Accessibility of banking More than twenty years ago, banking services were operated using passbooks and offered only at branches between 10am and 3 pm, Monday to Friday. It was a ‘horse-and-buggy’ system known for its Friday afternoon rush for weekend cash.
	Affordability of banking On the whole, banking in Australia has never been more affordable than it is today. Improved affordability has been most marked for household and small business customers. Australian bank fees and profits are not high by world standards, and everyday banking is cheaper than basic services such as water and transport.
	A strong banking system Australia has a long history of stable and safe banks.  One indicator is the fact that virtually no Australian has lost their deposit in an Australian bank in the last 100 years. The last failure where depositors’ money was lost occurred in 1931 when depositors in the Primary Producers Bank of Australia lost a negligible amount of their deposits.
	Banking and the GST Bank customers do not pay GST on most of the services they receive from banks.  Most of the services provided by banks are ‘input taxed’ under the GST. This means that banks pay GST on most things they purchase, but unlike other businesses they do not receive a tax credit for the tax they pay. This means they face higher costs as a result of the GST than other industries. These additional costs are taken into account when products and services are priced.
	Bank Profits Among Australia’s banks are some of our biggest businesses, so you would expect them to make large profits. When big businesses are well run, they make good profits, and this benefits all Australians.
	Bank Service Fees Banks charge fees for the service they provide to the customer. This is predominantly based on a user pays principle. That is, customers pay a reasonable fee for the cost of the services they use.
	Cheque Clearance Since 1999, banks have adopted a system to allow faster clearance of cheques. By electronically transmitting some information about a cheque, the normal clearance time was brought down by at least two working days.
	Competition Benefits Consumers Australia's 17 million bank customers enjoy the benefits of strong competition in a deregulated banking system.
	Contribution to the community Banks in Australia value the communities in which they find themselves and are committed to giving something back to those communities. Every year, community organisations receive over $90 million of direct support in various forms, from banks.
	Fee-free and low cost banking Banks provide extensive basic account banking to the community.  At a minimum, the banking industry offers basic accounts to six out of every ten Australians. By the same token, the true extent of basic banking extends well beyond this. Many general customers enjoy access to basic account banking, owing to a host of mainstream products in the market that satisfy ‘basic banking’ criteria.
	Financial Services Sector Australian household and business customers enjoy the benefits of a flexible financial services industry that is one of the most advanced in the world.
	Financial System History Selected events in the evolution of the financial system in Australia.
	New Ways of Banking The world has entered the 21st century and life, even for banks, is changing at an express pace. Banks are at the cutting edge of change resulting from the new wave of electronics and telecommunications. Significant customer and community benefits are being delivered as banks deliver their services through ATMs, telephones, in the supermarket and online. The bank that does not adapt to the new and infinitely cheaper delivery systems will be swamped by the competition.
	Fact sheets on personal finance