Commonwealth Bank boss who wants to charge you $3 to withdraw your own money lives a fabulously wealthy life – as Australia’s ‘$20million man’ gives Sydney sandstone mansion a facelift
EXCLUSIVE
The country’s richest banker is spending almost $1million on renovations at his palatial mansion – while pressing ahead with plans to slug everyday Australians $3 to access their own cash.
Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn came under fire for being completely out of touch after Daily Mail Australia revealed how his bank was imposing a ‘grubby cash grab’ on customers in the lead up to Christmas.
The bank this week buckled after widespread outrage and announced they will now delay the introduction of the controversial $3 withdrawal fee.
But it has so far resisted calls to scrap the charge entirely.
It comes amid ongoing criticism about Australia’s financial executives paying themselves huge salaries while the rest of the country struggles with the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Comyn, whose bank is the main financial institution for more than a third of the country, remains the highest-paid executive across Australia’s ‘big four’ banks, earning about $9million last financial year, after taking in more than $10.4million the year before.
But while his customers battle to make ends meet, Mr Comyn has been spending up big on the long-running overhaul of his multi-million dollar sandstone mansion in Sydney’s affluent inner-east.
The bank boss initially estimated the extensive renovation works on his $9.5million pile – in a tree-lined enclave overlooking Centennial Park at Randwick – would set him back about $920,153, according to the development application he lodged with his local council.
Mr Comyn has come under fire for being out of touch with consumers, and raking in about $20million while the rest of the country struggles through a cost-of-living crisis
CommBank boss Matt Comyn’s mansion remains covered in scaffolding as he pours almost $1million into giving the historic home in Sydney’s Randwick a major facelift
The grounds surrounding the prized pile continue to undergo extensive landscaping
But with the overhaul continuing to drag on for almost two years, there is speculation that amount could well have blown out into more than seven figures.
Mr Comyn and his wife Lucy-Ellen have been toiling away on an upgrade across all three levels of the mansion since November 2022 and have been adding ensuites to the prestigious home’s four existing bedrooms, a ground floor rumpus and extensive landscaping.
Workers were still busily mixing concrete at the ritzy address on Thursday morning as the mansion remained encircled with cladding.
The couple snapped up the mansion for $3.3million when Mr Comyn was still the bank’s group executive for retail banking services before both its value and his paycheque skyrocketed.
The value of his home has already trebled and is expected to pass the $10million-mark once all his ongoing works are finally completed.
The Commonwealth Bank initially planned to move customers from their Complete Access Account to a Smart Access Account which included a $3 fee when withdrawing cash from a branch, post office or their phone from January 6.
After intense blowback, the bank said the change would be delayed by six months for customers who are ‘worse off with the new fee’.
Mr Comyn’s mansion already boasted an impressive backyard before his lengthy renovations
The renovation works have been dragging on for two years and are still underway
Two years into the facelift, there is still a lot of work to be done on the mansion’s overhaul
Workmen haul in fresh sandstone blocks to compliment the historic sandstone already on-site
The Albanese government slammed the move, with housing minister Clare O’Neil saying: ‘It doesn’t seem fair or appropriate and this is a huge bank making huge profits. Come on, guys.’
‘It’s Christmas. We don’t need this right now,’ she said. ‘This is not something the bank should be doing and we’re asking them to reconsider.’
Assistant treasurer and financial services minister Stephen Jones also hammered Mr Comyn’s bank over the fee, branding it a ‘slap in the face’ for loyal customers and the ‘worst Christmas present imaginable’.
‘Commonwealth Bank has to rethink this terrible decision,’ he said. ‘This seems to be to a tax on Australians who demand the right to use their cash.
‘And the government won’t stand for it. We’re working for Australians to ensure they can continue to use cash if they so choose.’
North Queensland federal MP Bob Katter described the new charge as ‘an act defiance and contempt for the people of Australia’.
He said the bank was ‘counter-attacking’ against the recent announcement that businesses selling essential goods and services such as groceries, medicines and fuel will be forced to accept cash from their customers unless granted a special exemption the start of 2026.
Sydney radio station 2GB drive host Chris O’Keefe was even more scathing, labelling the cash grab as ‘beyond obscene’.
Housing minister Clare O’Neil has blasted the CommBank over its $3 withdrawal fee
The renovation was expected to cost about $940,000 to complete but that was two years ago
It is unclear when the lengthy overhaul will finally be completed
Boarding blocks much of the work from neighbouring views
‘Charging a fee to access our own money is nothing more than a grubby little money grab,’ he said. ‘How much blood do they want from us?’
He could scarcely contain his disbelief at the bank’s claim the move ‘is all part of our effort to give Australians the best banking experience’.
‘They have got to be joking,’ O’Keefe said. ‘Are these people for real?’
O’Keefe said customers assessing cash costs the financial giant about $400 million a year but noted the bank made a whopping profit of almost $10billion last financial year after tax.
‘This is all about boosting the bottom line,’ O’Keefe said.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that it ‘continues to offer customers free cash withdrawals from our national ATM network’.
They added that it would continue ‘to offer waivers on assisted withdrawal fees for customers who meet certain criteria including certain types of pension recipients, those who deposit $2,000 a month, and those aged under-18.
2GB’s Chris O’Keefe, seen with wife Yvonne Sampson, has been one of the fee’s leading critics
‘Our Streamline Basic account has no monthly account fees or assisted withdrawal fees and is available to customers who hold an eligible concession card.’
CommBank group executive of retail banking services Angus Sullivan said in a statement on Wednesday the change had been ‘poorly communicated’ with the bank’s customers.
‘The changes taking place are such that approximately 90 percent of customers we intend to move, and who we expect will be better off or the same, will be moved to the lower monthly fee account,’ he said.
‘If those customers don’t want to move, they can contact us to discuss their options.
‘For the remaining customers we are changing our approach and we are pausing the migration. Instead, we will contact these customers over the next six months to communicate about suitable product options.
‘The changes outlined above do not affect approximately nine-million CommBank customers who are not on the Complete Access product.
‘Commonwealth Bank maintains the largest branch network. Each of our branches has fee free ATMs and we have a moratorium on regional branch closures until at least the end of 2026.’
