Bank Fees in Australia

This note outlines the results of the annual survey of the fee income of Australian banks for 2000. This survey covers the fees that banks earn in the process of taking deposits, making loans and providing payment services to households and businesses within Australia. Results from the survey were first published in the Reserve Bank Bulletin in June 1999. The main findings of the survey are that: • banks’ fee income, in aggregate, continues to grow strongly, though only a little more strongly than banks’ assets; • fees paid by households are growing faster than fees for business, with fees on household transactions growing particularly quickly; • the rise in fee income has offset only a small part of the reduction in banks’ interest margins over recent years. Banks’ Income from Fees