The heads of Australia's big four banks will each be grilled for three hours by a cross-party group of 10 MPs this week, beginning with Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev on Tuesday afternoon.
Other issues expected to be raised include multi million dollar bonuses paid to bank executives, high credit card fees and recent failures to pass on Reserve Bank interest rate cuts on home loans.
A spokeswoman for consumer advocacy group Choice, Erin Turner, said the CEOs needed to be asked "tough questions", on everything from financial advice scandals - which in some cases cost families their life savings - to the gradual rise in everyday bank fees.
"We need to see the pressure on the nitty-gritty, as well as the big scandals," Erin Turner told SBS News.
Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull said the House of Representatives Economics Committee grilling would become an annual event.
"It is very important to have a change to the culture of accountability, so the appearance before the people's representatives ... is part of the banking calendar," Mr Turnbull said.
Liberal MP David Coleman is the chairman, and will focus his line of questioning on promoting competition between the banks.
"The more competitive the system is, the better outcomes for consumers," he told ABC radio on Monday morning, referencing a recent move in the UK to provide consumers with open access to their transaction data.
But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the 12 hours of questioning in total won't be enough and renewed his calls for a royal commission to investigate unethical behaviour.
"No soft-touch, soft-ball white wash in a parliamentary committee is going to stop a royal commission," Mr Shorten said. "I've met the victims of the poor standards of the banks and financial services industry."
The Labor leader accused Mr Turnbull of protecting the banks from full scrutiny.
"You can take Malcolm Turnbull out of the investment bank, but you can't seem to take the investment banker out of Malcolm Turnbull," he said.
Labor has many political allies in this. The Greens, Xenophon Team and One Nation all supported a motion for a royal commission when it was in the Senate last month.
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson said her party has been calling for a royal commission "since prior to the election and we still stand strongly by that."
Mr Shorten has accused the banks of "chasing big profits" over the interests of their customers, warning of a "pathology in the banking sector".
The Australian Bankers' Association, an industry body, told SBS News the banks recognised they "haven't always lived up to community standards".
But the ABA spokesman also said the banks would seek to explain the need to balance the interests of borrowers, savers and investors when they made decisions on interest rates.
ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott will appear on Wednesday, NAB's Andrew Thorburn and Westpac's Brian Hartzer will appear on Thursday.
