There are finance sector calls for the Federal Government to conduct an independent inquiry into the banking industry.

A survey of a thousand people by Abacus, which represents building societies and credit unions, has found 80 per cent of people think the big banks make excessive profits. It also found 65 per cent of people think there is not enough competition in the banking system.The organisation's chief executive Louise Petschler says two out of three people surveyed want an inquiry."It's been 17 years since we had an independent assessment of how our regulatory system was working, whether it was working in the best interests of consumers or whether there were better ways to bring more competition into banking," she said.We think that 2013's the right year to to have another inquiry to bring some independent perspectives around.