Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Is Commonwealth Bank safe?

Yes, and for most savers the guarantee matters more than the bank. Deposits at Commonwealth Bank of Australia are protected by the government's Financial Claims Scheme up to A$250,000 per account holder, a higher limit than in Canada or the EU. Behind that, CBA had a CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital ratio of 12.0% at 30 June 2026 on APRA's conservative basis and ratings of Aa2, AA- and AA. We score it 78/100, just behind Royal Bank of Canada at 79. The deduction is for conduct: a decade that began with a A$700 million money laundering penalty and still includes class actions in court.

How the Financial Claims Scheme works

The scheme, run by APRA, covers transaction, savings and cheque accounts, term deposits and separate offset accounts at Australian-incorporated banks, building societies and credit unions. The limit is A$250,000 for each account holder at each licensed institution.

Two details catch people out:

• Brands share a licence. Bankwest is part of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, so balances at CommBank and Bankwest count together.
• Foreign currency is excluded. A USD or GBP account at CBA is not guaranteed, whatever the amount.

Joint accounts are split between the holders, and a company or self-managed super fund gets its own limit as a separate account holder.

Capital: stricter than it looks

Measure (30 June 2026)	CBA
CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary (APRA basis)	12.0%
CET1 ratio (internationally comparable)	18.3%
APRA CET1 minimum	10.25%
Leverage ratioLeverage ratioA bank's Tier 1 capital divided by its total exposures, without adjusting for risk. It is a simple backstop to risk-based capital rules.More in the glossary	4.6%
Moody's / S&P / Fitch	Aa2 / AA- / AA

On paper the buffer of 1.75 points over APRA's minimum is thinner than TD Bank's 3.3 points over its Canadian target. But APRA calculates risk-weighted assets more harshly than most regulators, especially for mortgages, and on an internationally comparable basis CBA's ratio is 18.3%. The minimum already includes a 1% buffer for domestic systemically important banks and a countercyclical buffer. The ratio dipped from 12.3% in December, and CBA did not extend its share buyback when it expired in August 2026.

Funding and liquidity

CBA is funded mostly by ordinary customers. Deposits made up 79% of total funding in June 2026, and the bank holds about a quarter of all Australian household deposits. Its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary averaged 132% in the June quarter. The main concentration risk is the mortgage book, A$749 billion of home loans, which ties the bank's fortunes to Australian house prices.

What went wrong on conduct

The big case is AUSTRAC's. In 2017 Australia's financial intelligence agency sued CBA over breaches of anti-money launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary law, centred on its intelligent deposit machines, which criminals used to move cash. The Federal Court approved a A$700 million penalty in June 2018. Shareholders then sued, claiming CBA had hidden the problem. CBA won at first instance in 2024, the Full Court partly reversed that in 2025, and the High Court heard the appeals in June 2026.

The 2018-19 Banking Royal Commission added fees charged for no service and poor financial advice, and a series of ASIC cases followed over overcharged interest and fees. ASIC sued its broker CommSec in 2022, and the court ordered a compliance programme. In March 2026 a A$140 million settlement resolved a superannuation class action over Colonial First State products; CBA sold a majority of that business in 2021. CBA says it is still finding and reporting anti-money laundering issues as it remediates its systems. None of this put deposits at risk, but the record is long.

Crisis record

CBA came through 2008 without a capital injection and used the turmoil to buy Bankwest from the UK's HBOS. Australia did guarantee bank deposits and wholesale borrowing for all its banks in the crisis, and the big four used the funding guarantee for a time, paying a fee for it. Australia avoided a recession, which helped. For a comparison with another Asia-Pacific bank that came through without help, see DBS.

How to keep your money safe with CBA

1. Add up CommBank and Bankwest balances together. If you are over A$250,000, move the excess to a bank with a separate licence.
2. Do not count on the guarantee for foreign currency accounts. Keep large foreign currency balances short-term or spread them.
3. Turn on CallerCheck notifications in the CommBank app, so you can see in the app if a caller really is from the bank. CBA will not ask you to move money to a "safe account".
4. Treat CommSec shares and super funds as investments. They are not deposits and are not covered by the Financial Claims Scheme.

How we scored it

Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (86) is CBA's strongest factor, thanks to the A$250,000 government guarantee, with stability history (85), capital (84) and liquidity (84) close behind. Conduct (50) is the weakest, reflecting the AUSTRAC penalty and the run of court cases that followed.