making annually from the credit card and loan insurance products.
But he said he was overruled by the then CEO Ian Narev.