Comment by shubhamjain | Hacker News Reader

Comment by shubhamjain | Hacker News Reader

> With the opening of this Mumbai region, Indian customers are now able to buy these services directly in Indian rupees.

Somewhat related: I was forced to switch to GCP for hosting my static website because of lack of payment options. AWS doesn't allow you to prepay. The only way to settle your dues is using a credit card. My international debit card usually works everywhere but it didn't in case of AWS. I never felt the need to get a credit card. I had to waste many hours in moving to GCP because there wasn't a way I could use to pay.

It's funny how I have failed often to buy something online because payment options are not international friendly. Latest in this case was New Yorker subscription. Every address combination I tried said the same thing: "Address is invalid", even though I had ticked the option for International subscription. Support was hopeless and in the end, I had to go without it. It's like I am saying, "Shut up and take my money" and people at the other end are tone-deaf to it.

"I never felt the need to get a credit card"

IMO, credit cards are less damaging to you in case of misuse.

If your debit card is stolen or its details are stolen from websites, you are at risk of losing your money directly from your bank account and recovering it may not be easy. You're at the mercy of the bank to compensate you, and most banks insist on formalities such as filing a police complaint. Good luck with that if the misuse happens from some other country.

If the same happens with a credit card, you can dispute it without actually losing any money.

You just tie the debit card to an account where you limit the money available. Even if they steal it, they can only use N currency.

A blanket statement like that isn't very useful without giving the country. Protection for the customer varies widely around the world; I trust that the Danish system would work out fine for me.

(Additionaly, if my debit card is stolen it's of limited use without my PIN.)

Credit cards fraud protection is varied country by country. I've been fucked by stolen info (just card number) and lost around $300. Disputed to my bank and in their generalize respond is "fuck you pay me". I never trust any banks anymore, I'll avoid banking at all if possible.

What jurisdiction is this? Because this is definitely not the protocol in the US

In Turkey, I'm using a bank called Garanti. They give you one virtual MasterCard, linked to your normal cash accounts. Allows you to transfer money to the card and back, no charge and instantly. And I haven't encountered anywhere where I can't use it, unlike my debit card where only a few online places accept it.

I am always curious about why people don't use credit cards more. Would you please explain your reason?

In some countries you won't get a credit card if your employment has gaps etc. - and debit cards serve the exact same purpose as credit cards, just with different billing model.

I recently got my first card. Before that, I had tried applying for two but got rejected for some random reason. It's a pain to navigate through the banking bureaucracy, so I didn't try hard. Because debit cards worked fine always, even for International transactions, I never felt a strong need to get one.

Credit cards are much less used outside of the US (one of the reasons is that the US banking system is Jurassic, but only one of the reasons)

Other reasons is limiting credit exposure/can't get credit for it

Debit cards work online in some places or you have a different way of paying

I dont see how credit cards are indication of jurrassic banking system.

I know of other examples where it is, but credit card is probably not one if them besides chip and pin vs chip and signature.

China is almost credit card free now, except for things like pre-auth at hotels. People use apps like alipay or wechat to pay everything. They have the following advantages:

* Easy to use, you always carry your phone.

* Never expire.

* Password protected, card number and CVV are fragile.

* Works without a POS. Basically in China QR-codes on paper are everywhere.

* Online payment is super easy, you won't need to type billing addresses, etc.

This is fine. I am mostly wondering people working with cash only.

What you say is pretty much similar to credit card.

1. It doesn't make any sense to allow yourself to risk spending more than you have

2. They're more prone to abuse: if somebody gets hold of the numbers on your card (whether by a leak or hack or by old-fashioned pickpocketing), no further PIN, password or 2FA token is required

3. The only use for them is online spending outside Europe, and even then the number of websites that require them is rapidly shrinking (PayPal can work with bank accounts, and Stripe now supports SEPA direct debit and local payment methods such as SOFORT (Germany), iDEAL (Netherlands) and Bancontact (Belgium))

4. They cost money (see point 3, people don't like paying for things they don't use)

1. This just requires control.

2. In the US at least, fraud isn’t the responsibility of the card owner

3. That’s true

4. There are plenty of cards with no annual fee and net negative cost through rewards

+1.

The cost of the risk of fraud is bundled into the ~2-3% transaction fee.

1. As for 1, it's self control. 3. The only use is not for online shopping, it's for every day use. Cash can get stolen, credit card can, but you can then cancel it. 4. Plenty of cards are free.

1. Yes, but it's easier to just not have one.

3. For every day use, there is your bank card which comes for free with your bank account. (A growing number of people don't use cash daily, and there are even people who have ditched cash altogether and gone card-only.)

4. I have not run into any free CCs offered in my country (Netherlands). If you have, please point me to them.

As for fraud, it's not only about the risk, but also about the hassle. I have heard of people who had their credit card suddenly cancelled because of fraudulent transactions, and the banks will only send a replacement to your home address, even when you are travelling! The risk that this happens with a bank card is much lower, as entering your PIN proves that you authorize the transaction.

Definitely not the experience in united states. I was offered to cancel my card for a similar situation, and they offered to send it to my country.

I guess a bunch of countries are behind USA in credit card offerings. I am from Turkey, and situation in Turkey is very similar to united states - credit cards are very very common.

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