Some commentators have suggested that banks charge customers 30 times the actual cost for some services. If true, customers may be charged 60 cents for a transaction that only costs the bank two cents, resulting in an enormous profit margin for the bank. The question of profit margins is key to determining if banks are gouging consumers in order to subsidize speculative ventures that are of little benefit to the Canadian economy. Bank executives claim that they cannot determine what specific services cost them. And the banks' claim that fees are lower than in the U.S., and cost less than other household services, also does not answer the key question of what it costs Canadians banks to serve Canadian customers, and is as absurd as saying that apples are better than oranges because they cost less.
Bankers also say there is plenty of competition and consumers can just shop around.
Unfortunately, based on statements they have made, government officials seem to agree. Banks offer roughly 500 products and services, many named and priced in different ways. And there is not much information available to help you choose. The Quebec consumer magazine Protegez Vous published a survey of eight financial institutions in January 1995. As in the U.S., Canada's banks should be required to disclose their profitability in areas such as service fees and credit card operations, and if profits from one division are being used to subsidize losses in another.