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Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

finance.yahoo.com

111–120 of 386 posts

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#111

Reminder to the people reading this thread and overall comments, that in Europe everyone uses Debit Cards instead of Credit Cards. Credit Card in Europe is very much associated with Debt.

And most Europeans that have a credit-card need to pay them off at the end of the month. Technically they are charge cards. Unlike a traditional credit card, a charge card does not allow you to carry a revolving balance.

Can we please cool it with the sweeping "most/all of Europe" assertions? This, just like credit use overall, is also highly country/region specific.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#112
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In EU most people use direct debit. The term "credit card" is almost synonymous with debit. Chargebacks theoretically exists but they are more complicated, I don't know anyone who ever did that.

Yes, but the EU is quite diverse. I have some Irish friends. And Ireland seems similar to the US when it comes to credit card usage (vs debit). I assume that is because Ireland is heavily influenced by US and UK banking habits. On other hand, Germans only use debit cards.

I am Irish and in my experience most people use debit cards these days. I have a credit card but almost never use it.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#113

On an article like this, I encourage anyone giving an opinion based on their own experience to say what country it's from. (Or have this in their profile.)

It's the Internet. Just assume they are American unless otherwise specified.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#114

How does digital euro replace credit cards? That's basically the same as direct debit. It doesn't address the reason why I use credit cards. I use credit cards as a proxy for my bank accounts. I know that my issuing bank will protect me from all fraud so I don't have to worry about losing money if I buy something from a fraudulent merchant. I also know I can do things like chargebacks if I have to. None of this is ad…

Your transactions aren't tied to some provider in New York blocking you over night?

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#115

Reminder to the people reading this thread and overall comments, that in Europe everyone uses Debit Cards instead of Credit Cards. Credit Card in Europe is very much associated with Debt.

The article uses the term credit card for apparently no reason, because Visa and Mastercard also support debit cards. The EU is probably more concerned about Visa and Mastercard payment networks being under the control of American leaders.

We call every card a credit card even if most of them are actually debit.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#116

How much you wanna bet that digital euro implementations will in practice depend on two US corporations? The EUDI wallet implementations being rolled out seem to so far. (Apple and Google, in case it wasn't obvious.)

The goal is to detach your transaction from a new York based point of failure.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#117

I hope that they don't fall into the same trap that a lot of EU projects fall in to: only solving one problem. My VISA card is not only a convenient payment method, it also forces ATM operators to give me cash without any extra fees. In Germany the EC card used to be THE way of paying with a card but you had to go to the ATMs of your bank, otherwise there would be sometimes pretty ridiculous fees. The kicker was that…

It is indeed ridiculous. In the UK all bank cash machines are free no matter which bank you're from. My Girocard charges me 7€ for out of house withdrawals.

Bank-owned and supermarket cash machines don't generally charge for withdrawals in the UK but there are still many third-party machines that do.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#118
post #107

Reminder to the people reading this thread and overall comments, that in Europe everyone uses Debit Cards instead of Credit Cards. Credit Card in Europe is very much associated with Debt.

I'm in Europe and I can't say this is the case at all. I've never heard anyone express such an idea.

Did you grow up in Europe?

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#119

How does digital euro replace credit cards? That's basically the same as direct debit. It doesn't address the reason why I use credit cards. I use credit cards as a proxy for my bank accounts. I know that my issuing bank will protect me from all fraud so I don't have to worry about losing money if I buy something from a fraudulent merchant. I also know I can do things like chargebacks if I have to. None of this is ad…

I was wondering about this. I wonder if there are insurance products to close this gap? Or maybe some banks offer accounts with different kinds of purchase protection. I'm with you. While I'm no fan of the risk involved with missing a CC payment, there's a mountain of difference between credit and debit when it comes to fraud. It's literally you trying to get your money back (debit) versus some giant corporation tryi…

There are still protections from the bank/visa/mastercard network.

Somebody somehow stole my card credentials (online i think) and managed to get money out of my debit account through some obscure way without 2FA. The money disappeared but transactions showed up as “uncleared” and after few days i had money back. My bank said that i have to wait for the transactions to clear before they can start the transaction dispute because now it's in network hands.

Re: Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

#120

How does digital euro replace credit cards? That's basically the same as direct debit. It doesn't address the reason why I use credit cards. I use credit cards as a proxy for my bank accounts. I know that my issuing bank will protect me from all fraud so I don't have to worry about losing money if I buy something from a fraudulent merchant. I also know I can do things like chargebacks if I have to. None of this is ad…

So you're really using credit cards as a proxy for a consumer-friendly (at least with regard to fraud/disputes) payments product.

Credit cards being more consumer friendly than bank transfers is usually an artifact of the concrete implementation, not the abstract concept. In many EU/SEPA countries, returning a direct debit is much easier than a chargeback in the US, for example. In some countries, people even consider credit cards as less secure because filing a chargeback takes marginally longer with most banks (and requires a letter as opposed to a single click in online banking).

If the digital euro is to succeed, it'll of course have to compete with cards on the usability side as well.

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