Low-fee Savings Accounts Essential To Combat Excessive Banking Fees

Low-Fee Savings Accounts Essential to Combat Excessive Banking Fees

Progressive think-tank Per Capita has called on Julia Gillard to make low-cost no-frills savings and transactions accounts available through the Reserve Bank.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Per Capita urges the Government to reduce the high fee burden placed on many Australians by their financial institution.

Per Capita executive director David Hetherington says "In the same way that a low cost default superannuation account would raise the average retirement savings of Australians by around $40,000, a low-cost savings account could further increase valuable savings, instead of passing hard earned dollars to already very profitable banking institutions."

Australia still has some way to go when compared to the UK and US, where most consumers would not expect to pay for account keeping,

The low-cost no-frills account proposal is part of a series of market design recommendations put to the Prime Minister to strengthen Australia and its future.

To read the whole letter to the PM, link here

David Hetherington is Executive Director and Tim Soutphommasane is Senior Project Leader at Per Capita, a progressive think tank.

About Per Capita: Per Capita is an independent think tank dedicated to building a new progressive vision for Australia. Our research is rigorous, evidence-based and long-term in its outlook, considering the national challenges of the next decade rather than the next election cycle. We seek to ask fresh questions and offer fresh answers, drawing on new thinking in science, economics and public policy. Our audience is the interested public, not just experts and practitioners.

CONTACT:
David Hetherington
Executive Director
0413.863.068
[email protected]

Tim Strube
Communications
0411.802.870
[email protected].

David Hetherington is based in Sydney and available for interview to expand on the subject.

SOURCE: Per Capita