The decisions made by bank staff, from their corporate headquarters in capital city high rises to the Riverina’s local branches, can have a big impact on most people’s lives.

The banks have major influence over how much someone will pay for a loan to start a new business.

Banks have a major say over how much it will cost you to borrow money to buy a car or a home or a farm.

If you sign up for a mortgage, particularly for a farm, the banks have enormous power over when and if to foreclose on your property if you hit hard times.

Due to entering the insurance industry, banks now have a big say over which grieving families will get a payout from superannuation-based life insurance policies.

They also have a big say over which people will get access to insurance payouts to protect their income should they lose the ability to work.

And how have many banks behaved when wielding these powers? 

The Financial Services Royal Commission’s interim report, released this week, makes for alarming reading.

In the report, Commissioner Kenneth Hayne asks “why did it happen?”

“Too often, the answer seems to be greed – the pursuit of short term profit at the expense of basic standards of honesty,” he stated. 

“How else is charging continuing advice fees to the dead to be explained?”

Commissioner Hayne stated that selling as many financial products and services “Too often it became the sole focus of attention” and rewards were based on sales figures.

“When misconduct was revealed, it either went unpunished or the consequences did not meet the seriousness of what had been done,” he stated.

Wagga is a growing city surrounded by a large number and variety of enterprises in the growing industry of agriculture.

As such, the Riverina’s families and businesses need access to reasonably priced capital from trustworthy institutions.