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Quite the opposite in the UK, at least over the last 10 years or so. 99% of debit cards are Visa, and most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit

Quite the opposite in the UK, at least over the last 10 years or so. 99% of debit cards are Visa, and most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit card, folks only really use credit cards for large purchases and things like travel, here. Even when it comes to credit cards, I would say Mastercard has like a large chunk - like 80% in terms of institutions (but who knows in terms of actual customers), I would say. Barclays and HSBC are the only majors that do Visa as far as I know. And Vanquis which is a junky one for people with bad credit. The other majors like Lloyds, TSB, Bank Of Scotland, Halifax, Natwest, RBS, are all Mastercard. Same with most smaller banks like Virgin and CapitalOne, and store branded ones like Sainsburys/M&S/Tesco, too, as well as the remainder of the popular bad-credit cards like Ocean, and Aqua. Mastercard.

chrisseaton 5y ago
> folks only really use credit cards for large purchases and things like travel, here This is delusional - the British have as many credit cards as people, £56.5 billion on credit cards, and 40% of credit card transactions were contactless, so certainly not large purchases.
barrkel 5y ago
You're right, my perception was influenced by how many of my cards are debit cards or debit-like (i.e. prepay of some kind). When those switched issuer over the years, it was always Mastercard -> Visa.
te_chris 5y ago
We put all our purchases on credit cards here in the UK (London) - but pay them off monthly. Amex Gold and Barclays Platinum Visa (it has 0 overseas fees, but a bit of a stingy limit. mostly just used where Amex isn't accpeted). Amazon lets you spend Amex points, so guessing the tie up runs deep. Best not to read into fights between gods.
- kinnth 5y ago
  100% I pay for almost everything on AMEX to get the points and use Monzo debit for the rest. Amazon has my amex linked and I use it for 100% of purchases. Most people in the uk chase points and credit cards have much better points and bonus' than debits.
mrec 5y ago
> most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit card, folks only really use credit cards for large purchases Huh? I'm in the UK, have been an Amazon customer for over 20 years and have always used a credit card for everything. I didn't even know you could use a debit card, and can't see any reason you'd want to. Paid off in full every month, better consumer protection, what's not to like?
- jdiez17 5y ago
  > what's not to like? Well, the predatory business model, for one. The reason your credit card company can offer you "better consumer protection" and other benefits is because they count on a percentage of people not paying off their debt in time (and thus making more money out of them). Also, I personally wouldn't want "better consumer protection" to be mediated by a private company. That should just be the default.
  - ericd 5y ago
    It's not necessarily predatory, so much as they take a couple percent of everything that flows through them. Also, they don't take the hit on chargebacks, the merchant does. Those two things cover purchase protection just fine without relying on people getting hit with high interest rates.
    - iampims 5y ago
      And merchant add 2% to their base price which amounts to everyone not using a credit card “subsidizing” the benefits to all credit card users.
      - robjan 5y ago
        The cost of handling cash is similar to handling a credit card transaction
        Symbiote 5y ago
dazc 5y ago
I use my credit card for most stuff. 1)I get reward points 2)I get better consumer protection.
jl6 5y ago
Here's some data: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data/cards/card-spending https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data/cards/ca... £16.9bn on credit, £61bn on debit. I suspect credit card spending is much more popular than you are suggesting due to consumer credit act protections and cashback offers.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  A huge number of replies arguing from personal experience, while the single comment providing data from a primary source is ignored. Come on, Hacker News. You are supposed to be better than this — repeated discussions with the same "but in Europe" "I've do X so Y doesn't happen" comments is why I stopped reading Slashdot. I've downvoted several anecdotes in this discussion. They contribute nothing to the discussion.
mattowen_uk 5y ago
NatWest have recently informed me that my Visa Debit card will be changing over to Mastercard Debit at the end of the year. Feels like a lot of places are shunning Visa at the moment. Other than getting a new card number (which some could say is a GOOD thing) switching from Visa to Mastercard in the UK has hardly any impact as 99% of places accept both.
BitterAmethyst 5y ago
Nationwide's credit cards use Visa.
libeclipse 5y ago
Most of your comment is simply not true
tim333 5y ago
>99% of debit cards are Visa [in the UK] Not quite that bad. In 2019 it was 82% visa 17% mc and since there has been a move towards mastercard. My main bank, FirstDirect switched my debit card over this year. I also use Wise which is also with mastercard.
ricardobayes 5y ago
Vanquis also for immigrants and people fresh to the UK. As an EU national I remember being the unbanked pariah who had to pitch around 20 high street banks to open an account. Then to open a business account was even harder, actually similar difficulty to getting an investment. This was way before Revolut or Transferwise, it's a non-issue now.

