No. Most banks have free checking, but you have to maintain what's known as a "Minimum Balance." Basically you have to have anywhere from $200-$500 in your checking account at all times. If you have under that amount, the bank starts charging you fees for not having enough money in your account. I'm talking fees like $25-$50 every few days, if not daily. Your account can quickly and easily go into the negatives if you're not careful. What happens then is the bank closes your account, you owe them money, and you have a black mark on your record making it that much more difficult to open a checking account at another bank down the road. A lot of people who live on the financial edge can't afford that minimal balance or the risk that comes with having a checking account. So they don't have one. Instead, they go to places like Wal-Mart, their local grocery store, or ironically, their bank to just have their check cashed right out. They have to pay a processing fee to do so. The fee usually starts out at about $5 dollars or so but quickly goes up. The larger your check is, the more you have to pay to cash it. Edit: As I posted in another comment, the fee can vary.
Most credit unions I have been in do not have a minimum for basic checking. You yuo want some perks then you may end up losing money due to minimum balances, but they don't apply this to poor members because you specifically need a large amount of cash in the accounts to make the switch. The illegality of credit unions (non profit money institutions or approximately banks) is equivalent to a regressive tax in the amount that the big banka in the US earn from these petty fees. Why would you not want a non profit bank? That case is so clear that it is only the entrenched interests of the super rich that have prevented it. Note: they are not illegal, but you can't just make a general credit Union for everyone and compete with banks. Why? Well you would certainly kick the banks to the curb, which is exactly what their powerful leaders don't want.