I know Wero is still in its infancy and the digital Euro is still a few years away, even if you believe there’ll be no delays. But depending on where you live you can already do a lot for EU financial independence.
- Use cash (very easy but not ideal in many situations/online)
- Use a national payment providers:
- Germany 🇩🇪: Girocard
- Netherlands 🇳🇱: iDEAL
- France 🇫🇷: Cartes Bancaires
- Poland 🇵🇱: BLIK
- Italy 🇮🇹:Bancomat/PagoBancomat
- Many other options, check for your country
- Use SEPA direct debit mandate or wire money directly if you can
- Sign up to a european crypto exchange and use it for direct purchases. although I get if you don’t like crypto but this is just for direct purchases
Otherwise American Payment providers usually get at least 1% and if you use card payment a lot over time that can really add up. This also mostly makes sense when buying from a european company. For US companies it really doesn’t matter much. I’ve been trying to replace Amazon with Otto and I use SEPA direct debit mandate to avoid fees.
Lovely when companies like eBay or even the German Administration do not allow any European payment methods…
And I have not found a good ebay replacement yet, apart from Flohmarkt for the Fediverse people (however you use without the webUI)
where does the german administration require you to use Visa/MC? I never needed it. What about Kleinanzeigen btw?
If you are a foreign person, even if you live in germany, you need to pay for your visa and those are your only options. Might depend on the city.
Kleinanzeigen is horrible crap. No search filters, high fees, shit to use without “The App™”.