(22 June 2012 – Australia) Banks extracted A$300 million less from Australian households last financial year, still earning A$4 billion according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).The total was A$1.2 billion, lower than the record A$5.2 billion raked in by the banks two years earlier in 2008/09.
‘This fall was largely a result of a decline in exception fees on transaction deposit accounts,’ the RBA said.
In 2010/11, fee income on households’ deposit accounts totalled A$1 billion, compared with A$2.1 billion at the peak in 2007/08.
But the banks have been making up for it with a bigger haul of fee income from their business customers.
Fees from business accounts rose to A$7.3 billion in 2010/11, from A$6.9 billion in 2009/10.
The rise was mainly the result of increased fees on loans and bank bills – marketable IOUs the banks issue on behalf of business customers – and went against the tide of a fall in total business lending in the year.
Overall, bank fee income rose slightly in 2010/11, returning to the 2008/09 level of A$11.3 billion after a fall to A$11.2 billion in 2009/10.