[margalabargala]

As a US-ian I feel exactly that way when using a debit card.

A credit card, if misused, can run up your balance and then you dispute, and don't pay anything until it's resolved. A debit card, if misused, can drain your account and leave you penniless until it's resolved.

[raron]

That's interesting argument. Here it is usual to have a daily limit on debit cards. You can not spend more money than that, so a thief can not drain your account. Also many banks give you multiple accounts (you can transfer between them instantly). The debit card is connected to only one of them, so if you keep part of your money on the other account, that couldn't be touched even if the card payment limit has technical issues.

[margalabargala]

Multiple accounts (both debit and credit) are normal in the US as well, but I have never heard of a debit account here that has a daily spending limit.

Sounds like the US and Euro systems work fine within their own borders. Solutions designed for one make less sense in the context of the other.

[JoeBOFH]

Wells Fargo for the longest time had a daily spending limit on its Check Cards and a daily withdrawal limit. If you had a Debit (not check card) your “spending limit” was your withdrawal limit.

If you tried to make a purchase above the spending limit it was a hassle. I am old tho.

[Kuinox]

I always find it funny that americans think the button to oppose a payement doesn't exists on my banking app because I have a debit card and not a credit card.

[rpdillon]

It's mostly about who possesses the money. With debit, the money is transferred. With credit, the money is scheduled for transfer, subject to my approval.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_is_nine-tenths_of_t...

[lxgr]

This has basically nothing to do with it. A bank deposit is a liability of the bank, and possession is not a useful lens here.

What matters are the legal and contractual rights and obligations you have against the card issuer. In the US, these are historically different for credit cards (Fed Regulation Z) and debit cards (Regulation E), but since it's now effectively the same two schemes running it all and imposing their additional liability protections (largely motivated by considerations of brand perception, which would suffer if the same logo sometimes confers weaker protections).

The main practical difference nowadays is that in the case of debit cards, you're out your own money for a few days, while with credit cards, the only thing that temporarily suffers is your open-to-buy/line of credit.

[dmoy]

> The main practical difference nowadays is that in the case of debit cards, you're out your own money for a few days, while with credit cards, the only thing that temporarily suffers is your open-to-buy/line of credit

Right, and this is GGP's main point

The risk to a debit card user in the US is higher because the money you need to pay your rent or mortgage may temporarily disappear due to fraud, and may take longer to resolve than your deadline with your landlord. When using a credit card, that risk is not on you.

[rpdillon]

Ah, I see. This is about the prevailing consumer protections. In the US, debit is not treated with nearly as much privilege as the EU. While credit signals debt in the EU, debit signals poor financial situation in the US, since credit enjoys protections debit does not.

[margalabargala]

In your rush to dunk on Americans you misunderstood the comment.

Everyone in America is perfectly aware that the "dispute" button exists.

Trouble is, the lag time between hitting the button and getting your money back can be weeks. With a credit card you are out zero money.

[kevin_thibedeau]

The fraud detection of the card processors is effective and they will disable a debit card before that happens. I've always had the money returned automatically the few times I've had one compromised.

[ericmay]

Same fraud systems monitor credit cards except in the American case you get at worst 1% cash back so 1% off the purchase price of everything and if something does happen, and regardless of protections fraud still occurs, it’s the bank’s money that is gone and not yours.

Separately the EU is a large collection of states and each one has its varying levels of participation and sophistication with payment processing. Apple and Google Pay are both widely used and that won’t change, and by and large there’s no good reason for Europeans to not accept American credit cards so they’ll continue to do so.

Anyone telling you differently either doesn’t have the slightest idea what they’re talking about or they’re just caught up in a pointless anti-American fervor. Even in countries such as France American Express is accepted in more places.

[lxgr]

Accepting cards from US-controlled schemes is not an issue at all. The geopolitical issue is not having any alternative, and these US schemes being the only way to pay even in domestic transactions.

Almost nobody considered this a problem until a few years ago, but the relevant EU stakeholders got pretty rattled recently [1], and my prediction is that this particular bell can't be un-rung.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb/18/international-cr...