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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.

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