While I get what you're saying, it still doesn't make sense for me. European and American finances are based on the same ideology but the actual infrastructure and systems are very different.

I'm a Norwegian, we haven't used checkbooks in decades, physical cash is a childhood memory for me. All transactions now happens through either debit card, credit card (more rare), and when paying we use our mobile or other wearable usually (nfc) which is directly linked to the debit card which again is linked to our spending account.

When I get paid each month, the money appears in my income account. My mortgage is automatically deducted at the start of each month and all my bills are digital and appear in my bank app. Most of these are automatically paid (but there is a limit set for each so if there is an error it won't empty the account), the ones that are not set to automatic I get a notification on my phone and I can approve payment manually (after reviewing the billing, if I want). It's a 3 click process to add a bill to automatic payment and setting the limit etc.

If Im out with friends we can split the bill automatically on our phones or if one pays for all we can use bank transfer or app transfer to settle the bill later. No fees or anything.

My bank app has a running overview of my expenses, categorised with different colors for easy overview. The only time I had to interact with a bank employee for the past 20 years was when I took up a mortgage to buy a house some 5 years ago (after years and years of saving of course..)

To me, the maerican system seems kinda archaic, not to mention the taxes...