[kayoone]

Here in Europe (Germany) i have never seen anyone buying a coffee with a credit card. Maybe debit card, but that also is rare, its mostly cash for these small transactions. Most coffee shops dont even take any cards at all, even here in germany!

[gyaresu]

Norway: Cards for everything. There's no cost associated. Plus your bank card is also your ID. Chip & PIN.

[te_chris]

Same in NZ. I buy 1.50 lolly purchases from the dairy on my EFTPOS card. (No transaction cost).

[zalew]

if by 'Here in Europe' you mean 'here in Germany' then yeah, in Germany cards are unpopular among small business, but here in Poland they are quite common. There is often a minimum ammount in private grocery stores, but you can pay in every corporate store or cafe like Coffeeheaven and Starbucks.

[StavrosK]

Cards are likewise unpopular in Greece. You can usually use them pretty much everywhere, but almost nobody does.

[wtvanhest]

In the US, cards dominate

[sjs]

In Canada (at least in southern BC) almost everyone uses their credit or debit card for almost everything. Cashiers assume it and if you hand them cash they'll often have to back out of the transaction they already set up on the debit machine and sometimes even say "you're the first person to pay with cash today". It doesn't matter if you're buying a TV for $2000 or coffee for $2.

[colincsl]

I'm living in Germany for the summer and am surprised at how little people use cards here compared to the in the states. I love being able to use a debit/credit card so that everything I buy is logged. That means I can see everything (automatically tagged) using Mint. It also decreases the hassel of carrying as much cash around and going to the ATM as often.

On a tangent, it seems like people here have more of a negative view on credit cards - as if they assume you only use one if you can't actually pay. As long as you pay off your bill each month there is no real downside for the customer.

[ivancdg]

Here in France, people use debit/credit cards to buy EVERYTHING.

Some merchants discourage this by insisting on a 15 euro minimum charge. But by and large cards are used more often than cash. In restaurants it is common to split the payment of the meal and have each person contribute via a card.

It's been that way for years, although the frequency of card use is not as overwhelming as in the US.

At the supermarket, if I buy a bottle of water (0,18) I pay with a credit card. The majority of people do the same thing.

Caveat: many people, especially free-lancers, are paid in cash to avoid paying taxes on part of their income. Those people pay cash for everything. The give-away is the use of big bills (50, 100 euro bills) for small purchases.

[ErikHuisman]

Here in the Netherlands people are encouraged to use debit cards even for small amounts. Sometimes even with a small discount. The largest supermarket chain has way more "pin only" cashiers than pin and cash. It's cheaper and saver to process.

[jurre]

Yeah, but on the other hand it's hard to find a place where you can pay by credit card, even the large super market chains don't accept them. Although almost no one here uses them because are debit card system works very well.

[themckman]

I see a lot of talk in this discussion about debit cards. I currently have only a debit card through my bank with my checking account, however, always run it as a visa and NEVER run it as a debit card. A lot of times, for small purchases, I don't have to sign, so it's quicker then running it as debit since I'd have to enter my pin. I don't know why I never run it as debit. Something about entering my pin in line at a store with people around?

[jurre]

Here you always have to use your pin with credit cards too afaik!

[textminer]

Spent a summer in Paris. Still chastened by a Monoprix cashier not being able to take my card for whatever reason, and a woman in line behind me telling me it's "not like America."

Also enjoyed the spectacle of tobacconists not knowing to swipe my less-secure magnetic strip, looking for my smart card chip.

[mikenon]

In the US charging a minimum for card transactions is usually a violation of your contract with Visa/Mastercard, and possibly a violation of the law in 10 states [1]. Are there similar contracts or laws in France?

[1] http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/checkout_fees/

[twoodfin]

That's about checkout fees, not minimum charge amounts. Minimum charge amounts used to be forbidden by basically every merchant agreement, but thanks to Dodd-Frank and a lot of retailer lobbying, such contact terms are now illegal. Card issuers must allow a restriction on charge amounts (no more than $10 IIRC) if the retailer so desires.

[mikenon]

You're right. I meant to include Visa's complaint form, https://usa.visa.com/checkoutfees/contact.jsp which mentions the right for US retailers to set minimums up to $10.

It is worth noting minimums can not be set for debit card transactions.

[randallsquared]

Lots of small vendors have a minimum anyway, and Visa does nothing about it as far as I can see.

[dagw]

Here in Sweden you're not allowed to charge any sort of additional surcharge, but you are allowed to simply refuse accepting payment with Visa/Mastercard for purchases under a certain amount.

[amalag]

I wonder whose lobbying dollars we have to thank for this law.

[kitsune_]

Hmmm... I have been to France probably over ten times, I've never noticed this.

[kitsune_]

Switzerland... Usually cash. Sometimes Debit Card / Maestro (for larger purchases or if you don't have money on hand). People usually withdraw money from the ATM to pay for their purchases.

The idea probably is: It's easier and simpler to withdraw 200 bucks once and pay in cash at the different stores instead of having to enter the card and PIN every time you purchase something.

[anewguy]

That's not true. As a former cashier, I can say that cards are about the same speed as cash for small purchases, and much faster for large ones.

[teamonkey]

In the UK it's very common to pay with cards. It's even more cashless than the US or Canada, I feel.

[rahoulb]

I normally don't use a card for less than £5 though.

[SebMortelmans]

Belgium, probably nobody uses his credit card to buy coffee. We only use our credit card when we have absolutely no other option :)

[ry0ohki]

In Pittsburgh, 90% of the businesses that take Square are coffee shops for whatever reason

[bonzoesc]

Using Square is easy and has low fixed costs. iPad for under $400, iPad stand for $100, and you don't have to fuck with complicated 1990s credit card processors.

[ry0ohki]

No doubt, it's just odd it's all coffee shops and not other small businesses like Pizza, books stores, etc...

[btrautsc]

agreed - the few coffee shops i frequent in Chattanooga are Square users.

as well as my haircut place, a few sandwich shops, and a drink spot.

I feel like the Starbucks is catching up with their more efficiently operating 'local' competition. But its still a great move.

[jleedev]

The first place I ever used Square was a Pittsburgh coffee shop.