> Wero lets users send money using just a phone number Of course, what could go wrong!! Unbelievable, a chance to make a whole new standard, new system, new everything, but yet we still have the need to tie it to ancient protocols, only to find later it’s broken by design and we start adding all sort of duct tape solutions to make it “secure”.. This is either a completely and entirely stupid move by some boomers livi…
Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
311–320 of 1001 posts
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#312Earlier quoted context omitted.
No it sucks for everyone haha. It's an objectively worse experience compared to just using a card (debit or credit).
All the locals can use cash. Friction free. Objectively better
I think your everyday credit/debit card is still objectively better overall, even moreso for tourists which was the main topic.
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#313(Almost?) all these EU efforts to be independent from the USA are born with a fatal flaw. They require you need to be an Apple user or a Google user.
Your comment is of course downvoted
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem isn't just getting something that works across all European countries. It's getting something that works globally. While we may make most of our payments within EU, basically everyone still occasionally pays for something outside of EU, either online or when they travel. This means if the new thing only works in EU, every European will still need and have a MasterCard/Visa even if they use it less often t…
Also European merchants who need to accept payments from non-Europeans need to accept Visa and Mastercard.
The big benefit is that all internal EU card transactions are no longer routed via US companies which is quite ridiculous.
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would never buy a plane ticket on debit. Airbnb reservations I also tend to do on credit. Anything related to company expenses I also do on credit and receive reimbursement prior to having to pay it myself.
It's just now how it works in most of Europe. I've lived in four countries, had accounts with lots of banks, paid for countless plane tickets and booking reservations, and only had a credit card once when I was issued one at work. I don't expect I'd ever get a personal one, and can't think of anyone that regularly uses one. The only time I even considered it was to build a credit score in the UK to eventually apply f…
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#316Whatever they come up with, I hope it doesn't tie you to a Google or Apple smartphone. Can't we have cards for this? In Spain, for example, to use Bizum, you need either an Android/iOS smartphone (and for the Android case, as you use it from your bank's app, it would typically require some Google security assurances - so no Huawei phones allowed, for example) or logging into your bank's website and use Bizum from the…
This is really a human right issue. No one should be required to carry an attacker-controlled tracking device, especially not for interacting with the government. It's funny that the EU uses all this mobile attestation BS more than the US does. So much for sovereignty and consumer protection. No monopoly Google can build is as good as the government forcing you to accept their terms.
What about being required to carry a your-own-government-controlled tracking device?
Because the US or Chine government can't harm me in Europe via the data they collect from me, But the EU authorities can if they want to, so naturally I fear them more if they were the ones hoovering my data.
What are the odds they're using this on-shore tech grab to implement their own domestic version of China's social credit score system, to easily get data on their own citizens who commit "wrong-think", without having to through the effort to twist the arm of US entities every time they want to do that?
Food for thought, but I do think we're living the last years of online anonymity, it's inevitable.
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
> For many consumers there isn't sufficient money in the account to settle all the one-time and ongoing transactions they are liable for This is a uniquely American viewpoint. In most of Europe you don't buy anything on credit ever.
I would never buy a plane ticket on debit. Airbnb reservations I also tend to do on credit. Anything related to company expenses I also do on credit and receive reimbursement prior to having to pay it myself.
Besides, if you want insurance just get a 30€ per year rolling package.
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
The networks allow cash discounts if it's posted clearly and the customer has an option to use a different payment method -- you see this on every gas station sign alongside every highway in America. (What's _not_ permitted is adding a secret surcharge or item mark-up for credit card payments)
Not true. A chain of restaurants near me does not accept cash, and charges 3.5% markup from their list price to cover CC fees. Texas.
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
On Portugal we have the Multibanco network, which already provided Internet like services for buying stuff on the terminals and eventually graduated to have online payments as well, however only in Portugal. Likewise, in Germany we can have SEPA for most stuff. And in Greece there is Viva. Problem is getting something that actually works across all European countries.
I've been in Portugal sometimes, and to me MB was synonymous with "we accept credit cards", and in fact it is in the sense that you can pay using Visa or Mastercard in those shops. But, is it a standalone system that doesn't require anything outside Portugal in order to work? With their own non-Visa credit cards? And can you use them when abroad in the EU, for example?
It is majorly used for debit cards, and similar in use to the famous Minitel in France.
You can use it to load pre-pay phones, or other kinds of rechargeable services, buy tickets for public transport and various kinds of shows, pay water, electricity, taxes, among other services.
There is now an app used to pay on shops via QR codes.
You can also pay online with one time cards, that are generated for a single transaction.
Outside Portugal it is a regular debit card.
When you access Multibanco with foreign cards, you can only withdraw money usually.
Re: Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been in Portugal sometimes, and to me MB was synonymous with "we accept credit cards", and in fact it is in the sense that you can pay using Visa or Mastercard in those shops. But, is it a standalone system that doesn't require anything outside Portugal in order to work? With their own non-Visa credit cards? And can you use them when abroad in the EU, for example?
Nope, it has nothing to do with credit cards, although it also accepts them. It is majorly used for debit cards, and similar in use to the famous Minitel in France. You can use it to load pre-pay phones, or other kinds of rechargeable services, buy tickets for public transport and various kinds of shows, pay water, electricity, taxes, among other services. There is now an app used to pay on shops via QR codes. You ca…
That said, I love MB and MB Way. What an upgrade it's been over paying for stuff in the US (where I lived before moving to Portugal).