ComSec - Account changes = you're fired!

[ROE]

I wrote not too pleasant email to them and start moving your stuff out of comsec.

vote with your feet this organisation start to get real hubris with their customers...
Just like Apple getting rid of Google Maps...

Hubris the first step in a decline of a great business...

 

[clowboy]

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!

I agree, comsec use to be exceptional with customer service, now days I have to spend months and fill out endless amounts of paperwork chasing down a lousy $20 in incorectly charged fees.

I am still waiting for a response from my last email, been about 10 days now, this last annoucnement by them has ended our relationship, just spent $50 getting a new card sent to me and now I can't even use it.

 

[LRext6]

TO DO list for coping with the change:


1.Print or Download the Bank Statements of CCA and CIA to keep for future records. These could be lost if the accounts are actually closed.
2.If you are paranoid like me, download trade orders and keep as well - in case they get cleaned out in the change process.
3. Move funds from CIA to other high interest accounts that you may have eg Rabo, ING etc
4. Check if you want another Bank Account to be denoted as a settlement account for trades - if so, then make the dividend payments directed into this account after noting whether any dividends are due in next couple of weeks. (eg ANZ )
5. Remove CCA as the link from other high interest accounts (like Rabo) and notify them of your New Transaction Account
6. Put Reminders to take care of future sale proceeds from idling in a low interest transaction account.
7. Explore International Brokers or CMC as mentioned in this forum. The learning curve will be worth it in the end.

 

[matty77]

I also got the email.

Havent decided what I will do yet, I am thinking if they dont do a $15 / trade for me then I will go.

I will let you know how I get on..

 

[nulla nulla]

I don't have a Cash Account CIA a/c etc so I didn't receive any email. I have traded with comsec for over 10 years and have always used CDIA a/c's linked to the respective trading accounts, business, personal and SMSF. I rarely leave enough money in the respective cdia a/c's for interest rates to be an issue. In the last 3-4 years when we increased the number of trades (qualifying for the free access to ComsecIress on a monthly basis) I have found that Comsec will negotiate with you in respect of their brokerage rates dependent on the number of trades you do each month or the value of your account(s).

I understand that comsec have at least three tiers of business:
1. The basic (start up rate?) internet type a/c's;
2. The CommsecOne accounts that have 2-3 levels of brokerage rates dependent on the size of the account and the number/size of transactions; and
3. The "Sophisticated Investor" accounts for the really high income earners/investors.

At such times I have contacted Commsec my enquiries have been dealt with swiftly and professionaly. From discussion with comsec staff I know that there have been rationalisations and reallocations of staff from various trading areas as volumes of internet trades drop off in options, cfd's and equities. I suppose, like any business, comsec are constantly re-evaluating their services and profitability and rationalising where they feel it is most cost effective.

I suspect, where-ever you go, you will enjoy a "honeymoon" period then your new broker will face the same reviews, rationalisation and adjustments. I wish you well in your decisions to move but I can't help wonder if this is all a storm in a tea cup.

 

[LRext6]

I don't have a Cash Account CIA a/c etc so I didn't receive any email. I have traded with comsec for over 10 years and have always used CDIA a/c's linked to the respective trading accounts

This was my scenario too, until I got sucked in by relentless Banner Advts from Commsec urging to consolidate everything into one account.Now they are disbanding an existing product and its structure and this means we are left to wonder what will happen to the statements that we need to report for tax etc in SMSF, change our payment structures for dividends and order settlements. We are not given a choice to switch.


I can understand that Commbank owns Banking and has competitive products like Netsaver and Goalsaver etc which offer similar benefits to CIA. But they could have made it seamless and integrated the CCA/CIA into their product while offering other saver accounts.

Their email claims that the benefits of CDIA which gives 0.75% is okay for the customers of CCA/CIA (earning now 4%)! I found that using CCA and CIA, I could schedule payments for orders with minimum days of interest lost. The transfer between accounts was instantaneous and we could see both from one application.

Commbank may appear to gain customer numbers by this change - but there is no telling as to how many customers will actually retain the amounts in the existing accounts. I am all set to move back into previous high interest accounts and wait and see how the transformation works out. More importantly I would be watching the impact if any on Commbank Shares and never go through another banner advertisement.

 

[So_Cynical]

I actually received a non automated email from comsec today...from Jimmy, my service specialist.

Jimmy thanked me for my feedback on the account changes and told me that it was the feedback from clients which has allowed us to identify a need for change, a need to not give me any interest payments without me screwing around, moving money into the normal CBA structure.

The email went on to tell me how convenient it is to have instant transfers etc.....and he's right, the current structure is super convenient for me, i like it just the way it is.

Anyway nothing stays the same, cant force business or people to do smart things....so ill just move on...still i find it amazing how organizations can basically not want my money, force me to leave and give my money/business to someone else.

 

[oldpos]

Hi,

I sent the above email to Commsec but received a similar reply from Jimmy, "my service specialist".

I don't think Commsec will become concerned about all the flack until we move away from them. Then they will give us a sprat to catch a mackerel and some of the crowd will move back. They've lost me for good.

 

[lenny]

I actually received a non automated email from comsec today...from Jimmy, my service specialist.

Should of asked Jimmy how they can justify being twice as expensive as the likes of Interactive brokers and CMC.

Lol.

 

[sydboy007]

I've been with belldirect for a few years.

Find them reasonably priced for 10K trades at 14.95, free conditional orders, reasonable research, and watch lists and alerts for when shares hit my target buy / sell prices

Pretty happy with them. Suppose the only down side is the interest on the cash account with them suxs, but seems NAB is the only one to offer a real rate of interest.

