Commonwealth Bank charged a customer $1,040 in annual fees over 13 years for a corporate credit card that was never activated, undelivered and destroyed, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The card was cancelled in 2010 after a disputed transaction, but CBA continued charging $80 annually until the customer spotted the debit in July 2026 and questioned the bank.

CBA initially claimed it could not identify who was charging the account, then said it was an annual fee for a corporate card facility the customer had no record of requesting. The bank defended the practice as permitted under its terms and a voluntary payments code, saying the card was "still linked to his account" even though it was never received.

The customer said the bank acknowledged multiple reissuance attempts to outdated addresses and offered the $1,040 refund only after the SMH made inquiries. He questioned whether other customers faced the same charges, calling CBA's conduct "sheer incompetence and absurd." CBA said it would consider clearer fee descriptions but stood by its right to charge for unactivated cards under the ePayments Code, AU/NZ banks reports.