The federal government has promised significant cultural change as a result of the first annual parliamentary inquiry into the banking system.
But it is not yet clear if the exercise will have the desired result.
The three-day inquiry into the banking system has come to an end, with the chiefs of the nation's big four banks all appearing before the committee offering apologies.
Thorburn: "There have been some issues in our industry, and at NAB, which we cannot be proud of."
Elliott: "Each time we fall short, we potentially harm a customer or a member of the community, and, for that, I apologise."
Narev: "I have personally met with customers whom we have let down. I've said before how sorry I am for the pain that we've caused them."
Hartzer: "Westpac isn't perfect. In recent years, we've had operational errors, and we apologise for this."
The final two to appear were NAB chief Andrew Thorburn and Westpac's Brian Hartzer.
Mr Thorburn, who spoke of "mistakes we cannot be proud of," told the committee he has apologised to customers affected by his bank's financial advice department.
He says he is a proud banker, but he acknowledges the banks have had problems in recent years.
Westpac's Brian Hartzer, who told the committee his bank was not perfect, says the banking industry needs to do more to woo back public opinion.
"A banking licence is a privilege, and, with that privilege comes a responsibility to earn and maintain the trust of our customers and our community by dealing with people fairly and honestly. In recent years, it's clear that a trust gap has opened up, and we, as an industry and as individual banks, need to work harder to close that gap."
The pair followed on from the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ chief executives, who told a very similar story.
All four banks have been bedevilled by scandals, fee overcharges and financial advice failures, and some have suffered from fraudulent behaviour by staff.
All four have had to remunerate thousands of customers.
Yet, based on the evidence given to the inquiry, very few people have lost their jobs as a consequence of the banks' negligence.
Labor and the Greens have criticised the inquiry as an attempt by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government to appease the public while pandering to the banks.
Labor says the allocation of just three hours per chief executive is simply a political fix.
It says genuine, useful questioning of the executives requires days, not hours.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the hearings have achieved nothing.
"You see government members of Mr Turnbull's whitewash committee asking spoonfed questions to the banking CEOs, and it almost seems like the bank CEOs have (read) off a script written by Mr Turnbull. If all of the bank CEOs are saying sorry for all the things that they've done, doesn't that just prove what Labor's been saying, that there's a genuine problem in our banking sector? If all of these bank CEOs keep saying, 'We're sorry, we stuffed up, we got it wrong, we've caused problems for thousands of our customers,' haven't they just made the final argument in favour of a banking royal commission?"
The government says a royal commission would achieve nothing.
It says the banking inquiries will be held each year and, in addition, it wants to set up a banking tribunal with strong judicial powers.
The details of such a tribunal will be decided next year after Professor Ian Ramsay hands the Government his advice on establishing it.
Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer has told the ABC she believes it would provide a quick and fair way for Australians to resolve complaints.
"It's for those consumers who have got a dispute, let's say with the bank, and, instead of the issue dragging on and on because their claim is so significant, they have often been told that they need to go through the court system. What we're saying is that's not always the best mechanism to deal with these complaints. They can be dealt with in a very timely manner, through the right mechanism, where they can get their matter heard and examined independently and potentially have access to compensation."
Released from questioning for another 12 months, NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn thanked the committee.
Speaking for the NAB and, presumably, his other banking counterparts, Mr Thorburn summed up his view of the banking industry and those who work in it.
"It is a profession that must be based on trust, respect and integrity. Indeed, the banking and finance oath states, 'Trust is the foundation of my profession.' This was true when I started my career and remains true today. For bankers, trust is the currency that matters the most."
Cultural change could take a while, though.
Malcolm Turnbull has suggested it could take years for the parliamentary committee grillings to change the thinking of Australian banks.
