Mike's Minute: Banks - The perceived problem vs what's actually happening

With the news last week that a lot of people are changing banks as they re-finance their mortgages, we once again ask ourselves whether the problem we think we have is actually a problem. We seem, at least in part in this country, to be caught up in the idea that if you are big and profitable there might be an issue. Banks have taken heat for years, so much so that Governments past, and indeed this current one, are asking some fairly serious questions about the way they do business. The rural sector is not short of an opinion on the way they are being treated. But the recent Commerce Commission report into the sector tells us very clearly there isn't enough competition, despite the fact that there is no shortage of actual banks with which to do business. Open banking has been touted as a good move forward and in theory it might well be. But the Australians will tell you it is hardly a game changer. Technically it's easier to swap banks. That's good, but do they? It seems no more than they have previously. So the figures produced last week by the Reserve Bank are instructive because they are a real world example of banking in action. At the moment the banks are busy offering deals, they want money out the door, they're cutting rates (multiple times so far), and that story isn't over. As a result of the deals on offer people are shopping around, people are moving banks and people are taking the arrangement that best suits them. That is what's called the market working. Now, if you run a poll and ask whether people are happy or you're paying too much or would you like things to be cheaper, you will always get the predictable answer. Even at supermarkets, as prices drop, people will tell you they aren't. Once again I offer the rider that this is not a defence of banks, banking or big business. But it is an observation on the real world, based on real facts and real events. So just how bad is the perceived problem vs what's actually happening? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.