chrisseaton 5y ago

> folks only really use credit cards for large purchases and things like travel, here This is delusional - the British have as many credit cards as people, £56.5 billion on credit cards, and 40% of credit card transactions were contactless, so certainly not large purchases.

barrkel 5y ago

You're right, my perception was influenced by how many of my cards are debit cards or debit-like (i.e. prepay of some kind). When those switched issuer over the years, it was always Mastercard -> Visa.

te_chris 5y ago

We put all our purchases on credit cards here in the UK (London) - but pay them off monthly. Amex Gold and Barclays Platinum Visa (it has 0 overseas fees, but a bit of a stingy limit. mostly just used where Amex isn't accpeted). Amazon lets you spend Amex points, so guessing the tie up runs deep. Best not to read into fights between gods.

kinnth 5y ago
100% I pay for almost everything on AMEX to get the points and use Monzo debit for the rest. Amazon has my amex linked and I use it for 100% of purchases. Most people in the uk chase points and credit cards have much better points and bonus' than debits.

mrec 5y ago

> most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit card, folks only really use credit cards for large purchases Huh? I'm in the UK, have been an Amazon customer for over 20 years and have always used a credit card for everything. I didn't even know you could use a debit card, and can't see any reason you'd want to. Paid off in full every month, better consumer protection, what's not to like?

jdiez17 5y ago
> what's not to like? Well, the predatory business model, for one. The reason your credit card company can offer you "better consumer protection" and other benefits is because they count on a percentage of people not paying off their debt in time (and thus making more money out of them). Also, I personally wouldn't want "better consumer protection" to be mediated by a private company. That should just be the default.
- ericd 5y ago
  It's not necessarily predatory, so much as they take a couple percent of everything that flows through them. Also, they don't take the hit on chargebacks, the merchant does. Those two things cover purchase protection just fine without relying on people getting hit with high interest rates.
  - iampims 5y ago
    And merchant add 2% to their base price which amounts to everyone not using a credit card “subsidizing” the benefits to all credit card users.
    - robjan 5y ago
      The cost of handling cash is similar to handling a credit card transaction
      - Symbiote 5y ago

dazc 5y ago

I use my credit card for most stuff. 1)I get reward points 2)I get better consumer protection.

jl6 5y ago

Here's some data: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data/cards/card-spending https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data/cards/ca... £16.9bn on credit, £61bn on debit. I suspect credit card spending is much more popular than you are suggesting due to consumer credit act protections and cashback offers.

Symbiote 5y ago
A huge number of replies arguing from personal experience, while the single comment providing data from a primary source is ignored. Come on, Hacker News. You are supposed to be better than this — repeated discussions with the same "but in Europe" "I've do X so Y doesn't happen" comments is why I stopped reading Slashdot. I've downvoted several anecdotes in this discussion. They contribute nothing to the discussion.

mattowen_uk 5y ago

NatWest have recently informed me that my Visa Debit card will be changing over to Mastercard Debit at the end of the year. Feels like a lot of places are shunning Visa at the moment. Other than getting a new card number (which some could say is a GOOD thing) switching from Visa to Mastercard in the UK has hardly any impact as 99% of places accept both.

BitterAmethyst 5y ago

Nationwide's credit cards use Visa.

libeclipse 5y ago

Most of your comment is simply not true

tim333 5y ago

>99% of debit cards are Visa [in the UK] Not quite that bad. In 2019 it was 82% visa 17% mc and since there has been a move towards mastercard. My main bank, FirstDirect switched my debit card over this year. I also use Wise which is also with mastercard.

ricardobayes 5y ago

Vanquis also for immigrants and people fresh to the UK. As an EU national I remember being the unbanked pariah who had to pitch around 20 high street banks to open an account. Then to open a business account was even harder, actually similar difficulty to getting an investment. This was way before Revolut or Transferwise, it's a non-issue now.