If they tried that in Australia there would be an outcry.
No there wouldn't.. people would just tell themselves that it could be worse and then just live with it and continue to watch the TV.
Huh, I pay bank fees
There are fees for using an EFTPOS terminal
Somebody has to pay for 'the system'
They recently tried to introduce bank fees in UK... it didn't go down well and led to many large protests on the street... the idea was canned. The "system" is quite capable of paying for itself through investment and by having people in the black not red. The whole bank system relies on the fact that we have our money "safely" stored there and that we will never remove it all at once... of course, the money isn't actually there.. its just a piece of paper to say that you put that much there and the bank "owes" it to you. They ( the bank) invest the money worldwide. Last year I "tried" to get a bank cheque for a house deposit out of my account... was quite clear that the bank viewed it as THEIR money and not mine and made it very difficult to access my funds.
The system is greedy my friend and when a bank boasts increased PROFITS of over $6billion for the first 6 months of the year, you can feel secure knowing that it will never be enough. EFTPOS is a great example... bank can employ less people and make a huge saving and then charge per transaction on EFTPOS and make more profit.. win win bank!