The Reality of Free Checking
The U.S. banking industry, for the most part, is a product of imitation and homogenization. One bank builds out an aggressive supermarket banking strategy, then suddenly all banks are entering supermarket banking. One bank goes into an online-only Internet banking subsidiary; competitors follow regardless of the business case or strategic fit. This phenomenon has always existed, and why would anyone have expected anything less from free checking?
In this Strategic Commentary, Speer & Associates, Inc. (S&A) examines the key drivers that elevated free checking to such a prominent offering, and gives insight towards principles that have allowed for some institutions to be prepared for the realities of free checking.
