4 ms·

The US industry has always been on the forefront of trying to convince people that they can afford stuff they actually can't and came up with a lot of creative

The US industry has always been on the forefront of trying to convince people that they can afford stuff they actually can't and came up with a lot of creative ways to do this. The best example of course is the recent housing crisis. I'd say europeans in general are more debt and risk averse, this even shows in the lack of credit card adoption in places like germany.

kogepathic 9y ago
> I'd say europeans in general are more debt and risk averse, this even shows in the lack of credit card adoption in places like germany. Anecdotally, it's also much harder to get approved for credit in Germany. While in Canada, I had banks offering me credit cards with insane limits ($5,000+ for someone in their 20's who finished university but without a job). In Germany, it was difficult to even get a credit card, and the only card I was approved for has a 2,000 EUR limit. This is with a SCHUFA score of "very low risk", so it's not like I have bad credit. I would say the lack of credit card usage in Germany is multifaceted: 1. Germany has a high utilization of cash for transactions because cash can't be traced easily. Germans are typically very mindful of their privacy and thus choose not to use Debit/Credit cards for most transactions. 2. Ease of online payments. I can pay via Vorkasse (SEPA transfer), direct debit (SEPA-Mandat), or instant methods such as SOFORT Überweisung. It's easy to buy airline tickets without a credit card. However some companies do require a credit card to rent a car (e.g. Sixt). So a credit card isn't really necessary if all you want to do is buy things online.
- kayoone 9y ago
  While i agree, not sure about 1) Germans use debit cards everywhere, it's just that credit cards are used very rarely but also accepted very rarely which is probably due to some fees that make it not worthwhile, while in the US you cna pay für $3 coffee with a credit card.
justincormack 9y ago
The UK is not debt averse. It also has the highest new car purchases in the EU due to the availability of car credit
- tobylane 9y ago
  That's a new phenomenon, I've heard it described as a new thing in the last 9 months and an upcoming bubble.
  - justincormack 9y ago
    No, uk car sales have been rising rapidly since 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/11786990/Car-sales-continue-record-breaking-run.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/117... Previously there were other types of credit based financing available.

kogepathic 9y ago

> I'd say europeans in general are more debt and risk averse, this even shows in the lack of credit card adoption in places like germany. Anecdotally, it's also much harder to get approved for credit in Germany. While in Canada, I had banks offering me credit cards with insane limits ($5,000+ for someone in their 20's who finished university but without a job). In Germany, it was difficult to even get a credit card, and the only card I was approved for has a 2,000 EUR limit. This is with a SCHUFA score of "very low risk", so it's not like I have bad credit. I would say the lack of credit card usage in Germany is multifaceted: 1. Germany has a high utilization of cash for transactions because cash can't be traced easily. Germans are typically very mindful of their privacy and thus choose not to use Debit/Credit cards for most transactions. 2. Ease of online payments. I can pay via Vorkasse (SEPA transfer), direct debit (SEPA-Mandat), or instant methods such as SOFORT Überweisung. It's easy to buy airline tickets without a credit card. However some companies do require a credit card to rent a car (e.g. Sixt). So a credit card isn't really necessary if all you want to do is buy things online.

kayoone 9y ago
While i agree, not sure about 1) Germans use debit cards everywhere, it's just that credit cards are used very rarely but also accepted very rarely which is probably due to some fees that make it not worthwhile, while in the US you cna pay für $3 coffee with a credit card.

justincormack 9y ago

The UK is not debt averse. It also has the highest new car purchases in the EU due to the availability of car credit

tobylane 9y ago
That's a new phenomenon, I've heard it described as a new thing in the last 9 months and an upcoming bubble.
- justincormack 9y ago
  No, uk car sales have been rising rapidly since 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/11786990/Car-sales-continue-record-breaking-run.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/117... Previously there were other types of credit based financing available.