The Obvious Solution !

The problem with the banks is that they have formed a monolithic block of four which march in lockstep and they fully dictate the terms of trade they offer the public.   They seem to have got away with whacking immense " fines " on customers a day late in settling their Visa or Mastercard payments and now they are ignoring the government's demand that they fully pass on this latest interest rate reduction.

It was not always this way.    Older folks remember when there was a different bank branch on just about every city street corner and many of these originated from the United Kingdom.   Those were the days when banks valued their customers and the entire banking system ran on a series of stratas. Customers had the choice of banking with one of the big International banks, or perhaps with the state bank branches present in each state.   Those that were served by what were called " Saving bank accounts " in that era usually banked with the mighty Commonwealth Bank which seemed to have a branch in every town and village - and handed out money boxes to school children to expand the " saving "  ethic.

Credit Unions and Building Societies existed in that era, but the biggest competitor to the Commonwealth Savings bank was the friendly St George Building society branch that was more relaxed at granting a home loan than the bigger institutions.

That all went wrong when the banks engaged in a takeover fury.   Bigger banks absorbed the little guy and then this greed passed to the building societies.   So many people kept a few dollars in a " rainy day " account were horrified to find monthly charges applied.    Instead of accumulating a little interest, many neglected accounts soon ran a negative balance.

It all came crashing down in 1995 when the government decided it had no business in banking - and sold the Commonwealth Bank.    Up to that time it was the edicts of the mighty Commonwealth bank that dictated the terms that applied to the entire banking industry - but when the Commonwealth became a private bank owned by its shareholders it sold out and joined the " Big Four " in exploiting its power to make billion dollar profits.

Just look at the situation today.  The " Big Four " banks thumb their noses at the government and rake in billions by bashing their customers.    There is talk of a Royal Commission but this has been watered down to an " annual enquiry " which will lack the teeth to bring the banks under control.

The answer to this banking dilemma is - competition !   Some of the building societies and credit unions have morphed into banks, but they lack the fire power to take on the big four.   What we need is a new government bank that can deliver serious opposition to this banking cartel and rule the roost when it comes to setting charge limits and banking rules.

The obvious answer is to convert the rapidly failing postal service into a bank.   The spread of post offices across the country are ideally suited to deliver the savings bank component and the power of the Commonwealth government of Australia to engineer the electronic banking would deliver a real choice to the customers being ripped off by the cartel.

As is usually the case, all sorts of weird and wonderful solutions to the banking problem are being considered - when the obvious solution in staring the government in the face.