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People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

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longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?


@Anonymous wrote:
I am guessing people outside US simply don't spend like we do.

They actually know how to save money, so when we saved 5%, we actually spent 50% more. Lol

Even if that is the case (and in a lot of places you will find the governments bemoaning the lack of savings by the population) the cause of "bad" credit card rewards is often simply that the "swipe" fees are capped much lower.

Message 11 of 25
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

I am sure there are many reasons, regulatory, spending habit, price of goods all comes into play.

 

I guess the obvious thing to keep in mind is they don't have generous credit reward because they don't need to. Spending to save is not the superior solution for people around the world.

Message 12 of 25
zerofire
Valued Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

Generally outside the US places are split into two categories, tourist enabled and local. The local spots are a wash when it comes to taking cards or will only take local card networks. This is because the local populace is generally happy with cash or might have expanded to debit. Tourist Enabled places are where the service is ramped up specifically to handle tourists. Think faster Internet, credit card machines guaranteed, hotel after hotel by the beach, and lots of tours/events.

 

I have seen this play out heavily when I went to Cancun, Mexico. The city downtown is nothing special and is probably a great place for a tourist to get robbed or killed. If you move over to the Zona Holteleria(Hotel Zone) everything gets shuffled around. Guards are commonly hired by hotels and the Municipal Police ramp up their presence. The worst thing that can commonly happen is drugs and alcohol and even then it only goes up to theft if you do not pay attention.

 

Most people in other countries do not have the financial strength for a credit card. Only in the US is the underwriting loose enough that you can get a CC with no real income. The other countries are rather strict in the way their financial systems are run for good reason. Their system is based on running on the USD while the US system is based on running on faith. Faith can be much more leveraged. In the end we have the highest rewards here. There are few other systems that are willing to be anywhere close. Only the UK is really close with Canada and Singapore following. In Canada the AF's usually kill any benefit and the Singapore cards are generally not properly set up for $1USD/$0.01 where you need multiple points for a penny. Australia might be in there somewhere but I have low knowledge of what they have. In Ukraine most people have switched to debit cards and got comfortable with opening an account once insurance was added by the government. Only in the rural areas is cash still considered king but I would not be surprised if even those people got with the times since they are rather progressive.

TU:837 09/19/23 Bank of America--EX: 841 09/20/23 Experian--EQ:832 09/21/23 myFICO--Gardening since N/A
Active:
Bank of America (Unlimited Cash Rewards WMC, Customized Cash Rewards WMC, Customized Cash Rewards VSC), Capital One Walmart WMC, Chase(Amazon Prime VSC, Freedom Flex WEMC [x2], Freedom Unlimited VC), Citi Dividend MC, Citizens GreenSense MC, Curve WEMC, Discover It C, FNBO Ducks Unlimited VSC, PenFed (Platinum Rewards VSC, Pathfinder Rewards VSC), Synchrony Bank PayPal Cashback MC, UMB Bank Simply Rewards VC[Milford Federal], US Bank (Altitude Go VSC, Cash+ VSC [x2], Pick n Save/Metro Market WEMC)
Wishlist: AAA Daily Advantage Visa, AOD Signature, Bellco Colorado Rewards, Citi Custom Cash, EBates, Nusenda Platinum Cash Rewards, Ollo Optimum, Redstone Signature, Security Service Power Travel Rewards, Vantage West Connect Rewards
Message 13 of 25
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?


@zerofire wrote:

In the end we have the highest rewards here. There are few other systems that are willing to be anywhere close. Only the UK is really close with Canada and Singapore following. 


Right, maybe my bias is that I am most familiar with the UK, and certainly there I haven't seen a huge difference between the willingness to be a consumer there and here, hence why I attribute the huge difference in reward levels simply to capped swipe fees.    Elsewhere the differences are probably due to other reasons.

