Forum Topics CBA CBA Commonwealth Bank of Australia General Discussion
Saasquatch
Added 3 months ago

This one makes your blood boil, I wonder what tricks the big banks are up to now, apart from the perpetual growth of the monetary supply.

This article would be comical if not for how it has destroyed a generation of people's saving and ability to own a home.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-07/rba-inflation-targeting-and-problem-with-property-prices/105731152


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Dangles
Added 3 months ago

Need somewhere to vent. I transferred cash from my CBA account to Selfwealth yesterday in order to buy some AI-Media Technologies (AIM) shares.

CBA in their eternal wisdom, decide that this is a suspicious transaction and they will be holding the transfer for 24 hours for my security.

Next thing you know, AIM pops up 12.5% on open this morning and my cash arrives in Selfwealth an hour later!!!

Honestly. It's hard enough nailing your trades in this game without the banks holding you back!

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BoredSaint
Added 3 months ago

I think CBA have a 24 hour hold on all transactions over $1000 even if its through Osko. I believe its the only bank that has this hold when the transaction is through Osko.

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Strawman
Added 3 months ago

I feel you @Dangles

Totally outrageous. I experience it every month, despite trying to transfer *my* money to an Australian based, AFSL/KYC/AML compliant, Pty Ltd entity.

Apparently they don't care if I'm being scammed each and every month, so long as the scam is delayed 24 hours on each occasion.

Just for fun:

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occy
Added 3 months ago

I feel this sort of thing works both ways though (I'm not trying to diminish your disposition though). I reckon the banks have been unfairly tarnished in the public domain regarding where the responsibility lies with people being scammed. I'm not suggesting that they are completely blameless but things like these 24 hour holds are the consequence where the banks are going over the top to "protect" the public so they aren't dragged across the coals publicly. I sympathise and it sucks to your situation but this is just the banking norm now that we all have to deal with.

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lastever
Added 3 months ago

Controversial, but I want to defend banks here. Social engineering is a thing, and the past decade is littered with people loosing their money and especially crypto to fraud. Banks are in the front line of defending us against impulsive decisions. When they don't do enough (see Australian Super failing to implement 2-factor until the last month), they cop it. When they do do enough, they still cop it.

When I look at crypto, I always think, what will it end up looking like under mass adoption? Do you want your Mum/Grandma to be running her own crypto without someone sheltering her from fraud? I think it will end up looking exactly like banks do now. A layer of institutionalised protection for all the Grandma's.

Money market ETFs are a good way to have money on-call in your broker account.

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Strawman
Added 3 months ago

I actually agree to a point @occy @lastever

Sensible protections are not terrible.

But much of the banks' policy is arbitrary, capricious and irrational, without any mechanism for customers to have their say and establish preferences.

A temporary hold on first time transfers to a suspicious account is one thing, mandated 24 delays to accounts frequently used and associated with highly regulated entities is quite another.

There's a sensible middle ground is all I'm saying.

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Clio
Added 3 months ago

@BoredSaint - Macquarie do it too, Osko or no Osko, if you haven't sent a withdrawal to the account (same name, different bank) for a month. This despite the withdrawee account being the one that moved the money into the Macquarie account in the first place.

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Shapeshifter
Added 3 months ago

I have adopted this ETF practice @lastever to overcome the bank transfer lag problem.

I keep cash that I want to hold in QPON which is a Betashares Aus Bank Senior Floating Rate Bond ETF. According to Sharesight this has earned on average 5.13% pa since 2023 and because it is a floating rate my principle capital essentially stays the same. It feels like having a high interest earning account because it pays monthly, is liquid and agile and allows me to respond to opportunities quickly if I want to.

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Strawman
Added 5 years ago

I've long been unimpressed by the banks.

But they certainly hold a special place in investor's hearts, which is understandable given their long history.

Up to around 2013, the major banks had delivered substantial and consistent returns for bank shareholders. They were big, they were safe and they provided both capital gains and fully franked dividends. Really good ones.

Between July 1992 and July 2013, CommBank delieverd an average annual compound return of over 18% when dividends are reinvested. Which is huge, especially for a period that includes the GFC. And this was driven by a solid increase in business earnings -- per share earnings for CBA grew at over 9% per annum over the same period. (CBA is the best performer, which is why i'll focus on it).

But over the past 7 years, it's been a very different story. 

CBA's earnings per share have essentially gone sideways. With the dividiend rising roughly 4% per year due to an increasing payout ratio. It's worth pointing out too that this period includes a lot of the growth in house prices and household debt (a great tailwind for a bank). Share's in CBA are at the same level they were 7 long years ago. In fact, even prior to the pandemic, shares had delieverd only a 1.5% average annual capital gain.

Dividends, of course, have helped a lot. But assuming reinvestmnet of all income, the total average annual shareholder return is roughly 6%. And that's underperformed the broader market.

Today, with the economy in the deepest recession in a long time, and one that looks like it will last longer than originaly feared, and with some serious threats to demand for home lending, we have CBA sitting on a PE of 18x forecast FY20 earnings -- well above their long term average. Based on last year's dividend, shares are on a yield of 5.8% fully franked -- which is great -- but it assumes dividends wont be reduced (which i think is inevitable).

For what are extremely cyclical businesses, the current earnings outlook makes it very hard to see how investors could get decent returns from here. I doubt those with a long term horizon will ultimately lose money, but the returns arent going to be anything to write home about. In the near term, it's hard to see much of a catalyst for earnings growth.

A lot of people tend to say it doesnt matter for them because they perosnally bought shares much lower -- but that is poor thinking in my opinion. Whatever you paid is irrelevant, all you can influence is how your capital grows from here. You have to consider opportunity cost; what's the best configuration of your capital going forward?

It's a hard pass for me.

15

Strawman
Added 5 years ago

Some of the current risks: Increasing bad and doubtful debt provisions Narrower net interest margins Plummeting consumer confidence Rising unemployment Already stretched household balance sheets Increased regulation Fintech disruption Overvalued housing market Reduced customer savings

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elpaso96
Added 5 years ago

Regarding the FinTech disruption, that's why CBA have setup X15 ventures. To provide capital and own startups to later integrate into CBA. Not sure if it's too late but will help startups get a quick exit. I think that's CBA strategy. They want to maintain large market share in the banking industry. FinTech startups target verticals and CBA want to snatch them up early and integrate to their network infrastructure. That's the purpose in corporate venture capital :)

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