Wrong.
The banks all offered free checking and credit/debit accounts to people, making all their money on the back end, from the merchants who accept checks or credit/debit cards.The merchants paid fees to the banks, to process checks, credit and debit cards.Naturally, those costs are passed on to the customer.
What changed?
The government has stipulated the rates banks can charge merchants for transactions, and banks have introduced new fees to checking account members.
Banks are like insurance companies.
They charge fees to guarentee transactions, absent the exchange of cash.
No I’m not wrong. Banks make a tiny amount on the transaction. They make most of their money on the interest.