As a US-ian I feel exactly that way when using a debit card.

A credit card, if misused, can run up your balance and then you dispute, and don't pay anything until it's resolved. A debit card, if misused, can drain your account and leave you penniless until it's resolved.

Pretty much all of the EU had Visa- and Mastercard-branded debit cards since the turn of the millennium, so one has been able to buy stuff from the net and travel abroad without use of a credit card for decades now.

Germany is very debit-card oriented (with no interest of switching). The Netherlands seems similar. Eastern Europe and the Balkans are also mostly debit-card oriented, but people seem more open to switching to credit cards (if they can get one - especially the younger generation).

Ireland and the U.K. seem much more credit-card oriented than rest of Europe. Turkey is also very CC oriented (kinda strange - was not expecting that).

India has about a billion debit cards, but people mostly use them for ATM cash withdrawals, if that (banks used to give them by default during account opening, but have stopped this since UPI came into the picture). Only a single-digit percentage of people use credit cards, but they use them often and for relatively high-value transactions. The rewards game in the credit card space is slowly but surely reaching US levels, and they are associated more with stability and credit-worthiness since banks don't hand them out like candy, and India is, until recently, a debt-averse nation to revolve balances.

Mostly people use UPI, which is equivalent to debit cards given that amounts go directly from one bank to another. But UPI also supports some credit cards and lines, so there's that.

A lot of people in the UK use credit cards for the extra legal protections, and for cash back and reward schemes.

The UK has pay by bank, which is very like digital cash, and can be used online, but its much less used than cards are.

You are of course free to extrapolate your experience from a single European country to the whole continent, but it's still not a coherent argument for or against anything.

I don't think anywhere does. In general, cards in Europe don't really give significant rewards (because interchange, paid ultimately by the merchant, is capped at 0.3%, whereas in the US it can be upwards of 3% for certain high-end cards). The only reason that people who don't need the credit line use them in the US is the rewards schemes.

That's not what GP said. They claimed that "everyone" in Europe uses debit cards, and that's just not true.

For what? Credit cards existing in Europe and having more than zero users? I trust that Google will serve you well if you really don't believe me.

Can't go into debt if you don't have a line of credit.

> The main difference between credit cards in Europe and in the US is that poor people can't get them here.

Nah, really the main difference is that the EU caps interchange (paid ultimately by the merchant) at 0.3%, whereas it can be upwards of 3% in the US for high-end cards. Without big interchange earnings, there's little reason for issuers to push credit cards, and they're less attractive to consumers (interchange pays for 'reward' schemes).

I was denied credit card after changing jobs. I did have some student debt, but small amount on small payment and rates were low. Also had other credit card but not high limit. Nothing in negative credit history.

Did get the same card a few months later after probationary period. But yeah even without significant existing debt you can get denied in Europe.

Let's not pretend that predatory lending is not a thing in at least some EU countries as well, just because it takes other forms (installment payments, buy now pay later etc.), but as a general trend, I'd agree that it's much less common.

I did

Among the middle and higher as well.

I've heard stories like "fine, we'll take your debit card, but only if you also pay a non-reimboursable $$$ deposit in cash" for car rental. (Mostly in central/eastern Europe.)

(From what I was told, the thing in favor of a credit card is that the rental agency can put a hold on the security deposit for much longer than on a debit card: a few weeks vs a few days).

Custom in Europe - where debit cards are the most common - is to settle the hotel bill on check-in.

Obviously. Because why would a rental company turn down > 90% of the customers?

Switch merged with Maestro, which was owned by Mastercard, to become Switch-Maestro, which eventually became Mastercard Debit.

we dont in spain, we call it "tarjeta de debito" and "tarjeta de credito" or just "la tarjeta" or the card.

The legislation has been in the works for years now (not fully approved just yet). It’s why many US banks all are trying to get around issuers any way possible now.

https://www.redbridgedta.com/us/market-intelligence/the-visa...

I am admittedly having trouble finding where I’ve seen it brought up, but some online forums I lurk on for finance have had stories of people being denied from using specifically Visa Infinite branded credit cards. There’s also been stories of businesses not accepting Chase cards flat out, which I assume is to also curb the higher costs they incur from the premium Chase cards.

Europe has long had laws in place that have hard caps set at 0.3% and 0.2% respectively for credit or debit cards. The US has been milking this with uncapped 3.0%+ fees, which is why the credit cards there drive so much profit - at the expense of every business owner.