And the idea would be to have something even my grandma can use, not some nerdy solution, any thoughts?
Use cash
A sensible stopgap solution, but doesn't really work for big purchases or online shopping.
For big purchases it doesn't, indeed. But for online shopping, would it work if you select payment on delivery at checkout, maybe?
China has UnionPay, Japan has JCB, Russia has MIR. Europe should have its own credit card network
"EUROCARD"
Sounds nice as well
Make it blue with stars on it and the globe displaying a space picture of earth with europe
@EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu let's make this happen, mkay?
Wero will become the replacement over time.
But for now, you're stuck with Visa and Mastercard if your country doesn't have a local alternative.
Just get the cheapest option.
Wero can win if the banks offer it with no additional cost to stores and, and this ia crucial, it offers credit and the blocking of funds for stuff like car rentals.
It needs to be as easy a visa/MasterCard and cheaper / easier to run with the same features. I have hope, but that is a tough order.
Have you looked into American Express?
oh shit, nevermind.
Clearly Discover is the solution. Oh wait, that's not an option either.
Discover network is up for sale. Capital One is trying to grab it. But if that doesnโt go through, a Canadian or European bank could try bidding for it.
Bitcoin uses way to much energy to use as currency like that. gridcoin or any other one that uses proof of stake would be better if accepted but its a bit nicer if the energy put into it results in a useful product which gridcoin does.
How does production of physical cash and movement of money between accounts compare to crypto?
creation of physical cash's cost are not inflated and get changed based on cost and necessity. Using cheaper materials to reduce cost but adding advanced elements which increase cost. Again though it does not have an artificial inflation mechanic causing it to use more energy over time and is just based on method and materials. A big thing in this is how long it functions. coins cost more than paper mostly but one thing people don't take into account is how long they last versus paper. So you typically see things about a penny costing more than a penny but whats not taken into account is that it is least lasting coin at 25 years while most paper under 50s last less than 10 years but longer lasting denominations are usually used less. It comes down to how much value physical money gets in its lifetime vs its cost to make. So you add up every transaction and average out the value for a particular currency type. Movement is done in the real world so its a bit apples to oranges. It does not require anything necessarily. If all computers and electricity. So its going to vary greatly if I give my brother a fiver for grabbing his oj than if I go deposit it at a bank to if I buy from a retalier to if I foolishly mailed it directly. I don't think physical money can be compared to much of any electronic equivalents honestly. That is in the realm of folks that believe in cashless system to ones who want some ability to have the physical ability.
A local debit card is your best bet
Maestro is part of MasterCard.
TIL Maestro still exists
Those still go through the bank card system.
Use cash.
How do you pay cash online?
And I donโt think the banking system is evil and should be destroyed, I just want the EU to be strong and independant, have tech and finance sovreinty
Online you pay by bank transfer. Instead of "credit card", I choose "online bank", click my bank's name, enter my online banking login and password, give one of the single-use codes and press "transfer". A bank transfer from my account to the bank account number defined by the shop is made, no money goes to USA.
Are these instant transfers if they're not using VISA?
On working days before 16 o'clock bank transfers inside EU are instantaneous. After that, next working day. If the shop has the same bank as the customer, it's always instantaneous.
But, the shop receives immediate confirmation that the money has been successfully taken from the customer's account and will arrive soon.
...which is actually how it works with card payments as well. With card payments, the shop receives the money about a week later, but gets an immediate confirmation that the money is on the way.
In Canada we have Interac. Works great.
In Italy we use satispay
Isnโt PagoBANCOMAT a good solution too?
Just use cash.
I get that it can be a hassle to carry around, but it's the only "real" alternative if you want to keep third party companies from profiling you based on your spending habits and selling that personal info to advertisers.
That's not an option for a lot of countries that are going cashless. In Netherlands (we have our own payment service) a lot of merchants are cashless.
"Going cashless" is a scam designed to rake in payment processing fees from an entire economy. Cash is the enemy to these companies because it's a form of payment they can't profit from.
If it isn't an option, then you should refuse to do business as much as possible. Take your money out of their hands.
This might not help you OP, but alternative to VISA and Mastercard is UPI. India and some south east asian countries use that for transactions rapidly. Also India also built Rupay (not the currency) to break visa and mastercards duopoly.
For any purchase made with a credit or debit cards and you give them 2-3% of your money.
I'm not sure I understand this. The stores would be the ones to pay this fee, no? Not you with your money. The price of some item doesn't change depending on whether you use cash or a debit or credit card. Not usually anyway, maybe a small local shop has done this to me once or twice in my life. Or maybe a fair stand or something.
If we wanted to stop giving Mastercard and Visa "our" money, we would have to all band together as a world community and boycott them. ๐ฌ
Please someone correct me if I'm wrong!
Edit: I mean, yes, of course the price of those small transactions are included in the price of the item. So we are all "paying" Mastercard and Visa money, even those who aren't using them. Which is still to my point that we need to all band together as a world community to boycott them, which seems futile in all honesty.
While the shop pays the fee, the fee is priced in and still the money ends up going to the card company based on your purchase.
We had this topic a lot with the tariffs recently. Yes technically the tariffs are paid by the importer or exporter. Doesn't change the fact that they end up being part of the consumer price (which is one of the purposes of tariffs)
Yes you're correct.
However, those costs are ultimately passed to you, as higher prices are the only 'trickle' that consumers will receive.
You are absolutely correct
Now I just prefer my (or the store's money if you prefer) to recycle in the EU. We need it.
We do indeed. Although not gonna lie, Americans are also cash strapped. But Mastercard and Visa definitely don't need more money!
If you donโt need a credit card, donโt get one.
If you have one, cancel it and use a bank card. If you canโt do that, pay off your debts then do that.
A lot of people suck with money because the idea of going into debt, taking loans, and paying interest is normal and sometimes good to them but really Itโs weird and should be avoided for the sake of harmony.
itโs not about credit cards at all debit cards are also made by visa and mastercard
my point is: everytime you pay with something else than cash, you give money to the USA (arround 2% of your purchase)
What about just old school cash?
Can't order anything online with cash. ๐ฉ
Pay at delivery is a thing in many online stores
I've never heard of that. Can you name one? In Europe?
Most online stores in Poland have cash on delivery as an option. Here's a brand you may know https://pomoc.mediamarkt.pl/app/answers/detail/a_id/20333/~/p%C5%82atno%C5%9B%C4%87-za-pobraniem
The lower limit they have is not common.
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