BTN – Banking Royal Commission

What consequences do you think there should be for the banks that did the wrong thing?

Instructions for Year 5/6 students doing this as a home learning requirement:

Responses need to:

  • Be 30 words or more
  • Include more than one consequence
  • Include an explanation of why you think your consequences are appropriate
  • Be submitted by Tuesday, 8 May 2018 @ 9 am.

91 thoughts on “BTN – Banking Royal Commission

  1. I think that if the banks are misleading us and making us pay for things we did not get that they should get fines or even get some jail time depending on the things they have done. I think that because its not fair on us and that they should not be allowed to do what they want because its not their money, its ours. I also think that they should give more money back to us if they do wrong so they won’t profit and we will. I think that because they are trying to profit by misleading us but if we get more money back, instead of banks profiting, we will! So they will stop misleading us and we all will be happy!

  2. I think that the consequences for these ‘dodgy’ banks should be that all those profits made from that customer must be returned, plus after more than 5 offences there should be a 5,000 dollar fine paid to the government for helpful uses and after 10 times, there should be a jail sentence. I think these rules should be implemented because if you have broken the rule once you should have learnt your lesson,
    but after you have already offended, there should be larger penalties as you know what you have done and that is that.

    • Hi Oscar, $5,000 is a lot of money for us, but would that amount be much of a punishment for a big bank?

  3. I think that it is not fair that the banks are giving extra fines and misleading their consumers to earn more money. I agree with the BTN post that they should get some jail time. I think this because it is not right to be fining people things that they haven’t done. I also think the government should fine them and give some of the other money to the people they have mislead because the bank may of taken a lot of money from families and people and it may of effected their lives in some way so it is not right if they don’t repay them for what impact they may have got from the situation. Also maybe the government should pass a law for costumers so it doesn’t happen again and for other banks to learn from the mistake so no more lives will be affected by the same problem. I hope this problem gets resolved and other banks won’t do this and learn from what has happened from past mistakes. Banks should not be misleading their costumers!

    • Alexis,
      Did BTN say that the people in charge of banks should be sent to jail OR that they might be sent to jail?

  4. I think the consequences should be that they should first go to court to talk about the issue then make a decision about it which should be that they either are fined large sums of money, as well as have jail time, lose their job and pay the money back to the customers.
    I think it is important because customers are being taken advantage of by the banks who only care about making money.

  5. I think that they should have to go to court and sort the situation out so customer don’t get ripped of by unnecessary fees and more, I think that the banks doing it should be suspended for a period of time and to compensate customers.

    • Lucas,
      I was just wondering. If a bank gets suspended, what would happen to people who save their money with them?

  6. I think what the banks are doing is extremely wrong and there should be big punishments such as jail time, fines and loss of jobs for the bankers who are committing these crimes. I believe these punishments are necessary because what the banks are doing fraud. I think we should have record of all our fees and everything that the bank does with our money.

    • I think you are right Hannah. They might think twice before doing these kind of things if the punishment was greater.

  7. I think that these banks are very big money making businesses that need to follow rules like the rest of us in society. If they know that their client cannot afford to make payments then there should be a consequence to this type of inappropriate lending. They should either face very big fines or they should return all money to the customers that they have fooled. Customers who cannot pay back money end up losing more that what they started with and that is very unfair.

    • Great to see you talking this through with your parents, Luke. It’s a great way to understand new things.

  8. I think the consequences for the banks should be that they get fined because it’s not right that the banks keep misleading us to make profit. I also think the individuals at the banks who were actually doing it should be fired and fined because they were the ones who were doing the wrong thing. Not everyone at the banks are doing the wrong thing but those who are need to be punished as individuals for the impact they’ve made on peoples lives, with some even losing their savings and homes. I understand that banks are businesses but they need to act with honesty, empathy and consideration of peoples lives. The banks have done a very bad thing and this is what I think should happen to them.

    • I like the points you make Olivia. It will be interesting to see what decision the judge who is leading this Royal Commission will make.

  9. I think the consequences of the banks actions should be that if they continue to take more money then they should be they should have to pay fines to make up for the mistakes they have made. I also believe that because it’s our money that their taking they should give us some of the money we paid back to us.

