[csydas]

Maybe the data doesn't back this, but as a US citizen I find that most of the time when people refer to credit cards they're meaning their Bank card, which often acts as whatever you define it as at the terminal or it has a default status for quick pay options.

There are many people that are happy to just pull out the credit card to buy beyond their means but a lot of the time people are using a card backed directly by their Bank account.

[svckr]

Here in Germany we have a clear distinction between credit- and debit cards. And I guess the culture leans more toward the "saving not loaning" model nickrio describes. So for me it is a conscious decision wether I pay with my bank account or credit.

Unlike China however, adoption of digital, low-barrier payments is extremely low here. I mean, hell, we're mostly buying paper bus tickets, while local public transport is sloooowly starting to roll out RFID tickets & readers.

All I'm saying is, I find the cultural differences and the impact they have on our day to day dealings (which, on the surface, seem to be the same globally) deeply fascinating :)

[Symbiote]

The Nordic countries also have that distinction, indeed credit cards are often charged 1-3% in fees, while debit cards are usually free.

That hasn't prevented the demise of cash, and MobilePay, Swish etc are popular for personal and commercial transactions.

The RFID card works on all public transport all across Denmark. Sweden has regional systems. I don't know about elsewhere.

The leader for this is London, where any contactless payment card works on public transport.

[lb1lf]

To illustrate how widespread the use of debit cards is - the Norwegian National Bank rolled out a couple of new bank notes in late May.

Only last week did I actually see one of the new 100kr ($12) bills.

Debet card terminals are everywhere, some churches have even put them next to the collection plate - and it is not uncommon to see street vendors using wireless terminals.

[poizan42]

Most Danes use a combined visa/dankort which is a credit card but doesn't usually incur a fee. Also generally we don't have a seperate credit line, it goes directly to your bank account as soon as the transaction is registered (and simply overdraws it if you don't have sufficient funds). A lot of danes also seems somewhat confused about the debit/credit card distinction, because the only difference most people see is whether it allows you to overdraw your account.

[Symbiote]

The Dankort is actually a debit card, mine at least has the "VISA Debit" logo.

I'd guess most Danes realise credit cards are the ones where you often pay 1-3% extra, which is a difference you don't often see in the USA or the UK — there, it's limited to things like plane tickets.

[seanmcdirmid]

When I lived to Switzerland, I was pretty surprised my debit card (Maestro) couldn't work on credit card networks (Master Card, heck, the logos looked almost the same!).

I'm surprised Germany is so far behind switzerland though, I mean, even when I lived there 10 years ago I could use my debit card via chip in a kiosk and have my train ticket very quickly.

I don't think standard Beijing city buses take wepay yet. You still hand over paper bills to the conductor or use your beijing transit NFC card.

[lostboys67]

I think it might be cultural as Germany has suffered massive bank crashes throughout the 20th century people trust

[ralfd]

What the parent meant is that you get a paper ticket, even if you pay per card at an automated kiosk.

Online-QR-code-tickets bought per Smartphone are now common too though.

[csydas]

Absolutely understood there is a major cultural difference - in this case, I was more hoping to shed light that with regards to the US, most people aren't aware of the difference most of the time since the difference tends to be more relevant to the vendor rather than the customer. There is a subset of people who use credit cards extensively, but my experience is that most are unaware that there is even a difference most of the time.

[mahyarm]

As far as payment terminals go, there is no effective difference between credit or debit cards, and in the USA they accept both :)

[dullgiulio]

There are some differences behind the scenes.

A week ago I was in this restaurant and I had almost no cash (as usual where I live in Northern EU); the restaurant terminals were rejecting debit cards from the two biggest banks in the country. After several attempts, I just paid with my credit card (which is configured to pay immediately from the account, not at end of month) and that worked.

That's probably because a credit card can go through with a transaction even if some of the involved parties fails to respond.

[smw]

I think in the US, that type of card is referred to as a 'check card', and is basically a bank debit card with the additional ability to run it as a credit network (usually Visa) transaction with signature instead of PIN entry. Is that similar to what you have?

[dullgiulio]

I am not sure, they both operate with a chip and pin code. I think it really is just a difference on how the banks settle the transactions between themselves.