[BrandoElFollito]

Almost nobody in Europe uses credit cards. We use debit cards, various types (immediate, deferred, ...).

It was also the case 10-15 years ago. The usage has became much higher, but it was already all right by then.

Except Germany, for cultural reasons.

[FartyMcFarter]

Plenty of people have credit cards in Europe. In 11 countries, the majority of people do, in fact:

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/people_with_credit...

[BrandoElFollito]

France is listed at 40% and there are no issuers of credit cards for the general population in France across the main banks. I do not know where they took the data from, but this is far from being the reality. Idem for Poland and Germany.

[Denvercoder9]

That statistic is about possession though, the parent comment is talking about usage. I'm in the one-third of my country that has a credit card, but I use it maybe five times a year, while I use my debit card daily.

[freetanga]

A same-bank-as-your-cash-account credit card set up for full payment at the end of the month, so there is no financing.

Technically a CC, feels like a DC. Thats my experience in EU a I worked in Banking in many countries .

[utucuro]

My reason for getting a credit card as soon as possible when I moved to Germany, was being able to switch the country of residence of some of my services to Germany, because they only accepted a local credit card as proof of residence here. Google was the main culprit in this regard. Mind you, the credit card itself is a serious joke - it's designed to be useless as far as I'm concerned. You cannot change the billing date, the app doesn't even show you the cutoff date. You cannot change the pin at all - if you request a new pin, they send you a new card.

The only good way I've found to use the card is through Paypal, ironically. At least this way I can see, down to the minute, what I spent and where, which the bank is unable or unwilling to show me.

[BrandoElFollito]

Which credit card did you get in Germany? (I am seriously interested in that question)

[utucuro]

Deutsche Bank - just about the only real use it has for me is to build a credit history here. If you consider using this bank in Germany and you're not a big business, avoid them like the plague.

[BrandoElFollito]

Ha, I did not know that credit history was a thing in Germany. This is really surprising, given how Germans are averse to banking cards (vs cash or the special ATM cards)

[BrandoElFollito]

There is no credit on the cards you get in the EU, except if you ask for some. By default there is no.

A credit card is, well, a credit with rates etc. You may pay a part and the rest runs as a credit. You have a specific contact for that. Also a credit card can be issues without a backing bank account. Our cards always (in practical sense) are backed by an account.

This is not how the cards work in the EU. You have delayed debit but no credit (formally - in practice you spend the money of the bank obviously, but you have to pay in full after 30-45 days).

American Express is a system that is used by companies (for various reasons) and this IS a credit card, but people use it for business related reasons and its delivery is triggered by the company.

[martin8412]

I live in Spain and I absolutely have a real credit card. The interest rate is awful(18%), but as long as I make a minimum payment each month, it's up to me when I pay it off.

[BrandoElFollito]

Ah! Which card is it? (which issuer). Is it attached to a bank account?

Is it common in Spain to use CC, as opposed to Debit Cards (usually delayed payment ones)?

[martin8412]

It's a Mastercard(Platinium) issued by one of the major gas station chains in Spain. I end up with 10% discount on gas because of it. Though looking the BIN up, I can see some bank is the ultimate issuer of the card, just with branding being that of the gas station chain. I don't have a bank account with the issuer of the card, so they do direct debit from my bank account once a month to cover the minimum payment. A lot of banks allow you to apply for a credit card with them even if you don't have an account with them.

I don't think it's super common to use them day to day as I do. People often use them to split payments for big ticket items. But by using it, I get percentages when buying food and other specific items, so I just run the card and pay it off immediately.