Australian households and businesses forked out $11.64 billion in bank fees last year, equivalent to about three-quarters of a percentage point of gross national product.

Households' share of the total - $4.14 billion - was 2.3 per cent higher than in 2012, the Reserve Bank’s annual report on bank fees said. This increase, which reversed several years of decline, was driven by growth in fee income from credit cards and personal loans.

Credit card charges, the biggest source of bank fees from households, rose by 4.1 per cent to $1.36 billion. The report attributed this to growth in the value of credit card transactions and a small rise in the number of credit cards on issue. This drove an increase in income from credit card account-servicing and other fees, especially foreign currency conversion fees.

Tom Godfrey, the spokesman for consumer group Choice, said the new data showed fees on cash advances through credit cards had been steadily increasing.

“High cash advance fees means it will often be cheaper to pay with a credit card than withdrawing cash to spend,” he said.