Europe doesn't have credit cards, it's all debit cards. And I see a US system much more advantageous than in Europe. In many European countries cards aren't as widely accepted as in US.
What? Generalizations about Europe always seem to fail. Credit cards are widely used in Europe. In some European countries cash is starting be used rarely and payment is mostly done with a card or a phone.
One might argue that one benefit of the European system is that credit card processing fees imposed on the retailers are regulated, which ultimately causes credit card "points" to be uncommon. This in turn makes life simpler because there is no need to game the credit card benefits system. You can, however, get up to 0.5% cash back at least where I live.
I can confirm that credit cards are not used by a majority of people in France. Debit cards are the norm.
Credit cards are mostly used by businesses but individuals rarely have them as they are hard to get in the first place.
In France, it is also customary to use your checking account with an allowed overdraft amount.
That means you can end up with a balance of -500 euros but do not have to pay fees unless you go over this agreed amount.
This amount is negotiated with the bank when you open your account and can vary depending on your monthly salary.
Unlike a credit card though where you can spend as long as you have money left on your card, the bank can cancel your overdraft and ask you to reimburse the money at any time.
You do not earn points with the overdraft and contrary the Credit card system where having a credit card and spending some money actually increases your credit rating so long as you pay the money back in time, using your overdraft is considered a bad thing by most banks.
They are still going to give you the overdraft because if you go over the agreed amount then the fees become staggering.
