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We have the equivalent for car and room rentals. The escrow is just a hidden feature of our credit cards.

If you try to rent a car without a credit card, you are usually required to put down a deposit.

Note that in my country, it's rare for hotel rooms to require credit cards or deposits. (Debit cards are required so they can charge you later if necessary, but they don't put a hold on them.) There's certain chains that do, but it's mostly an American thing.

Renting a car requires one, but there's also more generally a high barrier to renting a car - plenty of forms, showing your license, booking in advance, etc etc. There's also no choice. The same is not true for getting in a taxi. Why would I put down a deposit to ride in an automated car, really?

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