It's fashionable to bash banks because, well, they often deserve it.
Just this week the ABC revealed the Commonwealth Bank's insurance arm had cut off income protection insurance payments from a cancer sufferer for no other reason, apparently, than just because it could.
It's the latest black mark against a bank that's repeatedly been shown to be treating people badly.
Under the pressure of more public humiliation, CBA caved in, admitted it was wrong and paid all the money it owed the Melbourne brand manager.
Australia's big banks are four of the five biggest companies in the country. They operate as an oligopoly with, at times, the worst of monopolistic behaviour.
As scandal after scandal has shown, the banks are often a law unto themselves. Nothing gets in the way of their desire for big profits for shareholders and huge bonuses for executives.
So, despite his bank's reputation being mud, it was refreshing to hear CBA boss Ian Narev articulate a different vision at its recent half-year results presentation.
What Mr Narev said was, "We don't sell, we meet people's needs."
I can hear you laughing, because all the scandals at the banks have been down to their sales driven culture, where employees are handsomely rewarded to sell as much of the banks' products as they can.
And guess what? Repeatedly they haven't met people's needs.
If the banks did heed Ian Narev's advice and just focused on meeting their customers' needs they wouldn't be in the reputational mess they're in now.
Meeting needs not sales targets equals business success
But let's put that to one side if we can because, for all CBA's faults, Ian Narev was right.
Business is not about selling products, it is about meeting customers' needs.
To put Mr Narev's comments in context, he was answering a question about whether the vertically integrated model the banks use, where they're a one stop shop for everything, was still the right one for CBA.
He went on to say, "We'd be letting our customers down if we don't have a solution to their needs."
Solving customers' needs.
We all know businesses that don't.
To give you a small example, there's a shop near the ABC in Sydney which makes wonderful sandwiches.
The only problem is they make the sandwiches they want to make. They won't make sandwiches to order.
I've lost count of the number of times I have looked in their window, seen nothing I liked, and kept walking.
In their mind they make sandwiches. They're focused on themselves. They're not focused on solving their customers' needs.
I wonder how many other people, like me, walk right past.
That's dollars not spent in that shop.
On the other side of the coin, I have twice been rung by someone from Telstra to be offered a different plan for my home internet and telephone accounts which they felt would better meet my needs.
(I wasn't hallucinating. I am aware of Telstra's reputation for customer service ... or not).
Even more surprisingly, both times Telstra contacted me the new plan they offered really was better for me and I ended up paying less.
That's meeting the customer's needs.
Anyone can flog stuff, but the way to keep your customers coming back, and attract new ones, is to give them an experience where they walk away feeling good about you and feeling that their needs have been met.
Ian Narev at the Commonwealth Bank clearly gets it - at least conceptually.
Given the history of his bank though, his challenge is to prove to Australia that the CBA really is about meeting people's needs and not just about selling products.
It's about walking the walk, not merely talking the talk.
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