  10. I think that the consequences of scamming people is terrible and they should be fired or sent to the court and be fined of money ,because the are paying for things they didn’t even by and if continues to happen there will be major controversy’s in the public.

    • Sebastian, the bankers are in court. A ‘Royal Commission’ is a special, more powerful inquiry.

  11. I think that the people who lied to the authority’s should go to court and be punished for what they did. I think they should be punished by losing their jobs which will make them realize what they’ve done wrong. I also think they should get better systems so they can realize who’s doing the damage. I also think the customers who were lied to should get their money back.

  12. The consequences are that banks need to refund the money with interest to the customers. And those that are responsible need to be made accountable for their actions and may be sent to jail by a court of law and a massive fine.

  13. I think that the consequences of the banks’ bad behaviour should be that they have to pay back all the customers they have mislead and include compensation for those customers as well. I also think that the bank bosses who have let this issue continue should be taken to court to decide if they should face jail time or not. Banks that do not stick to the rules should be punished by the government. I believe that if the banks’ bad behaviour continues and nobody does anything about it will have big effects on families and individuals lives because they might not be able to pay their bills and they will be taken to court and even face imprisonment.

  14. I believe that a consequence for the banks that have done the wrong thing should be firstly, an apology as well as an offer of services free of charge to help those affected. This could hopefully help people in need. Secondly, new policies to be put into place to ensure this does not happen again.

    • It’s great to get some help from mum and dad when trying to understand challenging concepts, Indi. Well done!

  15. If big banks are getting hundreds of millions of dollars while leaving many people in financial trouble, then there need to be consequences. I think there should be jail time and fines, but if the people who were scammed and had their money taken away from don’t get their money back, then there is no point in doing it. Because the victims in this situation are the consumers, and what the banks are doing is not fair, and there need, to be consequences.

  16. Banks make a profit of billions of dollar from their customers.Customers go to banks for professional advise on how to use their money in the best possible way. Customers trust Banks because they are supported by the government.So when they are given the wrong advise, there should be consequences!! Banks are like businesses, so when they break the law they should receive the same consequences. Either jail time or asked to refund peoples money and also be fined. If they are not punished for the injustice they do to their customers they will continue this criminal act.

  17. I think this shouldn’t be happening and they are doing this because they are Greedy and selfish. And I think the banks should give Refunds for all the Bills that aren’t even real.

  18. I think that the banks that are doing the wrong thing are fined and have to give all the money that they charged from the person back to them and give a little bit extra, also, if they keep doing this, the bank should be shut down.

  19. Banks can make a profit more than the customers. Some customers go to the banks to get money for advice and use it the right way. when they have given the wrong advise there should be consequences. I also think that bank are doing the wrong thing and there should be punishments like jail time for them.

  20. I think they should stop doing it just because they want more money and I think they should say sorry for doing the stuff and get a fine for it. I think the fine should be a lot of money because it is a bank and have a lot of money and those funny ways to work out stuff I think they should just do it the same way other people do it in banks.

  21. Banks can make a profit more than their customers. Customers go to the banks to money for advice and to use it the correct way.people know that they can trust the bank because it is supported by the government. When the customers have then got the wrong advice there would have to be a lot of consequences. When people break the law, everyone of them should then receive the exact same consequences!

  22. The banks deserve to be punished for ripping people off.All the people that lost hard earned money deserve to be refunded.Making over 3 billion dollers is just wrong, consumers deserve the right to trust there local bank.It should be put on the news.

  23. First of all, The CEO should be fired because he is the one who is responsible for running the bank, and a new trustworthy, responsible CEO should be hired. The bank should be investigated and customers who have been cheated upon and given bad advice should be reimbursed and the advisers sacked.

    • Much of what you are suggesting is actually happening Adelle. It’s good to see action being taken.

  24. I think it’s terrible what the banks are doing and they should be punished by a fine or even jail, it has put heaps of people in financial trouble and we do not deserve to be tricked like that. I believe they should punish them because it’s the wrong thing to do and they already make heaps of money without stealing money from us and they are ment to be helping us with our money and NOT stealing it from us. People should really make a stand on this and maybe even find other responsible people to do the job instead of untrustworthy people. I think the people that are making their customers pay for things they didn’t buy should give the money back and think about what they did because we could be next!

