Denmark has a standardized national debit card. Physical stores are not allowed to charge a fee, but online stores are (typically DKK1.50/$0.25). Works great, but obviously only for stores in Denmark. They are almost always combined with a Visa debit card on the same card for a yearly fee (typically DKK150/$25).
Downside of this as a tourist/visitor in Denmark at least some smaller shops force you to pay with cash since they don’t accept visa/mastercard but only the national debit card. Just a minor annoyance at least as a Swede since we don’t usually carry cash these days.
Why? There's a real cost associated with running the cards. In the US, that's paid by selling your data, by the percentages the merchants pay (which in turn is paid by everyone, even those customers paying cash) and by the extreme fees for not paying your bill on time.
If all these consumer-unfriendly practices are banned, you see the real cost of such cards. Same happens for many customers in Germany: pay 10€/month for a bank account with included VISA/MasterCard, pay 30€-60€/year for such a card, or use only a national card.
Funny how Europeans consider anything that they have to pay for a "real cost" that's justified.
What are your thoughts on ATM fees? Is there a "real cost" to maintaining ATM fees? Should it be passed to the consumer? Or is it an unfriendly consumer practice that Europe has rightfully "banned" (aka not common)? It seems to me they're just charging you another way by selling your data or whatever!
How much do Europeans pay for Whatsapp, by the way?
Also, can you share the European law that bans merchants paying a percentage for financial transactions to the payment processor? I'm unfamiliar with it, and am also curious to understand how Visa and Mastercard exist at all in Europe given the banning of this consumer-unfriendly practice.
> How much do Europeans pay for Whatsapp, by the way?
If I had my way, the 1€/year fee would be back ;)
> What are your thoughts on ATM fees?
I hate them, but I can understand why they exist and are still legal to this date (although it is inconvenient having to find an ATM that has a contract with my bank).
> Also, can you share the European law that bans merchants paying a percentage for financial transactions to the payment processor?
It’s limited to 0.2%, which is why the card companies have been asking customers to pay a monthly cost for the cards instead.
