[dmix]

> “If for example I go shopping, and it’s recorded exactly how much schnapps I’ve bought, that’s an invasion of my privacy,” he says.

Wouldn't a constitutional change only be limited to paying for gov fines, fees, and taxes with cash?

> Following a recent EU directive, Austrian banks are phasing out “ATM cards” and renaming them debit cards. And some banks are currently planning to equip the new debit cards with the ability to make payments online, as is common elsewhere.

I'm confused do they mean they are just getting the ability to pay with debit cards at stores in 2019? Or is this just adding the VISA part to debit cards?

[tom_mellior]

> Wouldn't a constitutional change only be limited to paying for gov fines, fees, and taxes with cash?

Nobody knows because there are no real proposals, it's all just a PR stunt. It's vaguely hinted that shops would be forced to keep accepting cash. But the government presumably does not want people to pay their taxes with cash. I don't even think that's possible currently.

[vinay427]

At least in Switzerland many people have V Pay or Maestro debit cards which often can't be used online. I imagine it's something similar in Austria.

https://www.ubs.com/ch/en/help/debitcard/difference.html

(The "online" row lists "N.A.")

[phillc73]

I think that's correct. By default when I opened an Austrian bank account I was only issued a Maestro card, which when used does debit my current account balance, it can't be used for online transactions.

I still have a Visa debit card linked to an account elsewhere, but 90% of my online shopping is now paid for with Sofort, a direct bank transfer, or even on credit. E.g. Bergfreund (https://www.bergfreunde.eu/) offers 10 day payment terms for online transactions.

[LIV2]

I'm assuming that their bank cards and debit cards are two different things

Presumably their "bank cards" only use some local payment scheme rather than visa or MasterCard (explaining why it can't be used online)

The newer "debit card" uses Visa or MasterCard which means it is accepted anywhere Visa/MasterCard is

[t0astbread]

I'm Austrian and as far as I understood it's just a name change. Functionally it always was a debit card.

[LIV2]

Looks like currently they're using Maestro and switching to MasterCard Debit which uses the credit card network

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maestro_(debit_card)