The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on Thursday announced it has acquired a 25% stake in the company behind Tangerine and More Telecom, a pair of NBN retailers based in Melbourne.
The bank said it would offer its 11 million retail banking customers discounted NBN and broadband services. In May, the bank acquired similar levels of equity in a pair of startups to offer deals related to online shopping and finding an energy provider.
“The average monthly cost of internet in Australia is one of the most expensive in the world and we are uniquely positioned to help customers manage these costs,” CBA group executive for retail banking services Angus Sullivan said.
“We will do this by utilising our technology to provide personalised offers via the CommBank app to those customers we know will benefit from switching broadband providers.”
Sullivan added customers could potentially view bills from More Telecom and Tangerine and broadband usage in the CommBank app in the future.
The Commonwealth Bank has been recently boosting the functionality of its CommBank app, thanks to the Consumer Data Right, a feature allowing users to view balances from other banks is currently being trialled.
For its part, the telcos said they were looking to sign a wholesale agreement for 5G mobile services. Telstra is currently the mobile network provider for the telcos.
“Consumers don’t often consider changing their NBN provider, but through this partnership with Commonwealth Bank we can also schedule special offers and broadband activations in line with a customer purchasing a new home or updating their home or business address,” More Telecom co-founder Andrew Branson said.
The telcos are privately owned.
For the six months to the end of 2020, CBA reported half year profit of AU$4.9 billion, a 21% drop on the prior period a year earlier.
