How to visit your local CommBank branch
Raise your concerns about CommBank’s fossil fuel lending with the staff and customers by dropping in to your local branch.
What does a drop-in look like?
It’s super simple. Just print off the template letter for bank staff, read the talking points below and head to your local CommBank branch to chat to the branch manager and bank tellers.
They care about customer service so with a friendly smile you’ll have a meaningful conversation that could lead to the issue being raised with the higher ups.
Why this tactic?
- Engagement with staff played a critical role getting the Big 4 out of coal
- Banks want to be seen as a desirable employer
- Building good relationships with bank branch and other staff led to them raising climate concerns internally
- Our meetings with bank management confirmed that staff engagement had impact
- We have a goal of 5000 conversations with bank staff – every encounter helps!
- The conversations you have with bank staff will be crucial – you may not convince them to join a rally out the front of their building or to close their account, but the cumulative effect of the internal conversation will make an impact.
Why now?
Right now, the CommBank board and staff are reviewing their oil and gas lending policy. If we can get enough staff raising the issue with their managers, their voices will be too loud to ignore.
Where:
How to do an CommBank “drop-in”
Preparation:
- Figure out your nearest branch – you can drop into more than one branch here.
- Look up branch in google maps and figure out how you’ll get there and what day you will go (most branches are open Mon-Fri, some are open for limited hours on a Sat)
- You can call ahead and give them a heads up that you will be visiting.
- Read this step by step bank staff conversation guide, read and print out this letter for main talking points. You can personalise this and give to the branch manager to pass up the CommBank chain
- Read through the example conversation below and think about what you will say to the branch manager. It is best to ask for the manager as they have the power to raise it further (however you can still engage the tellers on the issue)
- Make sure you are clear about why you have chosen to talk to them, the opportunity (CommBank’s oil and gas policy review) and what they can do (raise the issue with their manager + send your letter to them)
- You can also take in one of our flyers to give staff and ask them to put it up in their lunch room.
- For flyers and any other questions and support, get in touch with – community@350.org.au
How the conversation could go:
Hi there, how are you today? I’d like to talk to the Branch Manager, is that ok?
My name is ….. I’m volunteering with 350 Australia today because I’m really concerned about climate change and CommBank’s oil and gas policy.
Choose one of these lead in lines:
- Have you heard about the impact that oil and gas can have on climate change?
- I’m a CommBank customer and I’ve got some concerns about your fossil fuel lending
- Did you know that CommBank is currently reviewing your oil and gas investment policy?
- What do you think about CommBank’s fossil fuel investments?
- Have you heard about the proposed gas fracking projects in the Northern Territory?
Make a connection, hear their concerns and share stories/key messages about the dangers of oil and gas. You could draw on the values of CommBank – creating a future, looking out for kids, helping out in natural disasters – and have a conversation about how investing in oil and gas doesn’t stack up with those values.
Then, lean in with the ask:
The CommBank Climate team is writing the oil and gas policy right now – can you raise your concerns with your manager in your next catch up?
Would you be interested in putting our flyers in your staff room?
FAQs & Objection Handling
You don’t need to have to answer to every question, but it helps to have a few answers up your sleeve.
- We need more gas to ease the current gas crisis
- The gas crisis is caused by greedy gas companies who are price gauging by overselling gas overseas.
- Gas exports are the biggest domestic user of gas as they turn gas into liquid (LNG) to ship overseas
- We have plenty of gas in our existing basins without opening up new fields that are expensive and dangerous.
- I can’t do anything to change our bank’s policies, I’m just a X
- Every voice counts in this campaign – by raising your concerns with your manager or colleagues, multiplied by hundreds of others doing the same will certainly make its way to the CEO and the Sustainability team.
- Every voice counts in this campaign – by raising your concerns with your manager or colleagues, multiplied by hundreds of others doing the same will certainly make its way to the CEO and the Sustainability team.
- I don’t want to lose my job by speaking up
- You shouldn’t lose your job by raising questions internally, but if you’d like to take action more discreetly, you can fill in this anonymous survey.
- You’re holding up actual customers
- We don’t want to take too much of your time, if you could just take this flyer to read later, we’d really appreciate it
- CommBank invests lots in clean energy and we’re committed to net zero
- That’s great! We need finance for renewables, but all the good from that would be undone by the scale of emissions from oil and gas projects that CommBank funds.