A man already trapped in a cycle of maxing out his credit card to fund his gambling addiction was offered a limit increase within days of him telling Australia's largest bank about his problem.
David Harris got his first credit card in 2014 to pay for dental work in Thailand, but soon started using the $10,000 limit to gamble.
The Commonwealth Bank customer would max the card out, wait until he had a big win or saved money to pay it off, and then do it all over again - transferring money from the card to his bank account and on to betting companies.
He ended up with three credit cards, before consolidating the debts on to a lower rate card in 2016.
When he called to sort out a change of address later in 2016, Mr Harris was told he was eligible for an increase on his existing $27,100 credit card limit.
"I explained that clearly I'm a gambler. I have a gambling problem," Mr Harris told the banking royal commission on Thursday.
"I can't understand why they kept offering me more money."
Ten days later he received a letter offering an increase to $32,100 and four weeks later another offering a $35,100 limit.
Mr Harris, who earns about $77,000 as a roofer, said after repeated offers he eventually accepted the $35,000 limit and quickly maxed it out.
He said he tried to cancel the card both in a branch and over the phone without success before cutting it up but ended up maxing out a replacement card.
Mr Harris became upset as he described trying to get help by telling the bank about his gambling addiction.
"I'd tried to reach out for help and I didn't get any," he told the commission.
"I got the opposite. I got more credit limit increases sent through and I tried to tell them I had a problem."
One of Mr Harris' credit card statements noted that if each month he only made the minimum payment, which was about $700, it would take him 138 years to pay off the $35,100 debt.
After negotiations for financial hardship assistance, CBA reduced Mr Harris' debt by $10,000, cancelled the card and stopped future fees and interest.
He still owes $23,400.
CBA's executive general manager of retail products Clive van Horen said the bank accepted it should not have offered the final credit limit offer after a staff member was told about Mr Harris' gambling problem.
Mr van Horen said CBA made changes last year including that if it observed high levels of gambling spend in a customer's credit card, it would not offer them any further limit increases.