  25. Banks shouldn’t need to rip us off like that they get enough from all our bills. I think consumers should look carefully into reviews an records before joining a bank. It is absolutely unacceptable for ANY company to do ANYTHING like that to consumers!!!! I also think that banks should be more closely monitored by the government to ensure this doesn’t happen regularly. The consequences for this should be things like paying the consumer the money that was practically stolen off them along with even going to jail!

    I see no reason why banks are doing this!!

  26. First of all, I think that the person/people who are running the bank should be held responsible for taking so much money from innocent people. What they have done is unacceptable and they should at least loose their jobs, be fined or perhaps even be jailed depending on the severity of their actions.

  27. Banks are charging customers for services that they have not asked for or services that they haven’t received , this is lying and stealing . Therefore I think they should give the money back that was wrongly taken, give a public apology and the government should make stricter laws and make sure the banks are following them. I also think the banks should be fined and the money should go to charity because the banks already make lots of money.

  28. Banks have been doing the wrong thing for a long time, they have been lying to lots of people, including the regulators who have been managing them or overseeing their work. They should definitely be punished and people shouldn’t trust them. The problem is where do people put their money now. Australia should look into alternatives and actually act on it rather than discussing the issue and doing nothing. The Government and the Banks needs to start paying attention to their ‘Human Family’, not just their own pockets.

  29. i think the consequences should be that the banks that is doing this should give the money back to the customers and banks that has being doing this for a long time should shut down for Inspection from the police or government. So this kind of thing never happens again and this is for the goods of all Australians.

    • Good to read your thoughts Alex. The banks are certainly being inspected by the Royal Commission but we need to see some action.

  30. the Banks should be punished by the police by charging them with an high amount of money and also be punished by lying to costumers and the boss should get sent to court for lying and briving costumers with tricking them by thinking they had a lot more money then they actually did and then the costumers would have to pay back all the money and then there businesses would go down in flames

  31. I think that consequences for some of the banks are, that they should first go to court to discuss what they have done with the judge and then they should have to pay up to $100,000 because they have taken loads more from other people, then they should lose their jobs to make them realise that they have done the wrong thing.

    • The banks should certainly be fined, Alessia. With $31 000 000 000 profits, they can afford to pay up.

  32. Think that some consequences for the banks who did the wrong thing should be to be charged large fees and for the people who had to pay money to the bank should get a full refund an a bit more to say sorry. Also think that the people who have to pay shouldn’t be the owners of the bank but the actual command manager of the bank.

  33. I think that they banks just want to make lots of money, this is very selfish and greedy and it is unacceptable. There are families out there that are already struggling with money and then the banks keep adding more and more fees. I mean are they trying to put families through hardship? I think the consequence should be that the banks should pay back all the customers that they mislead and the bosses should face court. This behaviour is a disgrace to the Australian community and we do not want a bad reputation for our banks.

  34. I think the banks should know better than to steal money from people and some of the punishments should be lose their jobs, go to jail and have to give back the money that they stole from people. It is not right that people working in banks should continue to steal money from people who have done nothing wrong.
    They should lose their jobs because it’s reasonable and they deserve it.
    The people working at banks should go to jail because it is against the law to steal and lie about money.
    The banks should also give back the money they stole because it’s only fair and it is their money and so it belongs to them.
    It is unfair, horrible and against the law that banks, and for that matter anyone should steal so we must put an end to it.

  35. I think that what the banks did was intolerable. I agree with Alessia, that they should pay an over $100,000 fine , because many people who put their money into these banks work hard for it, and you just can’t take all their hard work away for the reason of greed and failure. These people should also lose their jobs, because no-one should get away with what they did, and the Government should try give back the money the banks took away. For the money rightfully goes to the people who trusted that bank.
    What they did was absolutely detestable and I hope this doesn’t happen in the future.

  36. After watching the BTN clip, I believe the banks should each be fined one hundered million dollars as they make billions of dollars a year.
    I also believe the bosses of the banks in question, should be fired and a new boss hired.
    Finally, all the customers affected should be given money from the banks as an apology for them breaking the law and causing them so much saddness and stress.

  37. I think banks should enforce consequences because stealing harmful peoples money when they have worked so hard for it is cruel everybody that got money taken away from them should get an instant refund!!!They should not get a chance because the will just do it over and over again. Fines and jail time are the only way they will learn from their mistakes and greed.

