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.

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[–] pantherina@feddit.org 1 points 11 hours ago

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)

[–] Chemo@feddit.org 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I actually created a Klarna accout to take a step away from Paypal. Everything was fine, until I wanted to do my first transaction. They actually wanted me to put in my bank password in their login form, so that they could "verify my identity". WTF. There was no other option. Immediately logged out and won't turn back - except for deleting my account.

[–] pantherina@feddit.org 1 points 11 hours ago

Absolutely, fucking trash service.

A day after I first used them and was forced to give them a phone number "for security" I got a fishing SMS claiming to be a bank I am not using.

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

Wtf?? They wanted your bank password on a form of this? Sounds like a fucking scam website

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 15 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (-10 children)

MultiBanco / MBway works great in Portugal 🇵🇹

[–] john_t@piefed.ee 6 points 3 days ago (11 children)

And it's compatible with the spainsh Bizum and the Italian Bancomat. All you need is a phone number.

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[–] UncleOb@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Italy also has Satispay which is fairly popular around here. I use it for most of my in shop purchases.

[–] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Indeed Wero being rolled out in EU (for now only France, Belgium, Germany), hopefully the reference soon all over Europe

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sadly, my primary bank (DKB) has no plans to support it at the moment.

Which I find really strange, since it's mostly just an alias (phone number or email) layer on top of IBAN/SEPA.

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

Depending on how much it gets rolled out and when people demand it more it might just get rolled out late

[–] Everyday0764@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

where can i subscribe to get a notification when Italy joins?

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

https://werotracker.eu/ This website is quite decent but I don't think you can subscribe/get a notification from it

[–] Everyday0764@lemmy.zip 2 points 14 hours ago

thank you, i've opened an issue for the subscribe option

[–] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I might add that the German giropay/girocard nowadays mostly uses visa/MC anyway, so there's no real progress.

And there are only two banks (chains) that even offer wero. I just made an account with one for wero. And so far have not found a way to use it 😁

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

But AFAIK Visa/MC only get money when the Debitcard network is used as fallback instead of Visa/MC even if it has their logo on it.

[–] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

I can't argue, my comment is already the peak of my knowledge of the girocard.

But even if that's correct, they still get money and I still couldn't really dodge them by just putting another layer on top. At least not fully.

[–] george@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

That is not true. Girocard used to partner with maestro (part of mastercard). The maestro part of the card was only used if the girocard was not supported where you wanted to pay. That partnership was terminated. New girocards are simple girocards. Which also means they cannot be used outside of Germany anymore. Hell, there are even terminals in Germany that don’t support girocard anymore

[–] TheProtagonist@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The problem is that the vast majority of payment cards being issued nowadays are either Visa or MasterCards (both physical and virtual). This makes it very difficult to avoid US companies when it comes to cashless payments. My current bank gives me a Visa Debit Card for free, but would charge me fees for a Girocard. I avoid PayPal as much as I can.

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

Wait thats crazy. For my banks it was always standard to issue Girocard for free and then Debit/Credit Card on demand

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 10 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Is stuff like credit cards and Apple Pay really that popular in Europe? I know some people use it, but not sure how popular it actually is.

I've been using Paypal more often before real-time transfer recently became really cheap due to new EU rules. But still, some shops make it a pain to use SEPA or don't offer it at all (especially international shops).

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 11 points 3 days ago

Yeah I was mostly talking about european shops. Shops outside of Europe that don't have SEPA often sadly can't offer it. Sometimes there is no way to avoid but as long as you check and reduce usage less money will flow to them. I used to always use my Visa debit card as I didn't like change and stuff but now I look for alternatives

[–] lmueller@feddit.org 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I am from Germany and basically anyone I know pays with Apple and Google Pay on a daily basis. We do have the German "Girocard", which is similar to a Mastercard/Visa Debit, but the biggest bank in Germany also supports Apple Pay with that card.

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Interesting, I am also from Germany and no one I know uses those (that I know of).

[–] Localhorst86@feddit.org 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In germany, most banks that offer free banking (ING, Comdirect, DKB etc.) have switched from girocard to VISA/MC Debit cards. If you want an actual girocard, you'll need to pay a monthly fee, either "directly" for the card (In the case of ING, Comdirect etc.), or by having a paid account in the first place (like Sparkasse, Raiffeisenbank, Commerzbank etc.)

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Good to know, I was talking about Google Pay and Apple Pay, though.

[–] Localhorst86@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

Ah, in that case I only know a handful of people personally that use Apple pay, but I do see some people occasionally pay by tapping their phone at the checkout

[–] george@feddit.org 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Everyone that I know pays with their phone. So yeah, Apple Pay and Google Pay are big in some parts of Europe at least.

[–] Kornblumenratte@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I pay with my phone using my bank's app. No need for Apple or Google stuff whatsoever.

[–] george@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not all banks have this. And I think this is only possible on Android? From what I know Apple does not allow to replace Apple Pay.

[–] Kornblumenratte@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago

Yes, I cannot find a corresponding IOS-App for my bank. VR Bank offers it, though: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/vr-banking-einfach-sicher/id1505855171

[–] MoreMagic@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago

I have iPhone, and I use other payment apps. Swish (native Swedish direct payment, mostly p2p, but also widely used by small businesses) and Klarna.

[–] Frostbeard@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Norway has Vipps. Still uses VISA/MC for some transactions.

[–] timestatic@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

Damn, they make a separate payment app and then still make themselves dependent on US monopolies, that's sad

[–] TanteRegenbogen@feddit.org 4 points 3 days ago

I wish we had JCB instead of Visa or Mastercard

[–] BlackLaZoR@fedia.io 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

One option is to use crypto wherever possible.

Otherwise the good news is that Blik seems to be gearing for EU wide expansion

[–] Rhea@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Many cryptos have many other issues. Is there one which you would recommend?

[–] BlackLaZoR@fedia.io 1 points 2 days ago

For a beginner who just wants to pay for stuff? Litecoin. It's not the best from scalability and tech standpoint, but it's the most foolproof, cheap to use and user friendly right now.