Well, to be fair, The Author has a broad reputation for authoritatively saying things about banking and is a HN celebrity, which does not necessarily mean he wo

Well, to be fair, The Author has a broad reputation for authoritatively saying things about banking and is a HN celebrity, which does not necessarily mean he works at a bank or knows one from the inside. I read the article, and the described model does not apply at all to countries with modern banking, e.g. for example Poland, which I know well. And this sentence: "The dominant engine for profitability of deposit accounts is net interest margin" is decidedly untrue here. Today, banks here do not want your money. What they seem to want (but I do not know this from the inside, just from observations) is a long-term relationship, so that they can sell "products" that involve fees (visible or hidden): cards, investment products from third parties, etc. Also, most modern banks have no tellers anymore here.