ComSec - Account changes = you're fired!

[So_Cynical]

I received an email from Comsec today.. contents (edited appropriately) as follows.


Dear Mr Cynical,

I am writing to let you know about some important changes happening to your CommSec Cash Management accounts. In early 2013, we are replacing your CommSec Cash Account (CCA) and CommSec Investment Account (CIA) with the new Commonwealth Direct Investment Account (CDIA), just one settlement account that earns you interest.

Why are we making this change?

Because we are operated by a greedy bank and figure that most customers wont bother to move, even though NAB now has $15 trades and a high interest account..

What you need to do now

Stay with Comsec and lose $100 a year in interest and continue to pay $19.95 per trade or open a NAB broking account and move your shares over to them and pay $14.95 per trade and earn 4.25% on every dollar in your account.

https://nabtrade.com.au/products-and-services?tpi=WSRP_1_47955&prm=contentID=WH_000901

-------

Now have a look at the crappy interest rates on offer...its a slap in the face...Comsec after almost 5 years, you're fired.
~

 

[Bill M]

Re: Comsec - Account changes = you're fired.

Ha ha ha, I got that one too, I like your version of the email.:

They are going back to the old CDIA account. So what was the last few years about? Obviously the free mastercard didn't help them much and I never kept any cash in their account anyway. So some bean counter has just found out they weren't making as much out of this 3 in 1 account after all. Really, sometimes I wonder what they are playing at.

Hey, I signed up for nabtrade account too. They are just looking for new customers but I will take the 20 free trades while the offer is on.

Now I have 3 different brokerage accounts with 3 different HIN's. At this present time I find the Westpac Online Investing account site the best.

Online brokers and the games they play...

 

[So_Cynical]

Re: Comsec - Account changes = you're fired.

Yep crazy...Comsec have gone from clearly chasing a customer base with great accounts and good brokerage rates, to the complete reverse, now actively looking to drive customers away...what else is one to conclude from this crazy town decision.

 

[tinhat]

The problem with all these service industries is they have no concept of service any more - whether it be retail department stores or banking. ComSec just had a $600 free broking promotion for new customers. I just moved away from NAB because to make conditional orders you need to subscribe to their IRIS platform and I don't make enough trades per month to justify the subscription.

So, I rang ComSec and was able to cut a deal with them over some of their fees. Anyway, once I signed up with them I didn't hear a peep from them. Despite that the transfer of the CHESS holdings got held up for almost two weeks because of paperwork issues with NAB (bloody SMSF paperwork). They think that once they've made the sale their job is over.

Anyway, if you want to be able to make conditional orders and you don't do a lot of trades per month, NAB may not be the right solution. The other thing about NAB is that I tried to talk to them and let them know that if they didn't drop their commission I would walk and they said "Goodbye" and then a few weeks later they dropped their commission. At least with ComSec I could actually cut a deal with them. I still park cash that I don't intend to use for trades in uBank anyway. Still the best at call interest rate last time I checked. The three month intro rates are useless to me. The amount of paperwork you need to do to open an account for a SMSF - couldn't be bothered if the interest rate is only good for three to six months.

 

[stewiejp]

Got the same email through CommSec1 - embarrassing (for them) to say the least. I've never used the Mastercard, which they mentioned and will cancel it in the new year, and the interest rate drops from on OK 4% to SFA%

I'm sure I'm not the only (soon to be ex) customer of theirs who originally only opened the account to buy and sell shares, I never asked for a Mastercard in the first place, and where the Cash account was at 0% - of course I'll never put money in there other than to buy shares. 4% wasn't bad for the investment account, as a place to keep the money before making a purchase but with fee free online accounts at close to 6% why would I bother?

Will hold off on this months planned buys and look for a new way to buy the things, NAB's 4.25% plus 20 free trades and $15 brokerage looking the goods for the new year. (Thanks for the link). Will have a look at the others soon.

<rant over>

 

[pixel]

Re: Comsec - Account changes = you're fired.

Now I have 3 different brokerage accounts with 3 different HIN's. At this present time I find the Westpac Online Investing account site the best.

ditto; been with Westpac the longest (since last century, in fact)
As I qualify as a "frequent trader", they even pay me bonus interest above RBA cash rate.

Ditched Commsuc several years ago and moved to Paritrade instead; their Pulse trading platform is exceptional.

 

[PinguPingu]

I've been meaning to get rid of Comm**** for a while now, just been procrastinating on my IB application. It does seem like a real hassle though. Has anyone used CMC markets? - its 10$ a trade and 10$ a month for live data per area. Seems pretty good, and you can trade other instruments easily.

 

[Logique]

I looked at CCA, CIA and CDIA,
I thought...not going to happen. Hard to go past NAB atm with their cheaper trades. But for cash, I'd still use UBank like Tinhat.

 

[DocK]

I've been meaning to get rid of Comm**** for a while now, just been procrastinating on my IB application. It does seem like a real hassle though. Has anyone used CMC markets? - its 10$ a trade and 10$ a month for live data per area. Seems pretty good, and you can trade other instruments easily.

I've stuck with Commsec for my smsf as I only trf funds into the inv acc when required to settle a trade. The high brokerage is offset by ease of transfers as my smsf accs are mainly with cba, and sleep-at-night factor. My personal investments are split between IB (lowest brokerage and free conditional trades) and CMC - not bad at min $9.90 & now have free conditional trades. Funds are held with Bankwest and not gov't guaranteed, but you do have your own separate account - I tend not to leave much in there though as it's easy to trf in and out. The downside is that you need to have funds in the Bankwest account before a trade, rather than having the 3 settlement days that Commsec gives you to arrange a trf in. Probably different if you run a margin account with them, but I don't so can't comment on that. I tend to use the Commsec site for quotes, news, announcements, research etc as it's the first I became familiar with and has live quotes & depth.

