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Comment by basisword | Hacker News Reader

>> It's a real problem that some people cannot afford the fees on a bank account, but I would prefer that we find some way to provide everyone with minimum banking services. Like a no-fee government-provided debit card.

The government shouldn’t even need to get involved here. In the UK accounts have no standard charge and come with free debit card. There’s no reason banks in the US can’t offer this other than the fact people think paying for an account is normal so they can get away with it. Do the “app” banks like Revolut and Monzo offer free accounts in the US? Curious if they’re bringing some competition that could force change.

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> The government shouldn’t even need to get involved here. In the UK accounts have no standard charge and come with free debit card.

Well, in the UK, fee-free basic bank accounts are the result of government regulation(1).

It was part of the UK's implementation of Directive 2014/92/EU (2), which mandated access to basic bank accounts across the EU (of which the UK was then a part).

(1) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fee-free-bank-accounts-la... (2) https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/financial-pr...

Thank you for the funniest comment and reply I've ever seen here.

The libertarian version of the I Made This meme.

'Fee-free' accounts existed way before this regulation. If you actually read the link it talk about fee-free in the sense of no charges for failed transactions.

No, the relevant part of the article is basic bank accounts.

The change (and the Directive) was the result of banks withdrawing fee-free basic banks across the bloc as a cost-cutting measure in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

There is some nuance here in that accounts without a standard charge and a free debit card were common before 2016.

The 2016 change seems to be about fully fee-free accounts, i.e. no overdraft charges or similar fees.

The change (and the Directive) was the result of banks withdrawing fee-free basic banks across the bloc as a cost-cutting measure in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The Directive reverse that and made basic bank accounts universally available across the bloc.

I worded my message badly. When I said 'the government shouldn't need to get involved' I meant in a direct way. Either I've misread the parent comment or they've edited it but I thought they proposed the government offering accounts - that I thought was unnecessary. Regulation I'm fine with.

There are thousands of such establishments in the US. They are called credit unions. And many banks too. Yes, I have a US Revolut account, but not for that reason, but because US banks generally don't know how to send money internationally. For them, civilization ends at the US border :)

There are plenty of free bank accounts that come with free debit cards in the US. People who have paid bank accounts didn't shop around at all. I have no idea how or why these banks continue to do business when there's free alternatives that are usually better in basically every other way as well.

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