4 ms·

I just want to present a counterpoint to your claim that in the EU, CCs matter less: there are countries in the EU like Sweden where cash is virtually non-exist

I just want to present a counterpoint to your claim that in the EU, CCs matter less: there are countries in the EU like Sweden where cash is virtually non-existent. Basically everything is card-based here, I've even seen panhandlers who accept electronic payments in Stockholm.

PeterisP 6y ago
Card != CC. The point is that in EU there's less motivation to use credit cards than in USA because the situation is better for payment cards that are not credit cards. If you refer to Sweden, I believe that the split there is that something like 40% of the cards are credit cards, and the majority are not.
- carlhjerpe 6y ago
  As a Swede, I thought the CC number would be lower. Most people my age never had a credit card. I do have a Visa DC and a MC CC for redundancy if my bank is down, most people I know doesn't even get why.
  - kzrdude 6y ago
    I have a DC and cc from the same bank.. not sure if it gives much of any redundancy, but it was the best deal on a cc I could find.
    - zmk_ 6y ago
      In Sweden, the best CC deals are the petrol station branded CCs (Shell/Circle K) as they both give you cash backs, have some insurance, have the standard grace period, and are "free".
  - Symbiote 6y ago
    You are correct, credit card transactions are about 18% by number and 25% by value. https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/statistics/payments-notes-and-coins/payments/ https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/statistics/payments-notes-and-... (Seriously, people, these kind of statistics are extremely easy to find. No need to make them up!)
- incompatible 6y ago
  Likewise in Australia. The only difficulty I've found using a debit card in recent years is when renting a car: with a debit card, they generally want to put a "hold" on the account for a few hundred dollars. I can't get a credit card anyway since my income isn't high enough, and I wouldn't want one because they charge annual fees in Australia. Banks in Australia run their own payments system, so it's possible to pay by card without going through Visa / Mastercard. Some cards issued by banks don't even have the Visa / Mastercard affiliation, but I think the Visa / Mastercard debit feature is needed it you want to make card-not-present transactions online.
  - mcbain 6y ago
    There are a number of credit cards in Australia that do not charge annual fees. Many require being linked to an active transaction account, but not all. They generally don't have any kind of linked reward points structure, but that's not a huge loss as most of those got nerfed after the ACCC changes a while back (see elsewhere in these comments).
    - incompatible 6y ago
      I see there are some of these around these days, perhaps it wasn't so common last time I was looking which was at least 5 years ago. But at this point, there doesn't seem to be much benefit in having a credit card. I'd also be unlikely to qualify for one, either due to not having a stable income of $20k plus per year, or because I'm not a permanent visa holder in Australia, despite living here for over a decade.
simias 6y ago
Paying by card is common, paying using a Credit Card not necessarily. I'm French and I'm semi-ashamed to admit that when at a store abroad the clerk asked me "debit or credit?" for payment I had to ask him to explain to me what this quaint exotic incantation meant. When I finally understood how that system worked I also finally understood this weird trope in American movies where a character has a half a dozen credit cards in their wallet, and they burn through those as if it were free money for some reason. That never made any sense to me up until that point.
- wil421 6y ago
  Debit card (bank card) transactions in the US require a PIN. Credit cards require a signature but most gas stations require a zip code. It would be nice if the US had PINs like Europe does for credit cards. I make around $1500-$2000 a year in cash back from my credit cards and $195 in fees. 6% back for groceries, 3% for gas, 3% on online shopping, and 3% for restaurants. All my household utilities and bills are run through my Delta card to collect miles and a $200 yearly voucher.
  - ss7pro 6y ago
    I have six CC , my total AF for them is $2500. Every year I got at least $6500 back from using those cards. Not to mention travel insurance, car rental insurance and purchase insurance which comes with those cards and it's worth at least $600 a year.
  - techsupporter 6y ago
    > It would be nice if the US had PINs like Europe does for credit cards. Some cards do offer this feature, all issued by credit unions as I recall. Spokane Teachers Credit Union, First Technology Federal Credit Union, and State Department Federal Credit Union are the three I know off the top of my head. Target's MasterCard version of its REDcard also has a PIN but you cannot apply for that card directly. (I have cards from each of them, except SDFCU, and have considered getting that one simply because it would be a chip-and-PIN Visa card and I don't have that particular combination.)
fragmede 6y ago
It's a bit balkanized, with Swish taking the place of Venmo in Sweden, and other local variations elsewhere.

