Technically the regulation says that charging is allowed, it just has to be the same flat fee across the entire SEPA zone, whether it's domestic or international. Most banks found domestic fees unpalatable, so they just made everything free. In this, as many other things when it comes to e-payments, Germany seems to be a bit of an outlier.

I mean, it's the same over here in Portugal as well. SEPA standard transfers are free, but SEPA instant transfers have a flat fee in every bank (Unless you have a sort of premium account)

Perhaps your country's the outlier.

If Germany is an outlier, so are France, Italy, Spain, Portugal...

Germany does seem an outlier in charging as well for _incoming_ instant payments though. (I may be wrong!)

Flat fee is the keyword. Not a percentage like with cards.

N26, a German bank, has unlimited free ATM withdrawals in most countries and only 3/mo in Germany.

If not for all the laws, this country would be USA on steroids.