The banks furthest ahead in offering customers a wide array of financial products through the most advanced delivery channels also charge the highest fees on checking accounts. Coincidence?

Bank Rate Monitor’s pricing study from February shows that none of the country’s top 50 banks offered bargains on checking accounts. But few industry observers saw this as cause for concern.

"These large banks are better informed as to overall customer profitability and they do provide more delivery channels and more products overall than most of the smaller banks, and so convenience can play a role in a customer’s willingness to pay a higher charge," said Sandra Flannigan, bank analyst at Merrill Lynch. "But, she added, you have to look at the overall package and not zero in on one single charge."

The survey found the nation’s best account to be offered by $141- million-asset Bay Financial Savings Bank in Tampa, Fla., which will net the holder $26.70 annually. It also noted that the 15 of the 20 most expensive accounts are offered by some of the nation’s largest banks: Citibank, BankAmerica and First Union. In fact, Citi, which is widely recognized as a leader in on-line banking, has the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-most expensive accounts. Bank Rate Monitor bases that assessment on the $10,000 minimum requirement to avoid a $25-per-month service charge.

Jon Arfstrom, analyst at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, said that while the glitz of new products and services might be a factor in the ability to charge high fees, customer ignorance might also play a role.

"I think if you asked the average person on the street, ‘How much did you pay in consumer banking fees this year?’ I don’t think you’d get very many correct answers."

He added that perhaps the answer is that Citibank has a certain type of customer and they are not as averse to paying fees as a community bank-type customer. But in any case, the big banks aren’t yet scared of the smaller banks’ strategy of giving out free checking, a trend analysts have noted for the last 12 to 18 months–particularly among thrifts.

"Initially some of these offerings are not profitable. It’s too early to tell–the success might be measured not over weeks and months, but years," said Thomas Theurkauf, analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Not all industry watchers agreed."Technology is the great equalizer, so big banks may not be well served to continue to rely on (customers’ attachment to a wide array of products on the Internet)," said Sean Ryan, bank analyst at Bear Stearns