[miki123211]

Most countries that aren't the US basically did this, in one way or another.

There are multiple ways of doing so, two-factor authentication (think 3d secure) is one, an oAuth like system where you log in to your bank on their website and consent to a wire transfer is another. There are variations on these ideas, the system we have here gives you a 6-digit code in your banking app which you can enter on any device, trusted or not, and then accept the transfer via a pop-up on your phone, no personal data involved.

As far as I understand, both US law and US history heavily incentivize the use of credit cards. There's no nice way for landlords, banks, mortgage lenders and other such institutions in the US to do "background checks" on their customers except through credit scores, and that incentivizes credit card use. There's also a regulatory difference in how credit versus debit card chargebacks are handled, making credit a lot more friendly to consumers in cases of actual fraud.

Then there's the historical aspect, in the era where there were no computers, and most vendors could at best call a bank to verify if a card was valid, a debit based system wasn't technically feasible, which is what put the US on the path of credit. A lot of poorer countries had the major cash-to-cards transition a lot later, in the era of chips and dial-up modems, which made debit a lot easier to implement, and so that's what they went with, and debit usually means far lower fees.

[m463]

> Most countries that aren't the US basically did this, in one way or another.

Most countries that ARE the US put the burden on the business and the credit card companies, and limit the liability to the credit card holder ($50 max, sometimes $500)

I've known people in other countries that lost money and they were SOL in comparison. Maybe they have cheaper transaction fees.

[Iulioh]

Nah, that's just because in the US people usually buy with credit while in Europe is mostly debt.

If you buy with credit you are using the bank's money, with debt your own and you have less protections in the second case.

Trust me, i have meet my fair share of adults who don't own a credit card and if they want to buy something online just charge a prepaid card with the needed amount.

American express is not accepted in a lot of places because it is only credit and the processing fees are double that of debit cards.

Visa and mastercard debit cards are accepted just because you can't only accept debit cards, a lot of vendors fought for the ability to do so.