Commonwealth Bank outages affected online banking, ATMs, and payments all over the country, leaving thousands of Australians angry and looking for answers. More than 7,000 Commonwealth Bank customers across Australia couldn’t use online banking, make payments, or use ATMs because of the recent outages. The problem, which lasted almost three hours, made people angry at checkouts, ATMs, and transactions with people in other countries. Customers said they got error messages, their balances froze, and their transfers didn’t go through. The bank didn’t say what caused the problems, even though services were restored. This made people worry about the reliability of digital banking, especially since the RBA has warned that banking networks are becoming more risky.
Commonwealth Bank – An Introduction
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is the biggest bank in the country. It has over 17 million customers and made $10 billion in profit in 2024/25. Because of its size and reliance on digital networks, even a small problem can have big effects on the whole country. During the most recent outages at the Commonwealth Bank, thousands of people were locked out of their accounts and couldn’t make payments.
When the Commonwealth Bank went down:
- Around 11:10–11:30 am AEST on Thursday, reports of the outage started coming in.
- At 12:25 p.m., outages reached their highest point, with 7,137 reports on Downdetector. At 2:00 PM, more than 700 reports showed that some customers in Australia were still having problems.
- Progressive Restoration: CBA said services started to come back after an hour, but customers said they were down for almost three hours.
- Resolution: The bank said that all services were back up and running by 2:30–2:44 pm AEST.
FOR MORE: Chaos as Commonwealth Bank Outages Leave Thousands Locked Out of Cash
Services That Were Affected by the Outages
- Customers said they couldn’t log in to the CommBank App, the “app lock bouncing,” and the screens froze.
- Online Banking (NetBank): The error message “current balance unavailable” came up, and only previous balances were shown.
- Payments and Transfers: Customers couldn’t send money or finish two-factor authentication.
- ATMs: Some ATMs stop working in the middle of a transaction, leaving customers without cash.
- Branches: CBA said that none of its physical branches had to close.
What Customers Went Through During the Commonwealth Bank Outages
People all over the country were angry about the outages, which affected more than 7,000 customers:
- A person at a supermarket checkout couldn’t add money to their account to pay for groceries.
- Another person said that an ATM stopped working while they were trying to get money.
- One person from another country wrote, “Yep, I’m overseas and have no money.”
- A dog owner said, “I can’t pick up my dogs from the groomer because I can’t pay them and transfer them.”
- Some people couldn’t pay for lunch or gas because their accounts were frozen.
- Customers who had backup cards with other banks were angry on social media, but they were also relieved.
These stories show how much Australians rely on digital banking systems.
Effects on the whole country
Customers from a number of states were affected:
- Queensland
- New South Wales
- Vic
- South Australia
- Australia in the West
This proved that the outage was nationwide and not just in certain areas.
What the Commonwealth Bank said
The bank sent out a number of updates during the day:
- First message: “We’re working hard to fix this right now, but some of our services are not available.” Thank you for your patience, and we apologise.
- “CommBank banking services, such as payments, online access, and ATMs, are being restored,” said the update at noon.
- Last update: “All services are back up and running. We are sorry and thank our customers for being patient.
CBA did say that the problem was not part of planned maintenance, which is important, but they didn’t say what caused it, calling it just an “issue.”
The RBA’s Warning About the Reliability of Banks
The outage happened on the same day that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said that complicated digital networks in banking were making service interruptions more likely. This coincidence made people worry even more about whether major banks, like CBA, have strong enough infrastructure.
The RBA has been pushing for stronger reliability measures, especially since digital banking is becoming the main way people do business every day.
Why These Commonwealth Bank Outages Are Important
- CBA is Australia’s biggest bank and one of the most trusted places to get money.
- Thousands of people were stuck without money for just a few hours.
- The risks of outages are higher than ever because more Australians are using cashless payments.
- The event showed how important it is to have backup plans, like having a second bank card or cash on hand.
In conclusion
The most recent outages at the Commonwealth Bank showed how powerful and fragile digital banking can be. The event shows how badly Australia’s banking system needs to be more reliable, with over 7,000 customers affected, frozen balances, ATM shutdowns, and frustration across the country.
Customers want their banks to be more open and strong as the RBA keeps pushing for stability. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has never had a bigger job than making sure that service is always the same.
Questions and Answers
1. When did the Commonwealth Bank go down?
The outages started between 11:10 and 11:30 am AEST on Thursday and were fixed by 2:30 pm.
2. How many people were hurt?
Downdetector says that at the peak, more than 7,000 customers said they were having problems.
3. What services were affected?
The CommBank app, online banking, payments, transfers, and ATMs were all affected. There were no closed branches.
4. Did Commonwealth Bank say what caused the problem?
No. The bank only called it an “issue” and said it wasn’t planned maintenance.
5. Did the outage happen all over the country?
Yes, customers in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia all said they had problems.
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