The Wallis reforms followed that up by placing the regulation of banks and non-bank intermediaries on a more equal footing. We can see the consequences of these forces in the cost and availability of financial services to end users. Deregulation ended the artificial rationing of bank loans, making credit much more widely available.
Another consequence that we are apt to forget is that the cost of financial intermediation came down very substantially. In the late 1980s the average net interest margin of the major banks was more than 5 percentage points. By the middle of the last decade it had fallen to a level less than half that – where, broadly speaking, it still is today.