Need To Find A Mortgage Broker ?
Our Broker Directory makes it easy
Just Click on your State
Then Click on your Suburb
 |
ADVERTISE HERE |
ADVERTISE HERE |
Aussie banks to make $5b from fees in 09
March 5, 2009 - 11:54AM
Australian banks will collect more than $5 billion in fees in the year ahead as they aim to survive the global economic crisis, a researcher forecasts.
In its annual bank fee benchmark report, Fujistu Consulting found Australian households on average pay 22 per cent more in bank fees than British households, and 11 per cent more than those in the US.
The survey concluded the average Australian household pays close to $1,000 in fees each year, compared to $749 in the UK and $850 in the US.
Report author Martin North estimates Australian banks collected just under $5 billion in fee income in 2008, ranking them among the most expensive in the western world.
"Overall we estimate some $5.25 billion of fees will be taken from households in the coming year," he wrote in the report.
"In the context of the global financial services crisis, banks will be attempting to buttress profits by lifting fees."
Lower levels of competition in the Australian banking industry than in the US and UK were partly to blame for discrepancy in fees, Mr North said.
Cost savings of between 20 and 40 per cent could be achieved with improved efficiency, he added.
"The average household is in our view paying up to $200 more each year than they should, thanks to the wide range of fees and charges levied in Australia, and to the lower levels of competition in the market," Mr north said.
The research found many consumers were apathetic when it came to bank fees.
© 2009 AAP