Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics

This is a short submission designed to highlight some key issues in competition in retail banking that, in my opinion, warrant new or on-going policy action. It is not designed to be a comprehensive treatment but a pointer to some key issues.

This submission emphasises (i) the constraint on competition arising from bank account switching costs; (ii) the potential constraint on competition from exit fees associated with mortgages; and (iii) a remark about on argument often proposed for banking mergers that I do not believe has sufficient foundation.