Possibly not for much longer, it was all possible because of overdraft fees etc that people are trying to weasel out of paying. In most of the rest of the world, you pay a monthly charge for even having an account and getting an overdraft is a much bigger deal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/nov/24/bank-charge...
Thankfully they ruled that if you go over your agreed overdraft limit, the bank can charge you what they like.
Sanity prevailed.
I also do not buy the 'that's why bank accounts were free'. Consumer banking has always been free in the UK. Before consumer overdrafts/charges were common. I believe it's more than covered by the cost of business banking.
I think it's a much better system - consumer banking free, business banking paid for. The original freemium business model.
No, it hasn't. Charges for writing cheques, withdrawals, etc were common at one point. I remember the switch to free banking in the UK when I was a child - not having to pay anything to use your bank account normally without going overdrawn was a big deal at the time.