Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares have delivered pleasing long-term returns for investors. But, I think it's now time to look at other ASX dividend shares with more passive income potential.
CBA is now a huge business and I'd suggest it's going to be challenging to increase its market share much more because of the competition from various players such as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB).
Unless CBA is willing to compete harder on price (the interest rate), I think its loan growth in the mortgage market will be fairly closely linked to the total loan system growth in Australia (and New Zealand), which isn't likely to be dramatically strong.
With the CBA share price now trading at a high valuation, its grossed-up dividend yield for FY26 is predicted to be just 4.3%, including franking credits, according to the forecast on Commsec. I'll highlight two ASX dividend shares with stronger passive income potential.
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APA Group (ASX: APA)
APA is an energy infrastructure business which owns a variety of assets including a huge gas pipeline network across Australia, solar farms and wind farms, gas-powered energy generation, gas storage, gas processing and electricity transmission.
The business plays an important role in Australia's economy, transporting half of the country's gas usage. It continues to grow its energy portfolio, building new assets and acquiring others. The rising cash flow from its portfolio is helping fund rising payouts.
Indeed, its payout has grown every year over the last 20 years. Owners of CBA shares have suffered dividend cuts both during the GFC and the first year of COVID-19. APA has been much more resilient.
It's expecting to grow its annual payout to 58 cents per security in FY26, translating into a passive distribution income yield of 6.4%, significantly higher than Commonwealth Bank.
Australian Foundation Investment Co Ltd (ASX: AFI)
AFIC is a listed investment company (LIC) which largely invests in ASX blue-chip shares.
CBA is one of the businesses in the AFIC portfolio, though it was only an 8.5% weighting as of 30 September 2025.
One of the main reasons to like AFIC over CBA shares is that investing in the LIC means gaining exposure to a diversified portfolio as opposed to being invested in just one business.
Other businesses that AFIC is invested in include BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), NAB, CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), Westpac, Macquarie and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES).
Pleasingly, AFIC's annual ordinary dividend hasn't seen any cuts over the last two decades. In FY25, the business grew its annual ordinary dividend per share to 26.5 cents, which translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.1%, including franking credits.
The ASX dividend share offers more passive income and diversification compared to CBA shares. Plus, it's currently trading at a discount of around 10% to its underlying value.
