5 ms·

Europe? You need to be more specific than that. I find it hard to believe what you say and I live in eastern europe (Romania). I don't have any problem paying w

by chimen 9y ago

Europe? You need to be more specific than that. I find it hard to believe what you say and I live in eastern europe (Romania). I don't have any problem paying with cards here. It's an actual european law that asks the merchants to accept credit cards.

fosco 9y ago
Had an incredible opportunity to do a road trip through Romania (including way off beaten path) with some elders that escaped during communism. Both my visa and sometimes American express worked in many areas albeit I prefer to use cash when I can and find myself trying to use cash more often every day.
drusepth 9y ago
Sorry for being vague; just left it "europe" since I've moved around a bit since getting here. I'm currently in Croatia, where it seems only restaurants and some grocery stores frequently take cards; I paid for an invoice at a local bank (Raiffeisenbank) yesterday that only took cash, which I thought was hilariously ironic. For what it's worth, my stay in Iceland (3 months) was absolutely fantastic when it came to taking card payments. On the other hand, the Netherlands (Amsterdam, 3 months) often only took Maestro-only (or sometimes Visa-only) in the cases where vendors even took cards. Likewise in England (Sheffield, 3 months) many vendors only took cash, and were mightily confused by American cards (especially one requiring pin + signature). I also had a brief stay in Italy (Naples, 1 week) where I found one restaurant that took any kind of card; everywhere else was cash-only. This has been my experience. I didn't realize how commonplace card transactions actually were in America until I realized how rare they were in the places I've lived since. I hate paying with cash because it's several extra mental steps to withdraw $X / maintain $X on hand / track expenditures / count up payments + check change / etc. It's so much easier and faster to use a card, so I hope Visa (or whomever, I don't have a preference as long as it's a card) lobbies for more widespread acceptance worldwide. If that requires killing off cash, I wouldn't have a problem with that!
- stordoff 9y ago
  > Likewise in England (Sheffield, 3 months) many vendors only took cash, and were mightily confused by American cards (especially one requiring pin + signature). Do you remember where? I live in Sheffield, and I'm having a hard time thinking of anywhere I would have an issue paying by card.

by chimen 9y ago

fosco 9y ago

Had an incredible opportunity to do a road trip through Romania (including way off beaten path) with some elders that escaped during communism. Both my visa and sometimes American express worked in many areas albeit I prefer to use cash when I can and find myself trying to use cash more often every day.

drusepth 9y ago

Sorry for being vague; just left it "europe" since I've moved around a bit since getting here. I'm currently in Croatia, where it seems only restaurants and some grocery stores frequently take cards; I paid for an invoice at a local bank (Raiffeisenbank) yesterday that only took cash, which I thought was hilariously ironic. For what it's worth, my stay in Iceland (3 months) was absolutely fantastic when it came to taking card payments. On the other hand, the Netherlands (Amsterdam, 3 months) often only took Maestro-only (or sometimes Visa-only) in the cases where vendors even took cards. Likewise in England (Sheffield, 3 months) many vendors only took cash, and were mightily confused by American cards (especially one requiring pin + signature). I also had a brief stay in Italy (Naples, 1 week) where I found one restaurant that took any kind of card; everywhere else was cash-only. This has been my experience. I didn't realize how commonplace card transactions actually were in America until I realized how rare they were in the places I've lived since. I hate paying with cash because it's several extra mental steps to withdraw $X / maintain $X on hand / track expenditures / count up payments + check change / etc. It's so much easier and faster to use a card, so I hope Visa (or whomever, I don't have a preference as long as it's a card) lobbies for more widespread acceptance worldwide. If that requires killing off cash, I wouldn't have a problem with that!

stordoff 9y ago
> Likewise in England (Sheffield, 3 months) many vendors only took cash, and were mightily confused by American cards (especially one requiring pin + signature). Do you remember where? I live in Sheffield, and I'm having a hard time thinking of anywhere I would have an issue paying by card.