| In the US a debit card is free and standard for any checking or savings account. It's functionally the same, yes, in the sense they are just plastic cards that perform transactions, but as I mentioned in my post there's a big difference in the financial impact. I won't pretend to know the rules, regulations, etc in Europe for credit cards, but when I traveled there I used my cards for everything and only had a problem once with CaptaineTrain booking a train ticket. With one of my cards I get 3% cash back on dining. So while I'm traveling throughout Europe I'm getting 3% off every meal. If you're paying in cash you're still paying full price. Soooo why pay in cash and not get a 3% discount. I've also noticed recently that Yelp is offering discounts when people link their credit card in their Yelp account. I saw something like 7% off of your meal for doing so at one restaurant. Now I haven't done that yet, I'm still considering the privacy implications, but it is there. In the US at least, and I suspect Europe, you should use a credit card for every single purchase. |
A lot of shops here offer discounts when paying with cash. It violates rules of card processing companies - or rather, they would violate them to charge more for card transaction, so the stores would just say "3% discount on all purchases, unless paid by card".