Senators are putting pressure on Australia's financial regulators to investigate the high interest rates banks charge their credit card customers.
While the Reserve Bank has slashed its cash rate by 275 basis points since 2011 to an all-time low of two per cent, the average standard credit rate remains relatively unchanged at 19.75 per cent.
A Senate committee was told on Monday the gap between the two is now at a record.
RBA assistant governor for the financial system Malcolm Edey said there may be several reasons why credit card interest rates are so high.
"I'm not here to defend the size of the margin ... to me, the gap seems high and it's hard to explain why it is as large that it is," he told a budget estimates hearing.
The high rates could reflect credit card lending being riskier than mortgages, a risk that intensified during the global financial crisis because of the uncertainty and higher funding costs it caused.
Bank claims that the gap was because of the risk factor had not been tested by the RBA because it does not have the data and it was really the territory of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
"I'm prepared to talk to APRA to find out how easier or hard it might be," Dr Edey told senators.
Treasury secretary John Fraser earlier told the hearing it was worthwhile pursuing a "deep" investigation into credit card interest rates.
Mr Fraser said the people who pay credit card interest tend to be those who do not fully pay off the amount due and perhaps were less capable of servicing that debt.
"That worries me," he said.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott admitted banks were "greedy".
"If you don't like what your bank decides, you can always go and see a better deal from another bank," he told reporters in Canberra.
Consumer advocacy group Choice described it as a "lazy tax" imposed by the big four banks and people should seek a better deal through credit unions and smaller lenders.
Michelle Hutchison from creditcardfinder.com.au said it had finally come to public attention that many consumers could be "feeling ripped off".
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