Can Swannie really make the banks cut rates?

When does the country's most powerful Money Mover become not so powerful anymore? Why, when the Big Four banks decide to gang up on him of course.

We'd be referring to the glacial pace of the major retail banks to pass on Tuesday's decision by the RBA to cut official interest rates by 25 basis points.

They're claiming economic conditions in Europe are making money more expensive, so they need time for proper scrutiny. Officially the banks are saying their rates are "under review" but mortgagers know that same statement could soon turn out to be "tough biscuits".

Politicians, homeowners and the media are all up in arms over the major banks' recalicitrence, complaining that they have a duty to cheapen their rates. So what can be done about it?

Most are looking in the direction of Treasurer Wayne Swan, recently named our most powerful Money Mover, for help. It's Swannie who has the unenviable obligation of trying to strongarm the banks into passing on the cut.

"I can do what I've been doing for the past twelve months which is putting a lot more competitive pressure into the system," Swan told Jon Faine on ABC Radio this morning when asked if he had any power to convince the banks.

"It certainly doesn't reflect well on the big banks, passing this rate cut on in full does not threaten their viability. They are very strong."

But despite all his bluster on radio and in the papers today there really isn't a whole lot that Swannie can do – unless he really wants to make like Peter Costello and start hitting the phones.

The only problem is he has to take on all four; like arm wrestling an octopus, he's not going to know where to start first.

"If Swannie really wanted to, he could pick up the phone and force the major banks to do the right thing," economist Christopher Joye tells The Power Index.

"He should make it clear that they are not ordinary private companies that are allowed to fail when they get financially stressed."

And as Joye points out, Swan does have some regulatory power backing his threats. The federal government recently introduced a string of banking reforms aimed at making it easier for homeowners to shift institutions and find a better deal.

As of this year mortgage exit fees have been banned, and there will soon be fact sheets providing like-for-like loan comparisons.

The competition watchdog also has the power to investigate price collusion among banks, a proposition that observers have raised today.

But any investigation by the ACCC could take eons, so with that in mind it's pleasing to see News Limited tabloids the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, as well as Seven's Today Tonight, have all been doing their bit to give Swan's little struggle a bit of a Christmas kick along.

Under front page headlines 'WE'VE BEEN SCROOGED' and 'FEELING THE GRINCH' (we can sense a theme here) the two papers have been laying the Big Four hate on thicker than triple cream brie this morning.

And in what is sure to be a popular initiative, concerned battlers are being invited to bash the banks online by joining a Facebook group or complaining on Twitter.

Somehow we think a few photoshopped Big Four grinches are going to have more effect than the Treasurer's crusade – despite his best efforts.