The Netherlands - Nobody wants my credit card

Mark_Xa

callum9999 wrote: »

Bizarre. I had no issues with my Visa Debit or Mastercards over there. Is this in small villages etc?

You are generally OK in hotels and in a lot of restaurants, but for example, many German supermarkets do not take anything except the local debit card - I think what you actually need is a card with the EC logo on it. (Last place I can remember trying is Mediamarkt). I notice this every time I go to Germany and it is quite annoying. By contrast, just about everywhere in France takes Visa or Mastercard CCs.

You notice the German distaste for credit cards even in the UK: Lidl and Aldi do not take credit cards at all.

DCFC79

Wow I never actually knew Credit Cards weren't widely accepted in Holland, same with Germany and Belgium.

NFH

Mark_Xa wrote: »

By contrast, just about everywhere in France takes Visa or Mastercard CCs.

That's because almost all debit cards in France are Visa or MasterCard, not Maestro or V-Pay. French retailers have no choice but to pay the higher processing fees.

Mark_Xa wrote: »

You notice the German distaste for credit cards even in the UK: Lidl and Aldi do not take credit cards at all.

I buy large quantities of beer from Lidl in Belgium and they recently started taking Visa and MasterCard in addition to Maestro.

NiftyDigits

Mark_Xa wrote: »

You are generally OK in hotels and in a lot of restaurants, but for example, many German supermarkets do not take anything except the local debit card - I think what you actually need is a card with the EC logo on it. (Last place I can remember trying is Mediamarkt). I notice this every time I go to Germany and it is quite annoying. By contrast, just about everywhere in France takes Visa or Mastercard CCs.

You notice the German distaste for credit cards even in the UK: Lidl and Aldi do not take credit cards at all.

This is not the case. There are some LIDL stores in the UK that accept CCs.

sun-n-moon

I cycled down the Danube last year and Germany and Austria did not want to know about credit cards. Small hotels and B&Bs nearly had a heart attack at the sight of a credit card. The same with restaurants. I thought it was something to do with tax dodging.
In France this year even small guesthouses in isolated villages were quite happy with credit cards.
Wierd.

ffox

As regards the attitude towards payment systems in Europe and UK, I would say Yes and No, both places have their advantages and drawbacks with Credit/Debit cards.

The Benelux countries (Belgium, Neds, Luxembourg) and to an extent Germany, possibly France also, prefer payments in cash wherever you go. Retail banking in Europe operates at a more local level. It can be argued this is somewhat backwards compared to UK. In UK where banks operate nationally and in a unified way.

It is still possible to take advantage of Credit and Debit cards without actually having to go into the Red.

If you're in Europe, be prepared to carry cash, if not bundles of it, in order to get by.

NFH

ffox wrote: »

The Benelux countries (Belgium, Neds, Luxembourg) and to an extent Germany, possibly France also, prefer payments in cash wherever you go.

I agree with Benelux and Germany, but not about France. France is very similar to the UK with regard to payment methods, including hanging on to archaic methods like cheques. The only significant difference I notice in France is that American Express is accepted less than in the UK, although this is slowly improving.

2spicey

Mark_Xa wrote: »

You are generally OK in hotels and in a lot of restaurants, but for example, many German supermarkets do not take anything except the local debit card - I think what you actually need is a card with the EC logo on it. (Last place I can remember trying is Mediamarkt). I notice this every time I go to Germany and it is quite annoying. By contrast, just about everywhere in France takes Visa or Mastercard CCs.

You notice the German distaste for credit cards even in the UK: Lidl and Aldi do not take credit cards at all.

I was in the USA recently (home of the cc) went into a Lidi supermarket filled the trolly up with loads of stuff had to leave all at checkout did-not take any credit cards and I had no dollars on me -- how embarrassing

NFH

2spicey wrote: »

I was in the USA recently (home of the cc) went into a Lidi supermarket filled the trolly up with loads of stuff had to leave all at checkout did-not take any credit cards and I had no dollars on me -- how embarrassing

In that scenario, it's the shop that should feel embarrassed, not you.

Bob_the_Saver

2spicey wrote: »

I was in the USA recently (home of the cc) went into a Lidi supermarket filled the trolly up with loads of stuff had to leave all at checkout did-not take any credit cards and I had no dollars on me -- how embarrassing

They don't take credit cards in the UK either.