  38. I believe that banks that have charged people extra money when not necessary is absolutely disgraceful, they should be punished by firstly going to court, have the word of ripping people off under their name and pay the people they dishonestly took money from back, plus paying the extra $100,000 fine. These punishments are more than appropriate as they have shamefully stolen money off people that may not have had the money to pay for these unexpected bills and have put them in financial distressed. Hopefully they will learn never to take money off innocent Australian’s again.

  39. The banks are ripping us off because usually you would trust the banks because they loan you money and help you decide what you should do about all the money you’ve got. if you gave the money money or they gave you money to use would you you still trust them if you knew this. really these people should have jail time or have fines(the bank) plus the bank has no reason to do this so the police or government should know straight away and fire their bosses and punish them for what they’ve done to all these intersent people, and sending them broke from all the tricks and ripping them off this should definitely come to an end!!! This is not fair at all!!!!

  40. i believe tat we should be more careful when choosing bank because if we make the wrong choice we could end up having to pay an extra $100 when we borrow money from the bank or receive a bill of some thing we didn’t borrow money for.

  41. After watching this clip I think that the dodgy banks have done the wrong thing by people and should get fined. They have caused people to loose lots of money because they have been dishonest. Also I think that the bank should pay people back with interest. When the bank lends money to people the bank charges interest, they should be made to pay interest too. Hopefully this happens and then bank will learn that they should not do the wrong thing by people. Now that people have heard of this problem they will not trust the bank with their money, so the bank might loose money because less people will trust them.

  42. I think that banks a very shifty and greedy with what they are doing and have no consideration for there costumers, there future costumers and there past costumers. Banks are being very dodgy and misleading with there customers and are still charging people money for stuff that people haven’t even thought about buying, even if there are dead! It is an outrage to here about this storey so know I don’t know in the future if I can trust any bank to keep my money safe. I think there should be big penalty’s if this keeps going on and that banks should give back ALL the money that they have taken from there customers. Its the worst injustice that I have ever heard about in Australia.

  43. We need banks for many purposes borrowing money, saving money and help us invest our money in the best possible way…so when the banks are dishonest they are affecting the way customers are able to live their lives. It can lead to bankruptcy or it could make it difficult for people to pay their bills, which affects there whole family. The banks should be accountable for their actions, such as hefty fines, jail time, loss of jobs or warnings for minor crimes.

  44. I think if these banks have made us pay for things we shouldn’t have been paying for, they should be fined an amount depending on the amount of money we were tricked into spending, but I think every fine should at least be over $1000, because it’s a horrifically cruel action and should be taken seriously. It isn’t right for banks to be doing anything like this because it is very dishonest and unfair, and that isn’t an act any bank should be taking part in.
    What the banks have done is disgusting and it needs to be completely prevented from happening again.

  45. I think the consequences for those banks that did the wrong thing is that the people who work for the bank shouldn’t get punished but the managers that actually new what they were doing should get punished. The consequence should be that they should be charged money or give the money back to the people that they stole money from or they should those their job.

  46. I strongly agree that there should be consequences for banks if there stealing money and that they should get jail time or even fees for what there done.I bevel that innocent Australia shouldn’t be paying for things that they didn’t buy the banks should be every shameful for making citizens of Australia lose $1,000 or even $1,000,000, of dollars! I hope you agree with me and thanks for reading!

  47. The banks should be taken to court and actions should be taken to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

    One of the consequences should be that, the bankers involved should get some sort of jail time and maybe even lose their position in the bank.

    The bank’s should also have to give back the money to their customers with interest.

    The government needs to ensure, that the regulators keep on top of the banks and make sure that the banks will do right by their customers and not rip them off again.

  48. I think that the consequences should be BIG fines or even possible jail time. I think the bank should also give back the money that the banks fined them. I think it is insane that banks would even think about fining innocent Australians, for they have done nothing wrong!

  49. I think that banks that have done the wrong thing should pay a substantial fine because they should not do that to consumers.I also think that all the executives who are found guilty should be fired because they did the wrong thing and should be made accountable for their wrong doing. My third idea is banks should repay consumers that were over charged, because banks took so much money from people that they need and banks don’t.

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