Grounds/Reasons for the Written Questions

Chapter 12.     The Australian banking industry has consolidated massively since Campbell deregulation in 1980

                         The Four Pillars continue to announce record profits, but Australia's Three Regulators for Financial Services are not interested if any/all of the Four Pillars are exploiting their unique Oligopoly market conditions by charging Usurious Interest Rates on many Credit Card Products and not paying interest on transaction bank accounts, but rather charging account keeping fees

"In the 1970s and 1980s non-bank financial institutions ("NBFIs") were much more prevalent than now. Building societies especially were much stronger forces.  At that time the number of home loans held by banks compared with building societies was about 3 to 1.  Now it is about 50 to 1.

The big change happened with the 1990 recession and the collapse of building societies like Pyramid which mirrored somewhat the then "savings and loans" crisis occurring in America.  Not surprisingly, when times got tough, people flocked to the safety of the banks.  And so by the end of 1994, banks controlled around 91% of all home loans in Australia.  Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s this figure shrank as wholesale mortgage lenders such as RAMS and Aussie Home Loans came into the market.  By the middle of 2007 banks controlled only 78% of the value of the home loan market."

Effects of the GFC:

"The Four Pillar Banks now account for around 80 per cent of the credit card market."

Australian TREASURY SUBMISSION TO THE SENATE ECONOMICS REFERENCES COMMITTEE - Aug 2015 reports "...the major banks — as in the mortgage lending market — account for around 80 per cent of the credit card market."

The Australian govt. website, "The strength of Australia’s financial sector" boasts that "The four major banks ........... are also some of the most profitable in the world."

 

Former Reserve Bank employee, and now Crikey finance journalist, Peter Mair, in his SUBMISSION TO SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS dated 17 July 2015 noted that the Four Pillars hold 'depositors balances' of " ... one trillion dollars ..." approx that pay no interest:

"Ponder the consequences of banks, mainly the Four Pillars, now holding some $1,000 billion -- that’s one trillion dollars – in transaction deposit accounts on which no interest of material consequence is paid to depositors but which, invested by banks, returns market-rate revenue to banks."

The Four Pillars pay no interest on transaction bank accounts, yet charge a $5 ave. monthly fee:
       "Westpac now pays their customers zero interest on transaction bank accounts,  ANZ pays nothing for amounts under $50,000 and CBA and NAB pay a meager 0.01%."

The Four Pillars pay some interest on Internet Savings Accounts:

Some foreign banks that also enjoy the Australian Government guarantee for first $250,000 of deposits offer an average of 0.5% pa higher and do not charge a monthly fee:

TREASURY SUBMISSION TO THE SENATE ECONOMICS REFERENCES COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO MATTERS RELATING TO CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES - 11 August 2015 recommended to "Implement Financial System Inquiry (Murray Inquiry) recommendations to support credit reporting and access to personal data, support innovation in the payments system and enhance regulator focus on competition."

 

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Refer:

Chapter  13.

Summary Page re Written Questions and the Grounds/Reasons

Grounds/Reasons  (one document with 21 Chapters)

Grounds/Reasons  (21 separate Chapters)

Written Questions  (one document with Written Questions)

Written Questions  (Individual Written Questions)