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Yeah! It's best to use the national network, if it exists in your country. Also, daily reminder that the EU is working towards the digital Euro.
This post is also intended to be a provocation to all the crypto haters and the cashless payment fanatics.
I don't really get this tbh...
The digital euro looks so promising, even if it's a small thing. Ditching Visa and Mastercard would help reduce intermediates in the payment chain, even if the replacement is the bank itself.
Digital Euro when?
This post is also intended to be a provocation to all the crypto haters
When crypto is backed by a regulatory body and isn't just speculative gambling, I might take it more seriously.
Corporations in America don't pay taxes. They kill us slowly and erode our democracy and sponsor facism but they don't pay taxes.
They don't pay income tax, but they do pay tax. They pay payroll taxes when paying employees, and those employees have to pay income taxes on those wages.
If you buy american, some of that money will go to the feds in taxes, and the US has a major corporate tax evasion problem. Both are true.
The real problem here is that the "alternative" is a lot country specific alternatives that have no leverage to command worldwide adoption.
This could only be addressed ultimately by EU federalization. Let's see how much time until people and governments take to realize this.
The most probable solution is actually on the way (wero)
Will take a few more years to get all the features and require some incentives for people to switch from PayPal though. We'll see.
In reality there is no alternative to Visa/Mastercard. Any other product either uses them in the background, or is not a credit card product. The only other option is the japanese credit card, I forgot its name
They're not the only options!
There's also..... American Express
How do we not have an international European card processor?
Because usa government and companies bought the current politicians
While it is partly true - look at how big lobbyorganisations of said companies are in Strasburg - I do not like how General this is. "All politicians are bought" is just straight up wrong.
In Sweden we have Swish, which allows you to pay for stuff online without using any debit or credit card. I use it all the time, I cannot remember last time I paid online with card, unless it was from a foreign online shop/service.
However, it often isn't available in grocery and retail stores. But it is often available in rural areas or small shops who don't want to pay the fee for cards.
Also, Sweden is developing an e-krona, an electronic version of the Swedish currency. It should hopefully replace cards in all shops in the future.
Until then, using cash in grocery and retail stores is always possible. The problem is most swedes haven't seen physical money in so long I am not certain they still know how to use it... 🤔
Wait, we're getting an e-krona?
Probably. Riksbanken is currently investing how it could be implemented: https://www.riksbank.se/sv/betalningar--kontanter/e-krona/
Huh, look at that
I'm all for it
For Willys or Hemköp you can download the app and scan. Scan directly in the Hemköp app. Use scan&go on the Willys app
And pay with swish? That's cool! Now that I think about it I think you can do that with COOP app too.
You actually can pay in quite a few retail shops using swish nowadays.
Also loads of stores don't accept cash at all. Most big stores like grocery stores accept cash but not always all tills
MobilePay in Finland and Denmark. I am not so sure the underlying payment infrastructure is US-free though.
This is a good point concerning Swish too, I have no idea.
So is cash the only non-US option? Even my current account uses visa debit.
Visa at least probably doesn't collect a per transaction surcharge on these transactions right? I mean, they probably do get your data and probably ultimately still cost you money in a round about way.
I often paid with my cards (or my watch), but switched to cash until there is a legit european alternative. Most cryptocurrencies are pump and dump schemes
So what should we use😂?
This is getting absurd
Depends on what’s available where you live. In Poland we have BLIK! I think a few other countries are starting to use it too. The way it works is that in your banking app you get a 6 digit code, and enter it in the terminal. Less convenient than tap-to-pay but writing that made me realize how spoiled I am, lol. It’s really convenient for online purchases though, no need to spend all that time writing card info and no risk of that info getting into the wrong hands.
Some things are harder to replace than others, and no one expects you to change everything anyway. I don’t know why it’s “too absurd”. If anything, our dependence on that makes them all the more important to use/develop alternatives for.
This post is also intended to be a provocation to all the crypto haters and the cashless payment fanatics.
If your intentionis boycotting the US, pushing crypto ain't it 😂 americans are the most invested in cryptocurrencies and the current administration more than so.
There is already a solution inside the EU, the shops just have to support it now. "Over the course of 2025, banks will no longer be allowed to charge additional fees for instant transfers in euros. Banks in all 20 euro countries must also offer the real-time service as standard."
Reminder: Arguing and discussion is okay, but keep it civil and do not attack the person you are arguing with.
In France there is the CB network.
A lot of cards are dual network CB/Visa or CB/MasterCard and the fees are much lower in the CB network so most POS are using it as well.
Does the same go for debit cards?