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Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

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Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#331

Post by fh973 »

codegeek wrote: post #94
_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a German a.) I mostly pay cash because it's faster b.) some shops that can afford it only have cash payments to save on CC costs Not because of inflation or because something happend 100y ago.

As an american, I find it strange that cash is faster. Most people who pay cash need to wait to get the change back unless they know the total beforehand and happen to have exact change. In the US, credit card machines are very fast even the chip enabled ones. Cash workflow: - Cashier tells you the total amount - You look in your wallet/purse - You spend time counting exact change if you do have it - If not, you take…

For many people credit card payment also means: - verify statement at the end of the month.

Which is annoying and time-consuming.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#332

Post by Retric »

overcast wrote: post #56
Retric wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$123 * 365 ~= 45k/year. So, you would need to mug / pickpocket 1 or more people per day per person involved. At a guess that's not very stable and your very likely to get caught. aka, you might get 100 peoples wallets at moderate risk, but going for 10's of thousands is a lot more risky. Also, stolen CC can be turned into cash.

$45k a year, untaxed, for what, a few minutes of work per day? Sign me up. There are professional pickpockets all over the world, that make a healthy living off of it. Also, average monthly salary in Germany is $2666. Sounds WAY more profitable to be a pickpocket.

Until you get caught. The problem is not so much being an experienced pickpocket, the problem is getting to that point and then living off of it for 40 years without spending a lot of time in prison.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#333

Post by harperlee »

pmoriarty wrote: post #310
kuschku wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany doesn’t use the MasterCard or the VISA network, instead having an entire separate payment network, EC, which uses under the hood wire transfers via SEPA. This is the E in EMV (EC, MasterCard, VISA) which created most of modern payment infrastructure. SEPA is the Single European Payments Area, standardizing how to process fast and cheap payments, all transfers are in Euro, from 2018 on also having a standardiz…

Thank you for explaining those, but I'm still not sure what they have to do with the "real cost of dealing with cash". EC and SEPA seem to be digital payment technologies, and therefore aren't dealing with cash.

I would think that the means that banks charge for dealing with cash inputs, either directly or indirectly, to cash heavy businesses.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#334

Post by svanwaa »

plopz wrote: post #302
romwell wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note for the American readers: in the glorious lands across the ocean, chip cards of all kinds use a PIN instead of a signature, which makes way more sense anyway. Chip & sign is an American abomination.

Is this something that only triggers above a certain threshold? On the east coast, whenever I go to the grocery store, its just insert chip and press ok. I've never had to sign or enter a pin.

This is called "expedited checkout". This is a merchant option to help speed up the checkout process. However the merchant is then taking all responsibility for fraudulent transactions.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#336

Post by majewsky »

Symbiote wrote: post #96
_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a German a.) I mostly pay cash because it's faster b.) some shops that can afford it only have cash payments to save on CC costs Not because of inflation or because something happend 100y ago.

Are contactless terminals widespread in Germany? On a short trip last month, I surprised a couple of merchants by paying contactlessly with my foreign (EU) card. That's almost always faster than paying by cash, since there's no need to count the money or make change. The exception is when the cost is €20, and I can hand over a single note.

I was actually pretty annoyed by my bank having issued me a contactless VISA card, but for a particular reason: I already have a contactless card for paying at the university canteen, but with the VISA card also in my wallet, neither the canteen's own terminal nor a merchant's VISA terminal can pick up its respective card's signal properly without having to take the card out of the wallet.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#338

Post by majewsky »

discombobulate wrote: post #160
Symbiote wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's part of the GCSE curriculum, which is examined at age 16. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/german... (Please write "at".)

I don't remember that. @.

I'm downvoting this because you didn't write

  I don't remember th@.
:)

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#339

Post by gingerlime »

codegeek wrote: post #94
_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a German a.) I mostly pay cash because it's faster b.) some shops that can afford it only have cash payments to save on CC costs Not because of inflation or because something happend 100y ago.

As an american, I find it strange that cash is faster. Most people who pay cash need to wait to get the change back unless they know the total beforehand and happen to have exact change. In the US, credit card machines are very fast even the chip enabled ones. Cash workflow: - Cashier tells you the total amount - You look in your wallet/purse - You spend time counting exact change if you do have it - If not, you take…

I'm surprised it's not mentioned on other comments, but in Japan, the whole thing is automated. The cashier feeds the cash notes / coins into a machine, and the machine spits out the exact change. It's super-fast, even when the cashier counts your change in front of your eyes, and lays it out neatly onto a tray[0].

I wonder how come these types of machines aren't more popular in other countries.

[0] sounds like some super fancy concierge service, but it's pretty much standard, from 7-eleven to fancy stores

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#340

Post by herbst »

bluGill wrote: post #271
herbst wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think this. Or the dozen times credit card data have been stolen in mass from websites aren't a serious issue you should read more news. I know I can charge back. But then I need to waste time to check all the charges and go through the charge back process. Also depit cards. At least in Europe. AFAIK don't offer a easy charge back at all

The laws on liability are very different in Europe and the US. In the US a stolen card is the bank's problem. In Europe it is the consumer's problem. This difference in laws is critical to this discussion, both sides are saying "you are wrong" when in fact both sides are right in their respective country and wrong in the other.

It's not in Europe. It's just a hustle when it happens
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