My German back account has overdraft, but that only charges via ~12% annual interest (billed at end-of-month, but charges proportionality if you've been in the red for part of the month).
Also note that for ATMs (including deposits) and within-bank transfers, we had no more than a couple seconds latency since €, which got expanded for all willing banks to cross-bank push transactions specifically requested to be "SEPA instant push".
The "SEPA instant push" transactions have some issues with reversing in case of accidentally fat-fingering IBAN (target account; like a crypto wallet address but no crypto) or amount. Once the money is in the target account, you basically have to go to court if it wasn't outright fraud. And being instant removes the window you had to call your bank and cancel the transfer. IIRC there are some further liability shifts.
And yes, this transparent interest-based handling is why we get by perfectly fine without credit cards.
Also note that for ATMs (including deposits) and within-bank transfers, we had no more than a couple seconds latency since €, which got expanded for all willing banks to cross-bank push transactions specifically requested to be "SEPA instant push".
The "SEPA instant push" transactions have some issues with reversing in case of accidentally fat-fingering IBAN (target account; like a crypto wallet address but no crypto) or amount. Once the money is in the target account, you basically have to go to court if it wasn't outright fraud. And being instant removes the window you had to call your bank and cancel the transfer. IIRC there are some further liability shifts.
And yes, this transparent interest-based handling is why we get by perfectly fine without credit cards.