Given alternatives for sending money do exist (and free), I'm fine with paying zero for a bank account.

My Swedish bank account does indeed incur monthly fees whereas my American bank account does not. That said, when comparing the quality of Sweden's system for digitaly sending money to the one in the US, I would gladly pay something similar if the US adopted a system like Sweden's. So I guess I'll just repeat what I said in my last post: It seems you get what you pay for.