08-28-2023, 11:33 AM
(08-03-2023, 04:51 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Travelling can definitely put one in the "unbanked" category based on how prevalent visa/MC is in the country you're travelling to. While the Netherlands is heavily digitized for banking (some checkouts don't accept cash, I think self checkouts also only accept cards, and some entire stores also only accept cards, no cash at all) Visa is not ubiquitous. Many restaurants, stores, and even the entire major grocery chain Albert Heijn accepts only Maestro, the equivalent of Interac.
Similar, but not quite the same as Interac: Maestro is a proprietary (and old) debit card system. Mastercard has now discontinued it everywhere in Europe, and all Maestro cardholders are getting MasterCard debit cards. Apparently even Albert Hejn is now accepting MasterCard (and I think Visa) debit cards. Credit apparently not yet, but all stores are supposed to accept that by the end of 2024.