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• I would not consider this oversight breaking news, the Commonwealth Bank is hard to compete with at present, and I wish more organisations were as transparent as yours, I am sure there are thousands who are over charging on Credit Card Fees.

• What do you need to do next? Relax. You cannot forsee everything that comes your way - however your integrity in rectifying with the ACCC isssue and then sharing the experience has not only been a lessons learned and shared, but a reminder to others to also be vigilant. Love your work Naomi

• Funding an adequate compliance team and culture within the business to manage compliance is what is needed to make complying with the law in your business something which is known, systemic and "the way we do things around here". Without an integrated governance program/system, ad hoc solutions can be like putting a bandaid over a bullet wound.... Full disclosure: I am a compliance manager and quite passionate about making sure companies have the right tools to do the right thing- I would recomend checking out the Australian GRC institute. And I do understand that compliance burden is unfairly high on small business, especially those which grow quickly, because in the beginning you're too small to fund compliance and are at low risk of being a regulatory target; but when you balloon in size there is no one to tell you that your compliance risk profile has changed and that you need to get compliance support and systems! Love RedBalloon and hope to see you in the news only with great news going forward. Best of luck on your compliance journey!

• Naomi I’m so glad you posted this article - I thought absorbing the cost in the product was enough - who wants to tell the customer there’s a cost on top of a cost?
  Just goes to show I still have so much to learn, so thank you x

• Hi Naomi, I run a small business as well as work as a compliance consultant / adviser to small and large businesses. I completely agree with the balancing act of growing a business and ‘keeping out of trouble’ by knowing the laws and regulations.
  Practically, without overenginnering it, I think a business of your size needs a regulatory change process to keep abreast of changing requirements. Privacy, data security, fraud are also all very important to ensure you maintain that exemplary customer experience! It’s the only way to stay ahead!

• Have a risk based Crisis Management framework in place so when there is disruption to your business, from whatever avenue, is managed with support and the response is aligned to your strategic direction and not responded to with chaos that only heightens the sense of embarrassment .

• I think a lot of us are losing the plot on this issue!!
  Naomi posted HER perspective and justification!
  She didn’t need to do that.
  She obviously chose to do that as she may have thought that her ‘brand,’ may be affected.
  She is not from my perspective a tall poppy, she happens to be on. syndicated TV show, Shark Tank.
  If you rewind the tapes of every show she appears on in Australia she will say.....”I’m out!!!!!!” Because you don’t know the FIGURES$$$$
  Not because you don’t have a great product, concept just do the sums.....Good Luck with a happy smile.
  It could therefore interpretated that she as an
  alleged, extremely aware, successful business person is on top of the figures!!!
  I can’t buy into the fact that someone in her absence/sabitical/furthering her own personal journey did not leave a section in the policy and procedures manual (she created the manual) that locked in stone according to laws of this country, this is how we charge for interest rates at Red balloon ?
  Where is the manual under her watch? What did it say?
  Who was at the meeting hosted by the CFO that made amendment to the original policy.
  Does this mean I won’t buy from Red Baloon!! I never knew who she was in the first place and I am not an unaware person.
  I am a Manufacturer & Wholesaler of a number selling product in Australia, scaling to go globally. Because markets have asked for my product not because I am driven to go.
  I watched a couple of episodes of Shark Tank and firmed the measured view that it’s written for Television no more no less.
  I have pitched elevator proposals to VC’s that is a totally different concept to what she and her colleagues do.
  Please do not go into a pity party if I wasn’t there didn’t know. There is a company policy that exists with or without you and CEO ‘s globally fall on their sword because they should know.

• Hi Naomi
  Love your work! It is interesting to note that the theme of the day is customer experience and customer focus. We sometimes lose sight of the other elements to a good outcome. Such as can my current infrastructure and security investment handle the outcome or is there more to do? As a stakeholder and a commitment to my stakeholders does the outcome make financial and social sense? And of course there is a real broad base of compliance everyone needs to address. I have found the best way of doing this is to rely on each area to be their own experts in as much as possible. For example I would expect that my CFO team and controller are across accounting standards, principles and audit and financial transaction management. My HR team to manage OHS and the like. And then there are regulatory requirements requiring oversight from legal and operations. But the gap is sometimes quite simple. When creating a payment process and associated gateways and credit card relationships no one included the expert. It may be that GST, and Tax as well as Fee regulations were not reviewed, after all it is just processing a payment! Collaborative cross discipline teams should be across your organisations operating capabilities to ensure they are operating efficiently and effectively.
  As for any fines and public embarrassment unless you meant to act in an unprofessional or illegal manner it is not worth more than a simple apology, payment and nothing further said. If it weren't for your work on shark tank this would be a none issue. And you are a great role model.

• Companies shouldn't be charging credit card fees these days, I run a small business and our credit card charge is 0.7 percent, how come a big company like that can't get a better rate than us.

• The ACCC should force all bAnks to charge the same surcharge. After all, the costs to them can’t be that different.