National Australia Bank conceded fee income of A$220 million a year from its removal of penalty fees, account keeping fees and home loan exit fees, the bank's CEO told the Senate economics committee yesterday.The loss of fee income, over one year, relates to the removal of many exception fees (for overdrawn funds, for example), account keeping fees on some accounts and the recent removal of exit fees on home loans.Asked by the committee about aspects of the Federal Government's reform plans for banking, announced on Sunday, Cameron Clyne said simpler technology options could produce "similar outcomes" to the portability of bank accounts.Bernie Fraser, chair of the board of Industry Super Holdings and ME Bank, is preparing a feasibility study on the topic.Clyne said there could be other approaches too. "Maybe there are technology options that could deliver similar outcomes - for example, a user interface that allows customers to re-point a direct debit from one banking institution to another," he said."What we're saying is, are there things that could be explored that may not be as complex as account portability?"I wouldn't underestimate the complexity of the infrastructure environment that a lot of banks are dealing with. They were built up over a long period of time."Clyne told the committee that abolishing account-keeping fees led to a six-fold rise in the number of customers opening bank accounts with NAB."People will engage you if you have a competitive offering out there," Clyne said.On the other hand, technology strife can hinder a bank's plans.The Financial Review reported today that NAB would defer until early 2011 the introduction by the bank of a new home loan through its UBank brand.The payment processing difficulty at NAB - with some payments from late November still unprocessed - is the reason cited by the AFR for the delay.