 

(Note: because of taxes and salary levels, UK people in general probably have less disposable income than the US credit card holders but at least in theory there are less expenses such as healthcare and retirement.   The amount of conspicious consumption might be a little less, but not the spirit!)

Message 14 of 25
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

Yes, Australian rewards are good...but I think a lot of merchants there add a surcharge for CC use so the net rewards vs. paying cash may be much lower.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 15 of 25
SEAlifer
Established Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

Yeah, here in the US the vendor can’t charge a different price in most cases for using a card versus cash. The only exceptions is see are like when the purchase is under $5 or $10 they’ll charge 50¢ or something.
AU

Message 16 of 25
zerofire
Valued Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?


@SEAlifer wrote:
Yeah, here in the US the vendor can’t charge a different price in most cases for using a card versus cash. The only exceptions is see are like when the purchase is under $5 or $10 they’ll charge 50¢ or something.

Actually yes they can. The exception is certain states that restrict the difference between cards and other payments. Most merchants though do know how to handle basic math and choose not to make a difference. Some of the reasons are that they operate in some states that are restricted and others that are not. Sometimes it is because cards are easier to process. Sometimes they choose a small minimum purchase. Sometimes gas stations will give a cash discount. Sometimes they will surcharge a fixed amount. Sometimes they add a percentage. If they are really cruel like my main employer we have a separate table of costs for every item we sell if you try to hand us plastic/metal. Even the fees are increased.

TU:837 09/19/23 Bank of America--EX: 841 09/20/23 Experian--EQ:832 09/21/23 myFICO--Gardening since N/A
Active:
Bank of America (Unlimited Cash Rewards WMC, Customized Cash Rewards WMC, Customized Cash Rewards VSC), Capital One Walmart WMC, Chase(Amazon Prime VSC, Freedom Flex WEMC [x2], Freedom Unlimited VC), Citi Dividend MC, Citizens GreenSense MC, Curve WEMC, Discover It C, FNBO Ducks Unlimited VSC, PenFed (Platinum Rewards VSC, Pathfinder Rewards VSC), Synchrony Bank PayPal Cashback MC, UMB Bank Simply Rewards VC[Milford Federal], US Bank (Altitude Go VSC, Cash+ VSC [x2], Pick n Save/Metro Market WEMC)
Wishlist: AAA Daily Advantage Visa, AOD Signature, Bellco Colorado Rewards, Citi Custom Cash, EBates, Nusenda Platinum Cash Rewards, Ollo Optimum, Redstone Signature, Security Service Power Travel Rewards, Vantage West Connect Rewards
Message 17 of 25
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

Stumbled across this link one day.

American Express cards in India are somewhat different from US offerings.

See the link below.

And you can have *THIS* cool card ...

 

For a whopping first year fee of 1000 Rupee's ($13.91 USD)

and 4500 Rupees ($62.60 USD) starting in year two.

And the fee is waived if you charge 1,50,000 Rupees in prior year ($2,088.02 USD)

 

https://icm.aexp-static.com/Internet/internationalcardshop/en_in/images/cards/Membership_Rewards_Card.png

 

https://www.americanexpress.com/in/credit-cards/membership-rewards-card/?linknav=in-amex-cardshop-al...


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$850K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Aug 2023)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 18 of 25
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?

Interesting link I found before.


Popular Japanese credit cards

 

and links on this website to other pages with cards from Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada

 

https://cardtrak.com/popular-japanese-credit-cards/

 

https://cardtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Nicos-VIASO-Mastercard.png


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$850K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Aug 2023)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 19 of 25
SEAlifer
Established Contributor

Re: People outside the US: What are CCs like in your country?


@Aim_High wrote:

Interesting link I found before.


Popular Japanese credit cards

 

and links on this website to other pages with cards from Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada

 

https://cardtrak.com/popular-japanese-credit-cards/

 

https://cardtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Nicos-VIASO-Mastercard.png


Very interesting articles!

AU

Message 20 of 25
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