FEES OVER A LIFETIME
Traditional bank account
$11/month (from age 18 to 65), assuming 2.5 per cent inflation = $11,993.46 in account fees
0.5 per cent interest paid on average balance of $1,000 (adjusted for inflation) = $454.30 in interest earned
ONLINE BANK ACCOUNT
$0/month = $0 in account fees
1.5 per cent interest paid on average balance of $1,000 = $1,362.89 in interest earned
If you were able to take the monthly fee savings, and add in the extra interest earned for an online account versus a traditional account, and invest annually into an investment portfolio that returned 5 per cent a year, you would have more than $40,000.
This represents the total opportunity cost, which you must compare against the level of service/convenience between offerings, to see what is right for you.