 

[PinguPingu]

The downside is that you need to have funds in the Bankwest account before a trade, rather than having the 3 settlement days that Commsec gives you to arrange a trf in.

Yeah, deferred settlement and free live prices/depth are really good things commsec has, and their flash charts aren't bad either. I dont have an SMSF let alone much of a super (pretty young here).

 

[BruceW]

Today’s email announced that Comsec have won for the sixth year in succession, the Money Magazines Best Feature Packed on-line broker award. The win recognises that their new innovations such as their mobile and tablet apps, makes connecting to the market easy for Comsec customers to keep at the forefront of online broking!

I have been with Comsec for some 15 years, and up until a couple of years ago, I thought they were the best on-line broker ever. Over the last two years, I have seen the standard of their service continually deteriorate. I do not understand why they are letting their business get run-down this way?

Like many, I don’t like Comsec, I just need to go through the pain of changing brokers!

 

[leyy]

Just to clarify:

CMC markets - Bankwest account is part of the australian government deposit guarantee, which is now referred as the financial claims scheme (FCS) check the APRA website. The FCS guarantees up to $250,000 this was previously $1,000,000 but has been reduced post GFC.

It is not part of the ASX National Guarantee Fund, which is something else. If you check the CMC Markets cash application form it is on the first page, pt 3 of advantages.

The Financial Claims Scheme (FCS) applies to this cash account. The FCS is free and automatically covers the total aggregated balance of all your deposit accounts with an Authorised Deposit taking Institution up to the limit of $250,000. To obtain the information about FCS, visit www.apra.gov.au

CMC Markets stockbroking is a great online broker, cheap trades at $9.90, free conditional orders. It does the job for me. I use Comsec for research and live quotes and charts (as the website design is my preference).

I have two separate accounts for CMC (personal and SMSF) both can be accessed with the same logon easily, trades can be easily differentiated. I also have sharesight portfolio manager is which is absolutely fantastic, as it tracks both portfolios separately and is easy when it comes to tax and auditing time as it generates all the relevant reports.


cheers

 

[tinhat]

leyy - my approach may be ultra-conservative bordering on paranoid when it comes to my SMSF, but the issue I have with using a broker such as CMC is that you authorise them to act as your agent in relation to the bank account. I got some good opinions in an earlier discussion on the merits of different online brokers not long ago:

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25449

 

[Sdajii]

I have the email in my inbox too (I love your satirical version of it! )

I've traded with both Westpac and Comsec for a few years, but in the last month or two I've cleared the Comsec account out and will be closing it in the new year. I might have to check out NAB, thanks for the heads up

 

[ParleVouFrancois]

I got this email as well and I'm pretty pissed off, I'm not one to quibble about a quarter percent difference in interest rate but the current regime they are going to change to is one of complete lunacy (though I suppose if customers can't be bothered changing it's their own fault for letting CommSec do this to them). I'm definitely going to be changing brokers after being with CommSec my entire life, the 5 dollars EXTRA I pay per trade (at the very least), plus the crappy interest rate (which is basically nothing unless you've got a spare 100,000 floating around... in which case there are easily much better options out there) is enough to motivate me to go with other institutes.

I've paid a few grand over the years in Brokerage fees, and I'm bloody disappointed, I never use the mobile or tablet applications for CommSec (just use a computer, like I've always done), I've even written in to Commsec under their "support" tab. If you've got a spare few minutes it'll probably be worth your time to write in expressing the frustrations that this change creates for current account holders (changes in BSB and account numbers, changes in HIN). I have made it clear that if the proposed changes are to go ahead I will be taking my business to a different institution, in both my brokerage and cash accounts.

I've used Commonwealth bank my entire life (does anyone else remember those dollarmite accounts? My first bank account was that!) and Commsec as my brokerage for my entire life, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to accept this change in interest rates.

 

[Sdajii]

I've known a couple of other people who had those dollarmite accounts as their first bank accounts when little kids (I remember them from when I was a primary school student, but didn't ever have one) and in the last few years have finally turned their back on which bank.

 

[prawn_86]

To be honest im surprised by how many members are still using big 4 banks.

Personally i use Netealth and have for years and years and have never had an issue

 

[Junior]

Upon receiving that email I had the same reaction. Funds will be cleared out straight away.

That email was an insult to the intelligence of anyone who reads it. In this day of investors scrambling for a decent yield I think they will regret this decision!!

 

[LRext6]

I received the email too and I cannot begin to tell you how upset this has made me too. I called the Commsec regular number to check if there were other alternative high interest to the CIA - the short answer was that a mumble mumble Goldsaver etc - not convinced. I have to now move back to some other account for my transactions, and keep a weary guard to have the balance to pay for share purchase etc. With the linked CIA/CCA, I could schedule the payments and forget it.

The trouble is I am also a Commbank share holder - so effectively this move could back fire on me too as the bank may lose customers to the competitors.

There is a Commonwealth Bank Customer Service Number - which people can call and voice their disapproval. I did, and explained what was my gripe - I was given a ref number for the call and the advice that a case officer would get back in touch . The Number is 1800 805 605.

Hope affected people would call and gripe in the above number.

If nothing happens, I have to move shop too.

 

[jimmyizgod]

maybe commenting on twitter would be worthwhile?
The majority of larger organisations use twitter/facebook as their public interfaces.

FYI commsec is just @commsec & @commsecsupport