‘Disgusting': CommBank threatens to close account unless customer explains why he has cash at home

News.com.au

14-05-2025

The founder of a respected property research firm has blasted a 'disgusting' and 'Orwellian' email from Commonwealth Bank demanding he cough up information about his finances — including whether he is holding cash at his home — or risk losing his bank accounts.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher took to social media on Tuesday to blast the bank's request for 'updated personal information' as part of its Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, overseen by financial intelligence agency Austrac.
The email warned that if he did not provide the required information, including 'details relating to your source of wealth', within seven days 'we may discontinue, restrict or limit access to your accounts'.
'What I have just gone through this morning with CBA is disgusting,' Mr Christopher wrote on X in a now-viral post viewed more than 400,000 times. 'Absolutely despicable, Orwellian stuff. Driven by Austrac.'
What I have just gone through this morning with CBA is disgusting. Absolute despicable, Orwelian stuff. Driven by Austrac. https://t.co/NsaUk3QYdq
Just out of the blue, the bank sent me the enclosed email and demanded to know:
1) How I have built up my wealth?
2) Why have I made… pic.twitter.com/KpVaMzKMvE
â€' Louis Christopher (@LouiChristopher) May 13, 2025
According to Mr Christopher, he initially thought the email was a scam but when he phoned the bank on a different number 'it was true'.
The representative demanded to know 'how have I built up my wealth', 'why have I made cash withdrawals', 'if I am holding cash at home, why' and 'why did I make certain transactions to third parties', he wrote.
'They got rather personal,' Mr Christopher told news.com.au.
'I was shocked they would ask me if I'm holding cash at home and why — I regard sharing that info as a security risk. How have I generated my wealth? That's my business, unless they've got more than a slight suspicion I'm doing something illegal [in which case it should require] a court order.'
Mr Christopher said the email 'came out of the blue', following an earlier email sent on April 5 that he suspects went into his junk filter.
'They didn't give me any elaboration on what triggered this,' he said.
He noted none of his business accounts were with Commonwealth Bank.
'Everyone knows I've got a profile, I've got my business SQM Research, we've been providing property statistics for years,' he said.
'The crazy thing is I've been a long-term client of CBA. I've been with the bank since 1978. You'd think they might go back and look at the history, it's not an account that's been set up overnight, pretty standard transactions.'
He answered the reprentative's questions grudgingly and 'I expressed to her that I wasn't happy with these questions'.
'I also said how frequently are these questions going to be asked — she said 'whenever we have a need to update our data banks',' he said.
'The ironic thing was at the end of all this, they wanted to share the information from the phone call with regulatory authorities as well as with other third-party credit providers. I had to say yes under duress.'
Mr Christopher said 'in the end I was just flabbergasted' and decided to share his experience online — leading scores of people to 'share their own stories of having their accounts frozen'.
'This is not on,' he said.
'Banks should not be allowed to freeze people's accounts unless it's via a court order. It is a human right and it should not be done on a whim of some manager.'
He remains concerned his accounts may still be frozen because 'I was ambiguous on some of the responses'.
'I said [the cash] is for a rainy day,' he said. 'I'm a bit concerned because other people have given ambiguous answers and have had their accounts frozen.'
He added he was 'not necessarily putting all the blame on CBA'.
'I suspect it's been driven by Austrac on the KYC rules, the bank's legal counsel probably has some type of legal interpretation of what the bank is required to do and CBA have taken this position that they have to ask these questions,' he said.
'I get it, they're trying to stop money being transferred to terrorists, money laundering, but the community has got to live as well. We'll never completely stamp out that type of crime. They've got to take a step back, it's going too far.'
A Commonwealth Bank spokeswoman said 'we are required to manage our customers' accounts in line with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, which sets out that all banks operating within Australia are required to collect, verify and maintain customer identification information'.
'In the same way that we need to comply with regulations when a customer first opens an account, we also need to comply with current law regarding the maintenance of their identification information,' she said.
'Ensuring we have a customer's most up-to-date and correct details also helps us to keep them safe and protect them from fraud.'
In December, Commonwealth Bank announced a $3 cash withdrawal fee for some accounts, with the ensuing widespread backlash prompting a walkback and apology.