Hello everyone,
I’m living in Germany and looking for a good PayPal alternative. I mainly need it for:
- Sending money to friends
- Paying online, especially to small vendors
- Ordering food and everyday purchases
I’ve heard about Bunq, Klarna, Revolut, and N26, but I’m not sure which one would be best for my needs. Has anyone had experience with these services in Germany? Which would you recommend and why?
Thanks in advance!
You can do all of that with a normal bank account in Europe.
Vendors will accept debit cards and there’s a thing called SEPA Instant Payments.
You do not need ‘a PayPal’.
Thrat being said, I keep my ‘main bank account’ separate from my ‘spending bank account’ for which I use Revolut.
Debit cards and Revolut use the Visa/MC networks, which are US-based. Revolut even uses Visa for peer-to-peer transactions.
Well, as mentioned. Use your normal bank account.
To the best of my knowledgeable, there no ‘pan-European payment system which would replace credit/debit cards’.
For online payments, you can use SEPA Instant Payments or somple bank account transfers. There’s also Gyropay, but only for Germany.
If you want to pay for your out-of-pocket vegetables and other small expenses IRL, cash is your only other option.
Some bank also give ability to use “virtual card”. You select an amount, add a time frame and it will create a virtual card to use.