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> the service requires you to use a credit card to buy it. Incorrect. This is Europe and direct payment is the norm. Edit: the downvoters never heard of Sofor

> the service requires you to use a credit card to buy it. Incorrect. This is Europe and direct payment is the norm. Edit: the downvoters never heard of Sofort, Bancontact and iDeal. Here's Starlink accepting Sofort: https://hackmd.io/So0zZS9DS9OCKOzWA7RALw https://hackmd.io/So0zZS9DS9OCKOzWA7RALw

shafyy 4y ago
For buying stuff online? In which EU country is this supposed to be the norm?
- noAnswer 4y ago
  DE
  - shafyy 4y ago
    I live in DE, and I haven't come across any merchant where there wasn't at least a PayPal option to pay. I know that many people in DE still "distrust" credit cards, but I wouldn't say IBAN payment in e-commerce is the norm.
- morelisp 4y ago
  Sofort is common, as the name might suggest, in DE (and I hear also AT). Weirdly a lot of people don't know it's a private company, assuming it's a service offered by their bank. I guess because the name is so generic. I would never pay for anything with it.
- obscurette 4y ago
  In Baltic states and Finland it has been norm for many years. https://makecommerce.net/service/bank-link/ https://makecommerce.net/service/bank-link/
LtWorf 4y ago
> This is Europe and direct payment is the norm. I've been born and lived in EU all my life and the most common way to pay online is with credit card. Most websites do not accept much else. Some more traditional companies do accept direct transfers.
FeepingCreature 4y ago
German here, can confirm, basically nobody has a credit card, and all the big online services take non-credit payment now.
- morelisp 4y ago
  German CC ownership is something like 33%. It's low compared to similar economies but it's hardly "nobody" and nobody is surprised when an online store only supports CC payments. (Also, German companies that want to offer CC-less payments on items this large and with a subscription cost probably most commonly also support actual bank transfers.)
  - FeepingCreature 4y ago
    I can't find a good primary source for that stat. Got a link?
    - morelisp 4y ago
      https://www.bundesbank.de/en/publications/reports/studies/payment-behaviour-in-germany-in-2021-894118 https://www.bundesbank.de/en/publications/reports/studies/pa... says it's actually up to 54% (including prepaid, 7%) in 2021. What I would say is most unusual in Germany is the number of stores that don't take CCs, or even don't take any cards. People don't use them, but they have them.
      - FeepingCreature 4y ago
        Thanks a bunch! I definitely underestimated the amount. Important to note that 80% of those are what the study calls "charge cards", which is 'credit cards' that resolve against an associated debit account. Not sure if those even allow overdrawing it. And 82% prefer paying with a debit card rather than credit if given the option, which indicates to me that this is a mere reaction to the online prevalence of credit cards which will go down as stores offer more non-credit card options. (As we can see by the slight reduction in '21.) In other words, I believe this prevalence represents a desire to be able to interface with websites, rather than a desire for credit. People largely don't own a "credit card" so much as a "debit-VISA adapter."

shafyy 4y ago

For buying stuff online? In which EU country is this supposed to be the norm?

noAnswer 4y ago
DE
- shafyy 4y ago
  I live in DE, and I haven't come across any merchant where there wasn't at least a PayPal option to pay. I know that many people in DE still "distrust" credit cards, but I wouldn't say IBAN payment in e-commerce is the norm.
morelisp 4y ago
Sofort is common, as the name might suggest, in DE (and I hear also AT). Weirdly a lot of people don't know it's a private company, assuming it's a service offered by their bank. I guess because the name is so generic. I would never pay for anything with it.
obscurette 4y ago
In Baltic states and Finland it has been norm for many years. https://makecommerce.net/service/bank-link/ https://makecommerce.net/service/bank-link/

LtWorf 4y ago

> This is Europe and direct payment is the norm. I've been born and lived in EU all my life and the most common way to pay online is with credit card. Most websites do not accept much else. Some more traditional companies do accept direct transfers.

FeepingCreature 4y ago

German here, can confirm, basically nobody has a credit card, and all the big online services take non-credit payment now.

morelisp 4y ago
German CC ownership is something like 33%. It's low compared to similar economies but it's hardly "nobody" and nobody is surprised when an online store only supports CC payments. (Also, German companies that want to offer CC-less payments on items this large and with a subscription cost probably most commonly also support actual bank transfers.)
- FeepingCreature 4y ago
  I can't find a good primary source for that stat. Got a link?
  - morelisp 4y ago
    https://www.bundesbank.de/en/publications/reports/studies/payment-behaviour-in-germany-in-2021-894118 https://www.bundesbank.de/en/publications/reports/studies/pa... says it's actually up to 54% (including prepaid, 7%) in 2021. What I would say is most unusual in Germany is the number of stores that don't take CCs, or even don't take any cards. People don't use them, but they have them.
    - FeepingCreature 4y ago
      Thanks a bunch! I definitely underestimated the amount. Important to note that 80% of those are what the study calls "charge cards", which is 'credit cards' that resolve against an associated debit account. Not sure if those even allow overdrawing it. And 82% prefer paying with a debit card rather than credit if given the option, which indicates to me that this is a mere reaction to the online prevalence of credit cards which will go down as stores offer more non-credit card options. (As we can see by the slight reduction in '21.) In other words, I believe this prevalence represents a desire to be able to interface with websites, rather than a desire for credit. People largely don't own a "credit card" so much as a "debit-VISA adapter."