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And the only reason why a national, NIH payment system like Twint became "popular" was that all bigger Swiss banks for several years refused to allow regular mo

And the only reason why a national, NIH payment system like Twint became "popular" was that all bigger Swiss banks for several years refused to allow regular mobile payments (i.e. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) for their credit cards. Since 2019, more and more banks have started enabling regular mobile payments, so it's going to be interesting to see where that leaves Twint (I've never used it, so I have no idea what reasons one would have to use it over NFC payments, other than lack of support by one's card provider). https://www.moneyland.ch/en/apple-pay-google-pay-swiss-banks-2020 https://www.moneyland.ch/en/apple-pay-google-pay-swiss-banks...

sschueller 5y ago
Twint has one advantage over cards and that is online payments. It is so quick and easy to scan a code and pay than entering credit card details. Yes, I know apple pay can do things like that but I still need a credit card in that case. Twint lets me pay directly out of my bank account or even via prepaid Twint. The biggest "scam" going on now is the banks specifically Visa pushing their garbage Debit card. For users it seems great as it's cheaper no fee thing, however for vendors it is a nightmare. The fees are astronomical over regular credit cards yet they have to accept them if they want to accept Visa's credit card. Visa found another legal loop hole they can milk and they are going all the way.
- microtherion 5y ago
  I'd argue that for the customer, Apple Pay is about as quick and easy as it gets. Obtaining a credit card is a one time inconvenience. The potential fees involved would be more of a concern for the vendors, it seems to me. Are you saying that Visa debit cards have higher fees than their credit cards? My understanding was that usually it's the other way around.
  - sschueller 5y ago
    Twint has no fees for the customer and you can send each other money as well. The Vendor pays around 2% Visa has higher fees not for the customer but for the vendors. It's specifically a problem in Switzerland where the "Maestro" bank cards are being replaced with Visa Debit which is being pushed by the banks. The benefit for the custom is they can use those visa cards online but the fees at the store for the vendor are up to 260 times higher. [1] [1] https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/neue-debitkarten-visa-und-mastercard-schroepfen-kmu-betriebe https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/neue-debitkarten-visa-und-ma...
    - microtherion 5y ago
      From the article, it appears like Maestro had a fixed fee, while Visa has a percentage of the transaction amount. Visa claims that small transactions might be getting a bit cheaper, but for big ticket items, the transaction obviously is considerably more expensive.

sschueller 5y ago

Twint has one advantage over cards and that is online payments. It is so quick and easy to scan a code and pay than entering credit card details. Yes, I know apple pay can do things like that but I still need a credit card in that case. Twint lets me pay directly out of my bank account or even via prepaid Twint. The biggest "scam" going on now is the banks specifically Visa pushing their garbage Debit card. For users it seems great as it's cheaper no fee thing, however for vendors it is a nightmare. The fees are astronomical over regular credit cards yet they have to accept them if they want to accept Visa's credit card. Visa found another legal loop hole they can milk and they are going all the way.

microtherion 5y ago
I'd argue that for the customer, Apple Pay is about as quick and easy as it gets. Obtaining a credit card is a one time inconvenience. The potential fees involved would be more of a concern for the vendors, it seems to me. Are you saying that Visa debit cards have higher fees than their credit cards? My understanding was that usually it's the other way around.
- sschueller 5y ago
  Twint has no fees for the customer and you can send each other money as well. The Vendor pays around 2% Visa has higher fees not for the customer but for the vendors. It's specifically a problem in Switzerland where the "Maestro" bank cards are being replaced with Visa Debit which is being pushed by the banks. The benefit for the custom is they can use those visa cards online but the fees at the store for the vendor are up to 260 times higher. [1] [1] https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/neue-debitkarten-visa-und-mastercard-schroepfen-kmu-betriebe https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/neue-debitkarten-visa-und-ma...
  - microtherion 5y ago
    From the article, it appears like Maestro had a fixed fee, while Visa has a percentage of the transaction amount. Visa claims that small transactions might be getting a bit cheaper, but for big ticket items, the transaction obviously is considerably more expensive.