[LargeFormat] Re: OT: What's an ec card?
Marco Pauck
largeformat@f32.net
Fri Jun 20 12:36:58 2003
Stuart Phillips wrote:
> Hi, what's an ec card?
> (The first choice over a credit card)
It's quite similar to a credit card and is issued by almost
all European banks for free. There are 1.65 million shops in
Europa that accept the ec-card but 'only' 2.7 million world-wide.
Fees are considerably lower that for credit cards.
Some ec-cards also include an eCash option that allows to pay
small amounts ('micro payments') easily.
Marco
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marco Pauck" <marco@pauck.de>
> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 2:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] How to pay German shops
>
>
>
>>Let me clarify a few things (yes, I'm German ;-)
>>
>>Credit cards are not *that* seldom used in Germany. Most most
>>larger shops, restaurants, etc. accept them. If you travel a lot,
>>as I do, you really need a credit card to pay flights, hotels,
>>cars, etc. Some hotels even require a CC for reservation ...
>>
>>But it's true, due to the high fees CCs are second class payment
>>methods especially compared to the ec-card which is very popular
>>here.
>>
>>Regarding the eBay specifics observed by tripspud: Profiles are
>>visible to German users even though surprisingly not international
>>users. And yes, there is no 'reserve' which I consider as an absurd
>>concept anyway - an appropriate starting price makes far more sense.
>>
>>Marco
>>
>>
>>tripspud wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Philip,
>>>
>>> An aside about Germany. I've noticed that on the eBay, you can
>>>not look at another buyer's profile if they are a German citizen. I do
>>>a lot of snooping on buyer's before I bid, to find out if they've
>
> already
>
>>>bought a similar item, they're bidding practises, etc. All this is
>
> available
>
>>>for past auctions they have bid on up to 30 days. But a disclaimer
>
> appears
>
>>>stating that German law prohibits revealing private information on
>
> auctons.
>
>>> Also auctions on eBay.de never have reserves because of German
>
> law,
>
>>>though the seller can still set a very high opening bid like elsewhere,
>
> often
>
>>>not an auction, but a 'for sale'.
>>>
>>>Cheers,
>>>
>>>Rich Lahrson
>>>Berkeley, California
>>>tirpsup@transbay.net
>>>
>>>philip lambert wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I sold something to an overseas buyer who paid me by Western Union
>
> transfer.
>
>>>>I had to take my passport and the Western Union document to a nearby
>
> travel
>
>>>>agent who dealt with Western Union and I was handed cash. I then sent
>
> off
>
>>>>the item I had sold. Maybe you could buy from Germany this way. PL
>>>>
>>>>Most German sellers seem to have an antiquated view of financial
>>>>transactions. I've had to arrange direct bank transfers in the past
>
> which
>
>>>>take an age to complete - my bank tells me its the german banking system
>>>>that holds things up. Why they wont take credit card payments or paypal
>
> is
>
>>>>beyond me.