The margin management of banks on home loans in late 2010 played a part in lifting the most common measure of inflation in Australia to above three per cent in the March 2011 quarter.The price index for financial and insurance services increased by 2.6 per cent over the quarter compared with a rise of 1.6 per cent across the consumer price index.Over the 12 months, the price index for financial and insurance services increased by 2.8 per cent, a little less than the rise of 3.3 per cent for the CPI.The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the main contributor to the increase in the financial and insurance services group this quarter was deposit and loan facilities, which increased by 4.6 per cent. This measure includes direct fees and prices derived from interest rate margins. The ABS noted increases in the prices of services charged on both deposit products and loan products in the March 2011 quarter.This component of the CPI will be changed with effect from the September 2011 quarter, when the ABS will drop bank fees hidden in interest charges for a few years pending agreement on a better methodology.In December, the ABS said that the present approach had become too problematic since the global financial crisis changed the relative cost of funds for banks.The ABS had used a reference interest rate that was related to the cost of the banking sector's retail funding.  However, the steep increase in the cost of wholesale funding is affecting the results.The ABS will continue to include the cost of direct bank fees in the CPI.