James Surowiecki asks:
[W]hy, given the broader backlash against the big banks and the less-than-inspiring performance they’ve turned in over the last couple of years, are people still sticking with them? What makes this even more curious is that the big banks, which have historically offered their customers worse deals than smaller banks, have not changed their ways: they pay less for deposits, charge more for loans, make billions from overdraft fees, and have jacked up credit-card rates.
He points to two factors: the cost of switching banks is high and "reputation (which is often reduced to market share) has a major impact on winning deals."