> In 2011 an average checking account cost $349 for a bank to maintain From the article: "The single biggest cost, Israel says, is the cost of bank branches a

> In 2011 an average checking account cost $349 for a bank to maintain From the article: "The single biggest cost, Israel says, is the cost of bank branches and ATMs. Another 20% is spent on back-office functions, including maintaining call centers and payment operations." It seems like this is all about bad workflows and customer service... which are technical issues, not inherent business needs. There are probably technical solutions to these problems that would drive the cost per customer down dramatically. Perhaps going forward, there will be more incentive to innovate on this front. ...or maybe there's enough regulation out there that it doesn't really matter.