It’s been a mighty fall from grace for the Dollarmites school banking cartoon superheroes.
Since 1931 the Commonwealth Bank has been collecting the pocket money of Australian kids while converting them into long-term customers.
The bank’s slick marketing program Dollarmites has received the dubious honour of a gong in the consumer group Choice’s 2018 Shonky awards, announced in Sydney on Thursday morning.
Choice’s chief executive, Alan Kirkland, said the school marketing program used subversive sales tactics under the guise of youth education. “Who can weasel its way into our schools? CommBank can,” he said.
“Once you factor in recent revelations that Commonwealth Bank staff fraudulently activated Dollarmite accounts for personal gain, awarding them a Shonky was an easy decision.”
The bank’s practice of paying commissions has also come under fire amid revelations by the ABC that Queensland primary schools received $400,000 to sign up children.
The commissions included a one-off payment of $200 when the first pupil made an initial deposit, annual rewards of up to $600 a year and ongoing payments of $5 for every 10 deposits per pupil.
The corporate giant has also been hauled over the coals in the banking royal commission for dubious and unethical conduct and faces potential criminal charges.
In June the bank agreed to pay $700m to settle a money laundering lawsuit.
Other winners of this year’s Shonky awards include:
A KitchenAid toaster retailing for $189 which serves up slightly warm bread.
The Marriott Vacation Club International’s timeshare deal which requires customers to buy into a 40-year contract that could ultimately cost nearly half a million dollars. This equates to almost 10 times the amount it would cost to simply book a holiday as needed.
Magnetic therapy devices from Dick Wicks and BioMagnetic Sport which have no evidence to back up their pain relief claims.
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain for its banana and honey smash protein squeezer which contains 14.7 grams of sugar a packet in contrast to the 5.6 grams of protein that is promoted.
Portable cots that pose a risk of suffocation or head entrapment to babies. Choice tested cots from 4baby, Babyco, Babyhood, Baby Bjorn, Baby Solutions, Childcare, Elite Baby, Joie, Love N Care, Phil&Teds, Steelcraft, Target and Vee Bee and has called for the products to be recalled.
For the second year in a row, Bioglan have taken out a Shonky award for questionable claims about their product’s ability to “relieve mild temporary insomnia and symptoms of mild nervous tension”. Choice says the melatonin homeopathic sleep formula contains only trace amounts of the drug and is little more than a placebo.
Kirkland said the attitudes and practices of this year’s winners showed exactly why the federal government needed to take action to enforce stronger safety standards, clearer food labelling and better banking regulations.
