To topic:
The various card payment options are neither confusing nor complicated.
If someone who works in the retail sector, and in particular at an optician, we here speak of professionals who has had a vocational training, does not know here, then he should possibly consider a career change.
I would even recommend directly in such a situation.
At least if my wife is there, that always prohibits such actions. :(
If we omit all the exotics like JCB, DinersClub, UnionPay, or Amex, there are just 5 different payment systems in Germany and almost all European countries that really matter.
Okay, and aside from the whole app garbage.
But hopefully nobody will do that voluntarily.
MasterCard, Visa, VPay (belongs to the Visa Group), Maestro (MasterCard) and Girocard.
The latter, the German banks have invented extra to both domestic and foreign consumers animal to go to the eggs.
The reason why so many fintechs and direct banks use MasterCard is simply because MasterCard was the first to realize that cashless pay has to be debit-making, so it wants to benefit the masses, and the Maestro and VPay brands have basically failed. With regional exceptions such as Austria or the Netherlands.
Incidentally, this explains quite well, why bunq exactly on the two systems. ;)
Unfortunately, Visa is only now coming out of the kink.
As far as girocard in Germany is concerned, it is unfortunately the case that the German banks preferred to cook their own Süpplein and have just introduced this. With the nice addition of keeping the fees pretty low and forcing the others to take higher for theirs.
However that works exactly ...
Therefore the great popularity, especially with smaller companies.
Well, that's basically not that complicated, especially here in Germany.
MasterCard, Visa, VPay, Maestro, Girocard.
Basically, the MC and Visa systems are equally well represented, as it makes no sense for the providers / landlords of POS systems to distinguish here.
Only girocard is more widespread, because of lower costs for the dealers and the resulting "only with EC card!" POS.
Such things, as in your case, are really extreme exceptions.
But basically, you can assume that the optician actually only wants girocard and the VPay serves only as a fallback, if the other system should spin.
So...
It just does not make any sense for bunq just because the Germans are bunq to work with Visa.
The cases where Visa or VPay work, but not MasterCard or Maestro, are likely to be as big as being hit by lightning worldwide.
Just keep the girocard problem.
Unfortunately, nobody will fix that quickly.
The German banks do not let everyone participate. ;)
So if someone who works in retail, and I do not mean the backup cashiers in the supermarket, does not know and understand, I would prefer to buy nothing there.
Who knows what he really does not have a clue about.
For problem solving:
Sure, you can now open an extra account that allows Girocard.
There are also free and I have frankly too.
But much more, because I still do not dare to make a fintech my only bank.
A bit German must be too. ;)
Personally, I think that's a complete nonsense, considering how many jobs you can bunq with bunq free of charge 10 times a month.
It can not be that important to want to pay with plastic.
So I prefer to always have some cash in the Täsch and let the Giro get stuck.
So far first, briefly on the subject, from me.
