Sir Richard Branson launched the first phase of Virgin Money's new range of banking products this morning, heralding a new era of competition for the Australian banking industry.

The British industrialist signalled Virgin Money's plan to shift the balance of power away from the 'Big Four' banks, pointing out that if Australians exercised their right to choose better value banking products, they could collectively save more than $10 billion over 10 years.

"Virgin Money is here to make all Australians better off. Today we're launching the first in a range of new products starting with two credit cards and an online savings account - all of which are best in class. There is no better time to offer Australians a genuine alternative with simple and fairly priced banking products in an industry where there's less competition today than ever before. This is classic Virgin territory," Mr Branson said in Sydney this morning.

New research carried out by Access Economics found that the average Australian household could save more than $40,000 over ten years if they exercised their right to choose the most competitive products on the market.

"Yes, Australia steered itself superbly through the Global Financial Crisis, but unfortunately this came at a price: the elimination of genuine choice. The finance sector in Australia has become highly consolidated and is now dominated by the Big Four, which results in the average Aussie getting less choice. Virgin Money is out to make a fair profit - not the most we can get away with. We're here to shake up financial services in Australia as we've done in air travel," Mr Branson added.

The launch represents Virgin's largest commitment in Australia to date.