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0 pointsfuryg314y ago0 comments

As an American who moved to the Netherlands, I can vouch for this. My fellow countrymen don't know what they're missing:

* There are no ATM fees levied by another bank's ATMs.

* There are no ATM fees levied by your bank for using another bank's ATMs.

* There are no fees or minimum transactions for using your debit card at a business.

* You are allowed to overdraft, you just pay an interest rate to the bank for the money you owe (mine is 10%, up to €2,500).

* There are no bounced check fees, because:

* There are no checks. Non-debit card transactions are done via online banking, are free, and usually instantaneous.

* All banks use 2-step authentication (phishing is nearly impossible).

I was confronted by the joke of US banking again recently when I had to mail someone in the US a check, which they lost, found 6 months later and cashed... generating an overdraft fee in my US account.

Totally unnecessary.

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8 comments · 3 top-level

joelhaasnoot14y ago· 4 in thread

"There are no fees or minimum transactions for using your debit card at a business." isn't always true. For (small) business with not enough transactions, accepting debit cards is an expense, and below 10 euros they often charge 0.25. Nothing major though.

And the big downside to all of the above? Credit card acceptance is very very low. Tourists can only purchase train tickets by credit card at Schiphol Airport. Everywhere else the option is disabled due to fraud issues.

furyg3OP14y ago

About the charges, you're correct. I originally thought that this practice was a violation of the merchant's agreement... but I was wrong: http://www.pin.nl/en-US/Zakelijk/Pages/Veelgesteldevragen.as...

Still, it occurs infrequently.

About the credit card acceptance: Good! Most Dutch people have a healthy and rational fear of credit card debt, and the fact that you can't use your Visa to buy groceries encourages good consumer behavior.

Sad if you're a tourist, but easily solved by taking out some cash from the ATM which, on this side at least, is free! :)

rmc14y ago

For (small) business with not enough transactions, accepting debit cards is an expense

Here in Ireland it's not uncommon for shops to insist on cash only for amounts less than €10 (except in some extrenuation circumstances (like the ATM in their shop being broken)).

Credit card acceptance is very very low.

That has definitly not been my experience. Perhaps you are thinking of chip-and-pin credit cards. Here in Ireland (& IME UK), credit cards are accepted in many, many point of sales/retailers. But they might only accept chip and pin credit cards, which I believe are uncommon the USA.

joelhaasnoot14y ago

In the Netherlands very few stores accept credit cards, most accept just the dutch "PIN" and "Maestro" (=EMV). Not many people in the Netherlands have a credit card.

Vice-versa however, I was able to pay at WalMarts in the US with my Dutch debit card with no issues (once I hit the right button, it's confusing).

wlievens14y ago

Most stores and restaurants acecpt VISA in Belgium, and our banking system works as described above.

beseku14y ago· 1 in thread

Exactly this - the UK banks tried to move closer to their US cousins a number of times, but each time consumers managed to stop a lot of these charges becoming commonplace, particularly with regard to charges or ATM fees.

If you want a really convoluted banking system, try Japan. Its not that you get charged for using another bank's machine, you just can't, with the ned result being that you are always on the hunt for the convenience store that contains your banks machine. My bank also offers no automated payments, and entering payment details is a sea of impenetrable numbers.

yardie14y ago

Speaking of UK banks. I had the unfortunate privilege of having to use one. My salary wasn't posted on time but all the scheduled drafts went through. A few were rejected and not only did they hit me with the overdraft fee, they also hit me with an additional fee of mailing me a letter saying they were rejected. 3 of them to the tune of 20£ each.

I believe the UK consumer watchdog organization took them to court over this and I had some of it refunded. Later, they emailed me that due to this ruling they were raising monthly account fees for everyone.

ugh14y ago

It’s not the same everywhere, though. In Germany the fees for using another bank’s ATM are quite high. I think the average is something like 5€ or so.

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