BIG FOUR BANKS GRAB $19 BILLION IN FEES

AUSTRALIA’S big four banks collected a staggering $19.6 billion in fees and commissions last year, new figures show.

National Australia Bank (NAB), Westpac Banking Corporation, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) led the way in fee-revenue growth for the year to December 2011.

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority’s latest quarterly bank performance data shows bank fees and commissions totalled $19.6 billion, representing a 1.5 per cent increase on the previous 12 month period. NAB, CBA, ANZ and Westpac accounted for 78.1 per cent ($15.3 billion).

Combined net profit after tax (NPAT) was up 17.8 per cent to $28.2 billion. Big four banks achieved a 35.5 per cent profit margin, slightly higher than the 32.3 per cent average while other domestic banks only recorded 16.5 per cent.

However, other types of financial institutions did not reap as much fee income.

The quarterly credit union and building society performance figures show building societies received just $119.5 million and credit unions netted $349 million in the year to March 2012. The figures were down 31.1 and 15 per cent respectively compared to the previous period.

NPAT for building societies dropped 25.8 per cent to $134.3 million while credit union returns fell 14.3 per cent to $326.8 million.

Profit margins for building societies averaged just 20.6 per cent while credit unions only hit 17.2 per cent for the period.