Suffering in mink? Westpac chief Gail Kelly reckons the banks are having a tough time of it.

Big banks were still doing it ''tough'', Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly said after Westpac reported a record half-year profit of more than $3 billion and a bumper dividend for shareholders.

But the handsome rewards for bank shareholders have not been passed on to bank customers, with Mrs Kelly (below) hanging tough on her bank's track record of not passing on Reserve Bank interest rate cuts in full to home loan borrowers.

Big banks doing it tough in spite of huge profits: Kelly | theage.com.au