@Jakob-Y#175359 Another difference between which card you use is the fee the merchant pays - that is a BIG difference. When we spend money, it might be wise to be considerate of the other side (the merchant), too - especially as we bunq-ers very much care about good Karma, we like to be fair and green among other things. Cheers! What do you guys think? Do you want to be considerate about the other side?

@New-Green-Penguin-Gestalt#215071 I see now your full post from before. There indeed can be differences regarding price structure when accepting different type of cards. This is highly dependent on what contracts the merchants has with their payment service provider (PSP). My two cents: As a user from Germany, I feel like this is ultimately the responsibility of the merchant and not something the regular gal or guy who is purchasing something should be worried about.

I say this because we have had our own debit card scheme called Girocard here. For the merchant, fees for accepting Girocard were often even a bit less than other debit cards. But Girocard was also technically inferior, lacking behind when it comes to functionality, and was never really more than just a simple payment card for paying at POS. While I do think that the big credit card companies have been over-charging for their services in the past, we shouldn't forget that there is a reason some card networks have international acceptance, support payments in all kinds of currencies, support payments online, at POS, over the phone and more and are always quick to adopt new security and payment standards.

And that's exactly where the merchant comes into play. Now that the fees that the credit card companies themselves are taking are heavily regulated in the EEA (with no big difference between credit and debit btw), the real competition is between PSPs. If merchants just go to their next traditional bank at the corner and take whatever payment terminal and contract they offer, they will indeed often not get fair rates. But why should I as a consumer change the way I pay just because some merchants don't shop around? I have to do that myself to get the best utility provider, best cell phone service, etc. and nobody would sympathize with me just because I can't be assed to do that and now pay too much for too less. If we put all the blame on the consumer, we ultimately will end up with less innovation in the payment field.

Edit: Of course, there's nothing wrong with preferring Debit cards. I like my bunq Maestro just as much as my other bunq cards ;-)