Labor says the big banks are putting their own profits before the Australian economy by not passing on interest rate cuts in full.
But the outgoing Reserve Bank governor and the chief of Australia's biggest bank have questioned the economic value of cutting interest rates.
The Commonwealth Bank on Wednesday reported a three per cent lift in its full-year cash profit to $9.45 billion.
While Labor leader Bill Shorten welcomed the CBA's profit, he queried why a cut in the cash rate was not passed on in full to customers.
"It's not good enough for the banks to ignore credit card holders, mortgagees and small businesses just in the pursuit of bigger and bigger bloated bottom lines," he told reporters in Queanbeyan.
The Australian economy was "in the doldrums" and needed people to spend more and businesses to borrow.
"(We need) this lever to get the Australian economy going - I think it is a real shame that some people within the big banks, the top end of town, decided to pocket some of those changes and keep it for themselves."
CBA chief Ian Narev questioned whether any interest rate cut would lift the economy, given current conditions.
"Income growth inside and outside Australia remains weak, so people are not feeling better off," he said.
"When combined with ongoing global economic and political uncertainty this makes households and businesses cautious and hesitant to respond to monetary stimulus."
Outgoing Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens was also doubtful whether interest rate cuts could revive the economy.
In his final speech, at a forum in Sydney, Mr Stevens said he had "serious reservations about the extent of reliance on monetary policy around the world".
"In the end, the most powerful domestic expansionary impetus that comes from low interest rates surely comes when someone, somewhere, has both the balance sheet capacity and the willingness to take on more debt and spend," he said.
"The problem now is that there is a limit to how much we can expect to achieve by relying on already indebted entities taking on more debt. So for policymakers looking to use low interest rates to boost growth, the question is: which entities, if any, in the economy can accept higher leverage safely?"
Mr Stevens did not advocate an increase in Australian government debt to pay for day-to-day spending, but said there was a case for governments being "prepared to borrow for the right investment assets - long-lived assets that yield an economic return".
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the banks had to balance the interests of shareholders, employees and customers, but he too was disappointed they did not pass on the full extent of the rate cut.
They would have to "formally and regularly" explain their decisions to the parliament's economics committee under his proposed new accountability process.
"I think that will be a very significant cultural change because it's a long-term change to the nature and the pattern of their accountability."
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