AFAIK, currently all debit cards are US-based. Mastercard - US based, VISA - US based. We used to have girocard in Germany, but it’s being phased out by most banks in favor of one of the US solutions. There used to be the EC system but as I understand it, it’s gone for a while now.
Do we currently have any card-based European payment solutions? How much money do we actually give to the US just for the luxury of being able to pay by card?
It is called Wero and it’s coming.
Portugal, Spain and Italy are also making their own payment system. As an user of the Portuguese interbank payment system I feel it has a lot more well established features compared to other countries. https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/45054/european-mobile-payment-operators-enable-interoperability
Here for a few already.
In Norway we have BankAxept. Debit cards issued by Norwegian banks have BankAxept and an international system like Visa or Mastercard. Basically all domestic debit card payments are via BankAxept. It costs less for the stores, because the fees are lower. And it costs less for society, because the money isn’t just transferred abroad. As far as I know, the same applies to Vipps (our mobile payment solution).
Do these us solutions actually affect us as long as we’re only doing regular SEPA payments?
I have literally no idea, it would be great if someone more knowledgeable could enlighten me. All I see is the logo on my banking card and the card payment thingy so my guess is they somehow get paid?
What I do know however that they get money for the “Bezahlkarten” that Germany introduces in order to strip refugees of their bank accounts and the ability to make bank transfers as they please (among other reasons).
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Not yet. We need to hang in until wero and others work internationally.
Is there a Google/Apple Pay alternative as well? Most people I know in EU hardly even go out with a wallet any longer.
Only Samsung pay for now, nothing European yet.
Some banks like Sparda Bank, Sparkasse and VR in Germany have their own app at least on android as far as I know. And the EU forced Apple to open its ecosystem to other apps.
Do we currently have any card-based European payment solutions?
Yes: Russia, a European country, has their own system
