It seems to be a very American thing to not have banking as a basic right (or at least assumed right).<p>Here in New Zealand, there&#x27;s pretty much no restriction on getting bank accounts. It&#x27;s almost unheard of to not have a bank account.<p>Transaction fees aren&#x27;t really a thing either. Most people only have to pay to withdraw money from other banks ATMs. There&#x27;s no fees for bank transfers (regardless of whether it&#x27;s to the same bank or a different one). Bank transfers are within the hour in the same bank, and either within the day or overnight for between different banks.<p>One thing that definitely has helped in this situation (somewhat counter intuitively) is that we have an oligopoly of banks, so standardisation and cooperation is simple. That&#x27;s why we have chip and pin cards as standard here (and contactless cards). It&#x27;s also meant that almost everywhere accepts EFTPOS.<p>Hell, I had to cash my first check ever today. I don&#x27;t even carry cash, unless I have a specific reason to need to carry it.