Some Commonwealth Bank customers who withdraw cash at branches or post offices will soon be charged $3 for the privilege, after the bank announced it was migrating a legacy everyday account to a newer offering.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia scrapped plans to charge customers a fee to withdraw cash at branches and on the phone within a day of announcing a policy that drew criticism from the government.

We feel we didn’t get the communication right on this, so we’ve paused, and we want to take a different approach.”

Less than 24 hours after an announcement that was met with criticism from politicians, the bank will pause the change for an estimated 100,000 customers for at least six months.

The Commonwealth Bank will “change its approach” after its plan to charge some customers $3 to withdraw cash from a branch sparked national fury.

Commonwealth bank customers will now be subject to a $3 fee when withdrawing their cash with major new changes approaching in the new year. Customers of Commonwealth Bank Australia will now be subject to a $3 fee when simply withdrawing cash.

Australia’s biggest bank has found out the hard way how quickly a simple and largely benign change to transaction accounts can become a debacle.

The bank’s fee mess is an uncharacteristic stuff-up. But it’s also a missed opportunity to have proper debate about technology, economic growth and equity.

A proposed $3 fee on cash withdrawals from Commonwealth Bank branches for some customers has been paused in response to national fury.

Facing a backlash, the bank has paused a move that would have led to about 50,000 extra customers charged for withdrawing cash from branches.