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In the Aftermath: Consumer Choice and the Deregulation of A ustralian Retail Banking, 1988–1993
Author(s) -
Taylor Judy,
Magee Gary
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/aehr.12081
Subject(s) - deregulation , retail banking , consumer choice , scope (computer science) , business , retail trade , frontier , commerce , banking industry , consumer market , retail industry , marketing , product (mathematics) , economics , financial system , market economy , archaeology , computer science , history , programming language , geometry , mathematics
This article explores whether deregulation of the A ustralian retail banking sector in the 1980s delivered the enhanced consumer choice that had been promised. Using new data on banking products and their usage, it analyses consumers' ability to select optimal ‘frontier’ products. It concludes that following deregulation of retail banking, product offerings underwent such tumultuous change that the scope for effective consumer choice was severely constrained. While there were improvements towards the end of the period, progress was not assisted by the banks' strategy of proliferating and re‐bundling products. Consequently, the anticipated improvements to consumer choice were slow to arrive.