Key Points
- Commonwealth Bank (CBA) says it's resolved a glitch that led to some customers experiencing duplicate transactions.
- Some CBA customers shared their frustration on social media, saying the glitch caused them financial hardship.
- CBA says the "process to reverse these transactions has been completed" and "any fees charged will be refunded".
On Saturday morning, some Commonwealth Bank (CBA) customers got an "important message" notification from their Commbank app stating that the bank was "aware some customers are seeing duplicate transactions from payments".
"We are working to reverse these transactions as a matter of urgency, and any fees charged will be refunded. We're sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for being patient with us," the message said.
The bank said it had completed the process to reverse duplicate transactions and addressed other issues with its app by 5.30pm AEDT, including restoring customers' rightful account balances.
The number of people impacted and the reason behind the issue have not been made public.
Outcry over glitch-induced hardship
Over the day, many CBA customers shared their feelings on social media, with some saying the glitch caused them financial hardship.
"My account is overdrawn by over $1,000, and my kid urgently needs medicine, and if I put money on my card to buy it, you will take it. New bank time Monday," an X user posted.
Another user claimed they couldn't pay for their pet's surgery as their card was denied because of the duplicate transactions.
"Now I am potentially being told to look at euthanasia as they couldn’t act until I paid half upfront, and the situation has worsened. I'm broken," they said
Some customers also said they faced trouble in paying for their groceries.
"Got embarrassed at the supermarket today when I couldn’t pay for groceries because your banking systems caused duplicate payments which drained all of my accounts," a user wrote.
'Any fees charged will be refunded'
Commonwealth Bank said on X that "if anyone is finding themselves in financial difficulty, support such as a temporary overdraft may be available via calling us on 13 2221 or visiting us in a branch."
"Please be assured any fees charged will be refunded," the bank stated on its website.
The latest incident came after the bank apologised on Thursday for sending 170 million emails that breached Australian anti-spam laws.
The marketing messages sent to CBA customers between November 2022 and April 2024 breached the Spam Act 2003 because they did not include a way to unsubscribe, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said.
A total of 34 million messages were sent to people who had either not consented or who had withdrawn their consent to receive such messages, the authority said.
"This is CBA's second major breach of the spam rules after it paid a $3.55 million penalty in May 2023 for sending 65 million emails without working unsubscribe arrangements," ACMA said in a recent statement.
With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press.
