4w ago

Any credit card processor alternatives for consumers that are based in Europe?

I want to avoid paying american credit card processor fees. Because their leadership is being hostile to their neighbours.

The payment processors Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express are all american. I would prefer supporting the economies of friendly european countries instead.

8 comments

God I wish, but it seems like our banks don't really care to develop one either
- European banks in my experience are hopeless. Even their attempts for a Paypal alternative every few years lead nowhere.
  
  I mean, the Netherlands has had iDeal for a long while, which works great. But it being limited to Dutch banks obviously means its use isn't widespread beyond the Netherlands.

Wise maybe?
Don't think it fully fits your request since I don't think they are a true credit card company.
However, they are a UK-based company and they perform transactions by having money buffers in each country they operate in. So I suppose their money streams are at least a bit more separate from the US than a traditional credit card company?
- Wise cards are still Visa though

Sadly there doesn't seem to be an European alternative, at least not yet...

There are the japanese JCB cards but those are nor accepted everywhere throughout Europe.
I dont think there is a traditional credit card company in Europe comparable to Visa or Mastercard, if I'm not mistaken.
But keep in mind that a lot of payment processors nowadays dont need to be credit cards. Lots of debit cards have the traditional credit card function, and lots of payment systems like Revolut or Klarna have similar functions.
So it probably helps you to know what your use case is: buying stuff online? Buying lots of stuff on credit without actually having the money for it? Buying offline at a POS? Or something else?

8 comments