Industry Super Australia is alleging banks' front-line staff are spruiking the benefits of the banks' own super funds to their customers in a way that may be side-stepping financial advice laws.
The umbrella organisation representing industry super funds says there has been a significant increase in bank customers switching from high-performing industry super funds to the banks' generally poorer-performing super funds.
Industry Super Australia analysed Roy Morgan Research survey data that, it says, shows a big increase in the big four banks' switching market share in recent years.
And it is pointing the finger at the banks' steering customers into their super funds under the general advice provisions.
The suspicion is that teller staff and other frontline staff are being rewarded for sales of complex financial products, such as super, when they are not supposed to.
Industry Super has an agenda against the banks, but a bit of history may help put Industry Super's claims into context.
In early 2014 Fairfax Media spelled out the implications of the Abbott government's plan to allow banks to sell any manner of financial products over the counter under "general advice" provisions.
After opposition among groups representing consumers, not just on this proposed change but also on other proposed changes that would have weakened consumer protections, the government backed down.
The Abbott government had proposed that bank tellers, planners and call-centre workers who are employees or agents of any deposit-taking institution, including the banks, be exempt from the ban on conflicted pay as long as the advice is general.
General advice is supposed to be where the teller simply describes the features of the product to customers without saying it is suited to them and without recommending the product.
Under current rules, bank staff can receive incentives, such as bonuses and commissions, for selling simple products, such as term deposits, over-the-counter.
For complex products, like super, the advice needs to be "personal": given by a financial planner where individual circumstances are taken into account.
This advice has to meet higher standards than simply pointing out features of a financial product.
For example, any personal advice to switch from one super fund to another would have to be backed up by reasons as to why the recommendation is in the consumers' best interests.
There certainly can be legitimate grounds for recommending a bank fund over an industry fund. But there is little doubt, given the performance advantages generally of industry funds over bank funds that, in most cases, such a recommendation would be hard to justify.
* Money would like to hear from bank customers who have received the hard-sell from their banks' front-line staff on superannuation.
Twitter: @jcollett_money