> 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 als

> 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.