This paper estimates a model of demand for retail bank deposit services in order to analyse the determinants of demand and competition in the South African banking sector. It contributes to the existing literature by using individual level survey data to assess consumer decisions based upon prices, bank features and individual characteristics, following a discrete choice approach. Our empirical analysis utilises data from the All Media and Product Survey (AMPS) of 2011, augmented with information on the various banks’ branch networks as well as a generated price variable for the monthly debit account fees individuals face. The results from our conditional logit regressions indicate that consumers respond to transaction fees in choosing a depository institution. Furthermore, consumers incorporate branch density in their selection process while individual characteristics such as income, age, occupation and literacy also influence the choice decision. Developing our results to estimate price elasticity, we find significantly inelastic demand for depository services in relation to transaction fees. This conforms to results found in similar studies in the US and Europe.