Check your Debit Card fees.
If anyone has a Commonwealth Bank Debit Card I suggest you check to see if you are wrongly being charged 'Debit Excess Fees'..
We use our card only for online purchases, always depositing just enough to cover each transaction before proceeding.
This morning I posted the following on the Commonwealth Bank Facebook page.
DEBIT EXCESS FEE AGAIN!
I really am disappointed about the behaviour of the Commonwealth Bank in regard to our Debit Card. The incorrect charging of this fee was supposed to have been rectified.
On 1/1/13 I wrote (here on Facebook).
"I have just been charged a small 'Debit Excess Interest' fee on my Commonwealth debit MasterCard. I have NEVER been overdrawn on this account so why would I be charged such a fee? Thank you."
The following morning I received the following response:
" Hi Ian, Debit Excess Interest is charged when a transactional account is ever in negative. Please contact our Accounts team on 13 2221, 24/7 and we'd love to look into this further for you. Thanks.
2 January at 08:53"
I subsequently posted:
" Thank you for your response. However in the meantime my wife has been into our local branch to enquire about the matter & they have agreed that because we have never been overdrawn on the account that they will arrange for the 'fee' to be refunded. It remains a concern to me that we are not alone in being charged a small amount like this , others on this Commonwealth Bank Facebook site have reported similar occurrences. My concern is that many folk would not bother pursuing the refund of such small amounts, but I'm sure these amounts must add up to a substantial but unwarranted income for the Commonwealth bank. I hope that this practice will cease & not simply explained away as 'mistakes'.
2 January at 19:02
On 2/1/13 the 'fee' amount was refunded to our account.
WE THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE THE END OF THE MATTER, BUT UNFORTUNATELY NOT.
THE FEE WAS REINTRODUCED AFTER JUST ONE MONTHS ABSENCE!!!
No fee was charged in February 2013, but lo & behold there it was again on 1st March 2013 - the sum of $0.21c & again on 1st April 2013 - this time $0.2c. We stil have never been overdrawn on the account. It is a Debit card, we cannot be overdrawn on this account. If we attempt a purchase without the funds being in the account the transaction cannot proceed.
We will again go to our local branch to try to have this rectified, but I would still like to know the following:
1. Why are we being charged an EXCESS DEBIT FEE when we have not, & cannot be overdrawn?
2. Why after previously reporting this & gaining a refund has the EXCESS DEBIT FEE been reintroduced?
3. How is the EXCESS DEBIT FEE amount determined in the absence of us being overdrawn which results in an EXCESS DEBIT FEE which differs between months by a magnitude of over 10. $0.21 vs $0.2?
4. How many people are wrongly being stung with this EXCESS DEBIT FEE without ever knowing, or let it go because of the small amount.
5. Are we expected to regularly complain about this practice of being charged 'bogus' DEBIT EXCESS FEES, or just let the payment of the fees occur because it's easier to just let such small amounts go?
I remain concerned that many people's 'small amounts' are adding up to considerable income for the Commonwealth Bank, & view the continued charging of EXCESS DEBIT FEES in the absence of reason to do so as nothing less than SNEAKY & DISHONEST.
There are many messages on the bank's Facebook page from others complaining of the same thing! Don't let them get away with it!
Cuppa
