For 90 years, our School Banking program has helped children learn about money, reinforced the importance of regular savings and provided structure for parents to support their children to save.

Support is strong from schools, principals and volunteers who choose to run the program, however you may be aware that in past months, a number of state and territory governments have announced bans on banks delivering programs in their schools, and the NSW Government announced a similar decision today, because of a report from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

We are disappointed with the position taken by ASIC and subsequent decisions by some state and territory governments to take the choice to participate away from individual schools and parents. Because of the ASIC review and these government decisions, we are unable to continue providing programs in schools and we have had to make a difficult decision to close our School Banking program nationally.

As a result, the CommBank School Banking program will not be returning to schools beyond 2021.

Our School Banking program was established in 1931 at a time when having a bank account was not commonplace, and since then we have helped more than 15 million Australians take their first financial steps.

This would not have been possible without the wonderful support we have had from the schools we partnered with over the journey, and for this we are deeply grateful.

Even though this is a sad time, School Banking has taught so many young Australians, past and present, the value of money and we believe this should be celebrated. We have created a place for you to share your stories, fondest memories and lessons learnt through the program. Share your story at commbank.com.au/sbstories

While our in-school program will close, we are committed to supporting financial wellbeing, and will always provide financial education to young Australians. We have launched a new CommBank Youth Hub, which brings together all our youth financial education resources for parents and teachers. This includes a range of free resources including lesson plans, videos and worksheets from our curriculum-aligned financial education program, Start Smart.

Our School Banking team will remain available until the end of the year to answer any questions you may have about running the program. You can contact our School Banking Helpdesk on 1800 674 496 Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm (AEDST).

To find out more about these changes and to access resources, visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking

Closer to the end of the year, I will provide more information about the next steps required to wind down the program at your school. In the meantime, please feel free to continue to run the program as you normally would, in line with the relevant health advice and government directions for your area.

Thank you sincerely for your support of our program. It has been invaluable and has helped many Australian children learn the importance of saving.