Commonwealth Bank is changing its approach to account fees after consumer-regulator scrutiny, a move expected to spare more than one million Australians from charges. The change matters because it addresses concerns that customers on low incomes or government benefits were left in accounts with avoidable fees despite being eligible for cheaper alternatives.

The bank had planned to move around one million users of its older Complete Access account to Smart Access accounts, while about 200,000 concession holders were already exempt. Consumer advocates said CBA had collected about A$270 million in account-keeping, overdraft and dishonour fees from low-income customers between 2019 and 2024; the bank has since agreed to refund some charges and improve access to fee-free accounts.