Note that high fees aren't a prerequisite for consumer protection. European credit cards offer full protection, despite having capped interchange fees.
Do they? Can I get an immediate refund for anything if I don’t like the item? I can with my Amex. No questions asked under $1000.
That doesn't sound like a feature I'd want to pay fees towards enabling but I'm likely missing something - what kind of up-to-$1000 purchases are you making where you might not even like the item?
One of the key features of these apps is that you only need the phone in order to make transfers, that allows you to avoid asking for the account number to anyone.
On the other hand, account numbers are not a significant 'secret' or something like that. They are just as 'safe' to share as phone numbers.
For anyone in the US, if I have your bank account number, I can steal your money. I strongly advise you not to share your account number with me or anyone else. I have to commit fraud in order to steal your money, making it a crime, but stealing's a crime in the first place, so that's not going to deter thieves.
This was actually announced in a easy to miss email with the subject "Upcoming change to your account" sent on June 30 2021. It did get a little press that day but on the fee increase day I saw little reporting. These changes went into effect on August 2nd 2021. Here is a PDF that has a breakdown showing all the changes that happened that day [1] To PayPal's credit, this was their first rate increase in a very long t…
> To PayPal's credit, this was their first rate increase in a very long time if not forever. There is no reason to assume that rates should go up at all, it's not like the % you take needs to be corrected for inflation.
The opposite in fact. All costs should decline over time.
I love how Americans are totally fine with paying a tax on every transaction they make in order to protect random people from occurrences of financial fraud, yet are vehemently opposed to exactly the same system for healthcare. I mean, rationally you would expect the opposite: people typically don't do $10k+ transactions using credit cards, so a worst case consequence of fraud you're not protected from is quite small…
Oh, you’re giving us Americans too much credit, credit card fraud happens all the time. It’s like a constant thing you have to watch out for, and I’d estimate happens once every couple of years for most people. Either straight up fraud and theft, or just a recurring charge that will not stop no matter what. So the system is super broken and relevant to individuals, which is why people accept all the fees maybe. It’s…
This seems overblown, I've had credit cards for over ten years in the US, using them in person and online, and the only time I've ever had a fraudulent transaction was an hour after my wallet was stolen, which like yeah, kind of expected.
I'm not sure what you mean by "happens once every couple of years for most people."
When I moved to the Netherlands, I was at first irritated that my credit cards weren't accepted anywhere. But as the debit (maestro) card transactions are often free [1], paying 3%+ to a card service does seem exorbitant. For online payments, the Dutch use the IDEAL system, which is even easier than online credit cards. This also prevents vendor lock-in, like Amazon. And, the banking apps make it super easy to send m…
Merchant fees for both debit and credit cards are significantly lower in all EU countries (and UK), compared to the US, thanks to the interchange fee regulation (IFR) that caps interchange fees at 0.2% for debit card and 0.3% for credit cards. This translates into much lower merchant fees. Even a tiny startup with zero transaction volume can easily get less than 2% on their physical card transactions (using something…
Canada also banned said fees, and retailers with high-priced/low-margin goods (ie: computers) simply gave cash discounts to compensate. nb my info is at least 20 years out-of-date, though.
Note that high fees aren't a prerequisite for consumer protection. European credit cards offer full protection, despite having capped interchange fees.
Do they? Can I get an immediate refund for anything if I don’t like the item? I can with my Amex. No questions asked under $1000.
From what I understand amex is different from Mastercard or visa in Europe. The European limit on fees does not count for amex, or the fees are much higher. I'm not sure exactly. This usually means support for amex is lower than Mastercard or visa.
One of the key features of these apps is that you only need the phone in order to make transfers, that allows you to avoid asking for the account number to anyone.
On the other hand, account numbers are not a significant 'secret' or something like that. They are just as 'safe' to share as phone numbers.
Think about it this way: a check is just an account number on some fancy paper, with a few more numbers.
About the charge backs if one is mainly shopping from local companies there is really strong consumer protection laws instead. Basically you can demand a refund and if they don't give it to you it is a really simple process of just sending a bill to that company for your money and initiate bankruptcy process if they fail to pay.
Yes, but in this context, everything depends on the interaction with the merchant. While most merchants are not pricks, they are businesspeople and won't unconditionally accommodate any claim even if it is reasonable. Based on my experience, the worst are not necessarily the small merchants unless they are just fraudsters but the semi-large online stores like Otto/Saturn/MediaMarkt which will do everything to make a…
In the EU, the law is that merchants have to allow a return and refund for any online purchase unconditionally, provided that it was initiated within two weeks of purchase. I have never had any problems with this.
Oh, you’re giving us Americans too much credit, credit card fraud happens all the time. It’s like a constant thing you have to watch out for, and I’d estimate happens once every couple of years for most people. Either straight up fraud and theft, or just a recurring charge that will not stop no matter what. So the system is super broken and relevant to individuals, which is why people accept all the fees maybe. It’s…
This seems overblown, I've had credit cards for over ten years in the US, using them in person and online, and the only time I've ever had a fraudulent transaction was an hour after my wallet was stolen, which like yeah, kind of expected. I'm not sure what you mean by "happens once every couple of years for most people."
Your personal experience is not statistically relevant data. It is a major problem here in the US, not just fraudulent transactions, but people signing up for credit cards in your name since the equifax data leak, people creating fake ids to be used to reset your accounts in person, constant phone calls attempting to scam people, and even letters in the mail withhuge print saying “last notice - important - pay now” with very small print saying “this is an offer not an invoice” or like that tricks the elderly and those not careful. All of these and more cause massive amounts of fraud in the US.