3 ms·
"I've only just heard of this, but it looks like it's an attempt by lots of big European banks to beat Mastercard & Visa at their own game!" Not really. Europe
by pacman2 5y ago
"I've only just heard of this, but it looks like it's an attempt by lots of big European banks to beat Mastercard & Visa at their own game!"
Not really. Europe has Vpay and Maestro/EC. Online payments can be done in some countries by "Sofort"
https://www.klarna.com/pay-now/ https://www.klarna.com/pay-now/
They may just want to standardize it for all of Europe. In general, US banking often looks like stone age compared with Europe. Alo ne a money wire is annoying. IBAN payments are free. I think they charge a small fee for instant money wires.
- messe 5y ago> Europe has Vpay and Maestro/EC ...owned by Visa and Mastercard?
- zaarn 5y agoFee for instant transfers is optional, my bank charges me 0€ during normal banking hours and 0,10€ outside banking hours.
- mrweasel 5y agoNote that depending on country, Klarna and similar providers require you to pay them using a debit card. It specifically cannot be a credit card, because that would mean incurring new debt to cover existing debt.
- crote 5y agoDon't forget iDeal! It's only used in The Netherlands, but unlike Sofort there is no intermediary company. Basically, a merchant redirects you to your own bank's website. You have to log in, but all transaction details are already fixed. After confirmation, you're redirected back to the merchant and the transaction is complete.