PeterisP 6y ago

Card != CC. The point is that in EU there's less motivation to use credit cards than in USA because the situation is better for payment cards that are not credit cards. If you refer to Sweden, I believe that the split there is that something like 40% of the cards are credit cards, and the majority are not.

carlhjerpe 6y ago
As a Swede, I thought the CC number would be lower. Most people my age never had a credit card. I do have a Visa DC and a MC CC for redundancy if my bank is down, most people I know doesn't even get why.
- kzrdude 6y ago
  I have a DC and cc from the same bank.. not sure if it gives much of any redundancy, but it was the best deal on a cc I could find.
  - zmk_ 6y ago
    In Sweden, the best CC deals are the petrol station branded CCs (Shell/Circle K) as they both give you cash backs, have some insurance, have the standard grace period, and are "free".
- Symbiote 6y ago
  You are correct, credit card transactions are about 18% by number and 25% by value. https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/statistics/payments-notes-and-coins/payments/ https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/statistics/payments-notes-and-... (Seriously, people, these kind of statistics are extremely easy to find. No need to make them up!)
incompatible 6y ago
Likewise in Australia. The only difficulty I've found using a debit card in recent years is when renting a car: with a debit card, they generally want to put a "hold" on the account for a few hundred dollars. I can't get a credit card anyway since my income isn't high enough, and I wouldn't want one because they charge annual fees in Australia. Banks in Australia run their own payments system, so it's possible to pay by card without going through Visa / Mastercard. Some cards issued by banks don't even have the Visa / Mastercard affiliation, but I think the Visa / Mastercard debit feature is needed it you want to make card-not-present transactions online.
- mcbain 6y ago
  There are a number of credit cards in Australia that do not charge annual fees. Many require being linked to an active transaction account, but not all. They generally don't have any kind of linked reward points structure, but that's not a huge loss as most of those got nerfed after the ACCC changes a while back (see elsewhere in these comments).
  - incompatible 6y ago
    I see there are some of these around these days, perhaps it wasn't so common last time I was looking which was at least 5 years ago. But at this point, there doesn't seem to be much benefit in having a credit card. I'd also be unlikely to qualify for one, either due to not having a stable income of $20k plus per year, or because I'm not a permanent visa holder in Australia, despite living here for over a decade.

simias 6y ago

Paying by card is common, paying using a Credit Card not necessarily. I'm French and I'm semi-ashamed to admit that when at a store abroad the clerk asked me "debit or credit?" for payment I had to ask him to explain to me what this quaint exotic incantation meant. When I finally understood how that system worked I also finally understood this weird trope in American movies where a character has a half a dozen credit cards in their wallet, and they burn through those as if it were free money for some reason. That never made any sense to me up until that point.

wil421 6y ago
Debit card (bank card) transactions in the US require a PIN. Credit cards require a signature but most gas stations require a zip code. It would be nice if the US had PINs like Europe does for credit cards. I make around $1500-$2000 a year in cash back from my credit cards and $195 in fees. 6% back for groceries, 3% for gas, 3% on online shopping, and 3% for restaurants. All my household utilities and bills are run through my Delta card to collect miles and a $200 yearly voucher.
- ss7pro 6y ago
  I have six CC , my total AF for them is $2500. Every year I got at least $6500 back from using those cards. Not to mention travel insurance, car rental insurance and purchase insurance which comes with those cards and it's worth at least $600 a year.
- techsupporter 6y ago
  > It would be nice if the US had PINs like Europe does for credit cards. Some cards do offer this feature, all issued by credit unions as I recall. Spokane Teachers Credit Union, First Technology Federal Credit Union, and State Department Federal Credit Union are the three I know off the top of my head. Target's MasterCard version of its REDcard also has a PIN but you cannot apply for that card directly. (I have cards from each of them, except SDFCU, and have considered getting that one simply because it would be a chip-and-PIN Visa card and I don't have that particular combination.)

fragmede 6y ago

It's a bit balkanized, with Swish taking the place of Venmo in Sweden, and other local variations elsewhere.