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That is literally the easiest inclusive way that works beyond a single country's borders. Easier for me would be iDeal, but that's not easier for you unless you

by Aachen 4y ago

That is literally the easiest inclusive way that works beyond a single country's borders. Easier for me would be iDeal, but that's not easier for you unless you're also Dutch. Easier for people in the USA might be credit cards, but those are issued only if you have a credit rating at all and the rating is good (I don't meet the former condition so bank said no), and surely transferring money from anywhere in the world to an IBAN got to be common enough that it's doable and cheap/free in any country with decent payment infrastructure?

cinntaile 4y ago
It doesn't have to be the only way. Add a Stripe, Klarna, Adyen, Paypal... option and you lower the barriers even more.
- Aachen 4y ago
  As a single system, though, it beats all of them. My mom doesn't have a paypal but she sure has a bank account. More options is always better, especially if you are happy to swallow exorbitant fees from the various systems, but I can very well see why they chose SEPA as primary payment method. I often wish more websites supported it: I don't want to pay more middle men, accept more privacy policies, deal with more crappy websites that break every few months when using an ad blocker, etc. when I'm already paying for a bank account where I can just send money from.
smlavine 4y ago
> Easier for people in the USA might be credit cards, but those are issued only if you have a credit rating at all and the rating is good Debit cards are effectively the same as credit cards for this purpose, paying for things online. Many (if not most) banks and credit unions in the USA will issue you a free debit card upon opening an account, some without even needing to put any money into the account.
int_19h 4y ago
In US, if you have no credit score or a poor credit score, you can still get a credit card by making a collateral deposit with the bank (usually they expect it to be 2x your expected credit limit). And transferring money to random bank accounts outside of the country is rather messy in US. Some banks won't even let you do it online.
- Aachen 4y ago
  Interesting, I didn't know that was a thing. I offered this when I couldn't get a credit card, but no dice. Didn't know this was a common solution elsewhere. I figured they didn't want to deal with custom solutions for uncommon cases like foreigners with no credit score wanting a debit card that has a credit number (essentially, that number is all I want, I don't need a loan/credit at all). Maybe it's not a thing here because a credit card is not as common or necessary.
dividedbyzero 4y ago
Credit card would also be a big issue for German users, even in tech. I know a bunch of people who don't have one, as they aren't accepted in most places within Germany anyway, no idea how they make it work when travelling though. I guess for German users Paypal would be best, that seems to be the most widespread solution.

by Aachen 4y ago

cinntaile 4y ago

It doesn't have to be the only way. Add a Stripe, Klarna, Adyen, Paypal... option and you lower the barriers even more.

Aachen 4y ago
As a single system, though, it beats all of them. My mom doesn't have a paypal but she sure has a bank account. More options is always better, especially if you are happy to swallow exorbitant fees from the various systems, but I can very well see why they chose SEPA as primary payment method. I often wish more websites supported it: I don't want to pay more middle men, accept more privacy policies, deal with more crappy websites that break every few months when using an ad blocker, etc. when I'm already paying for a bank account where I can just send money from.

smlavine 4y ago

> Easier for people in the USA might be credit cards, but those are issued only if you have a credit rating at all and the rating is good Debit cards are effectively the same as credit cards for this purpose, paying for things online. Many (if not most) banks and credit unions in the USA will issue you a free debit card upon opening an account, some without even needing to put any money into the account.

int_19h 4y ago

In US, if you have no credit score or a poor credit score, you can still get a credit card by making a collateral deposit with the bank (usually they expect it to be 2x your expected credit limit). And transferring money to random bank accounts outside of the country is rather messy in US. Some banks won't even let you do it online.

Aachen 4y ago
Interesting, I didn't know that was a thing. I offered this when I couldn't get a credit card, but no dice. Didn't know this was a common solution elsewhere. I figured they didn't want to deal with custom solutions for uncommon cases like foreigners with no credit score wanting a debit card that has a credit number (essentially, that number is all I want, I don't need a loan/credit at all). Maybe it's not a thing here because a credit card is not as common or necessary.

dividedbyzero 4y ago

Credit card would also be a big issue for German users, even in tech. I know a bunch of people who don't have one, as they aren't accepted in most places within Germany anyway, no idea how they make it work when travelling though. I guess for German users Paypal would be best, that seems to be the most widespread solution.