I don't trade too often so am pretty happy to stay with them for now

 

[tinhat]

Somewhat related to this discussion... If you have read my previous post you will know that I moved away from NAB online trading to CommSec a few weeks ago. At NAB transfers between different NAB accounts has always been a more or less instant thing. Even from a uBank account to a NAB account the funds have been available within an hour or so or overnight at the longest. The other day I transferred some money from the SMSF CommSec CCA to a member's CommSec CCA account as a pension payment. I thought that transferring between respective CommSec CCA accounts would be the path of least resistance and I was basically expecting the transaction to settle fairly quickly. Two days later I see that the balance of the payee account has been credited but the funds aren't available to the payee. Why wouldn't the CBA (through CommSec) settle the transfer of funds between accounts straight away? That is really annoying.

 

[stewiejp]

TinHat - that sounds unusual, I generally transfer funds from either ING or RAMS into my CommSec account and they generally get there in a few hours.

Got an email this week from them, giving my an extra 3 months of IRESS free since I haven't been doing enough trades to get it for nothing lately. Better than nothing I guess.
The only thing which may stop me from moving is laziness or if they continue to throw freebies in. I'm in the ComSec1 camp, which I thought gave me free IRESS anyway. The interest rate does peeve me a bit, but no disaster, since I often toss cash into the thing and it may sit there for a bit before I decide what to buy, at least it was earning 4%, not I'll have to utilise a different bank for that - ING at 3.75, RAMS at 5.75/5.95 or another..

Still not easy to go past NAB's deal, especially with the "safety" of a Big 4 bank.

 

[DocK]

I'm with Commsec at present - transfers from my CBA smsf account into my Commsec CCA occur overnight, as do transfers from my CCA account into the CBA account - where funds are available straight away.

I've just opened a NAB online trading account with the 20 free trades - was fairly quick and painless, just have to provide a copy of trust deed and our signatures, all ID verification done online smoothly.

The major diff between the two (apart from brokerage) as I see it is that Commsec pays almost no interest on the CCA but gives you three days to have funds in the account after a purchase, whereas NAB pays much better interest but you need to have funds in the settling account before placing an order. I generally leave funds in my CBA Online Saver until I need to transfer them across to Commsec to settle a purchase, so the interest rate is not really an issue for me. However the NAB online trading account pays pretty much the same interest as my CBA Online Saver so it's no real disadvantage to me to have to have the funds sitting in the settling account prior to making a purchase, so the decision comes down to brokerage. $19.95 min each way with Commsec plus $9.95 for a conditional order, or $14.95 each way with NAB and free conditional orders - I think I know which way I'm going. I've sent Commsec an email to ask if they'll consider matching NAB's brokerage rates, but as I only place an ave of 5-6 trades per month I doubt I'll get much joy there. We'll see......

 

[tinhat]

...or $14.95 each way with NAB and free conditional orders ...

Last time I checked NAB were only offering conditional orders on their webIRES platform which was going to cost me about $80 a month I think. I got CommSec to waive conditional order placement fees on my accounts when I signed up.

 

[DocK]

Last time I checked NAB were only offering conditional orders on their webIRES platform which was going to cost me about $80 a month I think. I got CommSec to waive conditional order placement fees on my accounts when I signed up.

Thanks for that - there's nothing on their pricing page to indicate any conditions to the "no charge" shown for conditional orders, it's not until you read further that you find you must be a platinum + Iress trader to be able to use them.... I should have read the entire FSG more thoroughly I guess it won't be until the big 4 start losing too many clients to the likes of CMC, IB etc that they'll offer free conditionals to all.
I'll see if Commsec are willing to offer free conditional orders for me, but somehow I think my SMSF may be a smaller affair than yours I qualify for free Iress with Commsec some months, but not most, and generally only at least 3/4 into the month. As I don't do intra-day buying/selling I don't see the value in it for me - apart from free conditional orders of course.

 

[pixel]

Last time I checked NAB were only offering conditional orders on their webIRES platform which was going to cost me about $80 a month I think. I got CommSec to waive conditional order placement fees on my accounts when I signed up.

Depending on your trading frequency and the size of your account, it's always possible to negotiate terms with your broker. Some will offer up-front reductions - e.g. Westpac will pay you bonus interest above RBA cash rate. Others will waive the ASX data fees and/or software charges.
In the end, it's your money and your decision.

 

[RedFox]

what does it cost a trader to leave commsec and goto a new broker?
does offline market trade costs come into play per holding, or if you use a new broker, they just drag over to you new broker/new HIN?

 

[So_Cynical]

what does it cost a trader to leave commsec and goto a new broker?
does offline market trade costs come into play per holding, or if you use a new broker, they just drag over to you new broker/new HIN?

Cost is 0 ~ you get a new HIN and it takes a few days to transfer your stocks over..so your out of action for a few days.

 

[LRext6]

Further to my call to Commbank Customer Service, I received a call back from them which only made me feel worse.

1. When asked how to keep the statements - you have to print it out before the switch
2. I asked why there was no major announcements made to ASX - they said it wasn't necessary.
3. COMMSEC could not manage the banking side - and when I asked why they could not have moved the products CCA and CIA under their management, they said the computer system was soooo different and it wasn't possible. (They did take over BankWest and they do have multiple products!)
4. Any one with Mastercard - (my son has and he is overseas now) can talk to them and request that this card be used like a Debit Card. Happy integration with this one.
5. They followed it with a letter to me advising of my rights to go to Financial Ombudsman - only thing they addressed me Mr.MUNDY!! - whoever he is I hope he reads this.

Merry Xmas everyone.

 

[oldpos]

Is there a cheaper Oz online broker out there that will pick up my cash from any independent bank account, ie one of my choosing where I can get a decent interest rate? It seems that all the brokers with low fees are tied to accounts paying a low interest rate.