It's funny to think of cards being perceived as an American thing; I always saw the U.S. as relatively cash-oriented compared to other places. In Scandinavia you don't even buy a €3 coffee or €5 kebab without pulling out your card (the same is true in South Korea, and increasingly in Japan).

Whaat? I've had nothing but bad experiences with PayPal, and to top it off, the only actual payment method with them seems to be credit card anyways. Also, typically when using credit or debit card with European merchants, there's extra security in the form of OTP list provided by the issuer, checked during the transaction process. I understand this is not (always?) mandatory and the merchant may be storing CC numbers irresponsibly, but the direction seems to be right. What are the possible upsides of PayPal?

As someone outside America, I disagree; virtual credit cards, offered by our banks, are much better than Paypal.