If they think this strategy is going to work...they are seriously deluded!
A very high risk strategy....the smartest players in the market care alot about IR...besides....the CBA service is arrogant and incompetent at best.
An example with my recollection of a call with a CBA rep:
CommInsure: Hello Sash...as long standing customer of CBA I would like to let you know about our Landlords insurance product.
Sash: Oh yes...please tell....last time I called you product was double what my current provider prices their insurance.
CommInsure: But is does your insurer have all the features of our product?
Sash: Yes....I did a line by line comparison. So are you prepared to match and reduce the price?
CommInsure: We don't feel we need to do that as we feel our product offers more functionality.
Sash: I said your product is not superior (thinking to myself there must be an echo on the phone) so what you are saying is misrepresenting the facts.
CommInsure: Well you are entitled to your opinion.
Sash: You are wasting my time...goodbye....(click...hung up the phone).
Have had them call me twice on other products..i.e. Income Protection, Accident Insurance.....my response is to hang up now!
For those on the forum if you want a better deal...call up people like Honan Insurance....they offer some pretty good deals. I have found on my Adelaide Insurnace policies they costed about $400 last year ( have since found they are about $570) but will bet you that they are much cheaper than CommInsure and their irritating and arrogant sales people.
CBA Seminar I went to yesterday is they might not wind up being the cheapest in the market but their customer service will be better than the rest.
I think that was the bank vision a few years back... to excel in customer service. Its something similar even now.
But really, IF CBA is really out of the ballpark then its using rate as one of its many levers to either bring clients in or get them out. No different from any bank.