Australians believe there is not enough competition in the banking market and that banks make excessive profits, and they want the government to hold an inquiry into the banking system.These are among the findings of consumer research commissioned by Abacus Australian Mutuals and conducted by D&M Research. Seventy-one per cent of respondents said that because of current industry regulations the Big Four banks have an unfair advantage in the mortgage market.In particular, people think it is unfair that credit unions, building societies and mutual banks have to pay more to the government to guarantee their deposits.Sixty-seven per cent said they would support an inquiry into banking. Seventy-nine per cent said the big banks make too much profit.One of the themes Abacus will pursue in the run-up to the September election is that the big banks need to make it clearer to consumers that they own a large number of smaller financial institutions.The survey found that only 12 per cent of people knew that Aussie Home Loans' major shareholder was Commonwealth Bank, only 14 per cent knew that Westpac owned Rams and only 21 per cent knew that Ubank was a division of National Australia Bank.When they were told about the extent of ownership of other institutions by the big banks, 52 per cent said this concentration of ownership was a "bad thing".