Income from bank fees goes up again

Bank fee income grew at the fastest rate for five years in 2008 according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Fees reaped from households grew 8% in the year and fees taken from business customers grew 12%. In total, banks took $11.6 billion in fees and charges, including more than $1 billion in penalty fees from customers in 2008.

The Reserve Bank noted that fees grew less than the total value of assets held by banks suggesting that the growth in fee income was attributable to growth in the use of bank services, not a rise in the cost of the fees to customers.