this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2026
125 points (100.0% liked)

BuyFromEU

5297 readers
107 users here now

Welcome to BuyFromEU - A community dedicated to supporting European-made goods and services!

Feel free to post, comment and vote, be excellent to each other and follow the rules.

We also invite you to subscribe to:

Logo generated with mistral le chat Banner by Christian Lue on unsplash.com

founded 11 months ago
MODERATORS
 

I know Wero is still in its infancy and the digital Euro is still a few years away, even if you believe there'll be no delays. But depending on where you live you can already do a lot for EU financial independence.

  • Use cash (very easy but not ideal in many situations/online)
  • Use a national payment providers:
    • Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช: Girocard
    • Netherlands ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ: iDEAL
    • France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท: Cartes Bancaires
    • Poland ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ: BLIK
    • Italy ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น:Bancomat/PagoBancomat
    • Many other options, check for your country
  • Use SEPA direct debit mandate or wire money directly if you can
  • Sign up to a european crypto exchange and use it for direct purchases. although I get if you don't like crypto but this is just for direct purchases

Otherwise American Payment providers usually get at least 1% and if you use card payment a lot over time that can really add up. This also mostly makes sense when buying from a european company. For US companies it really doesn't matter much. I've been trying to replace Amazon with Otto and I use SEPA direct debit mandate to avoid fees.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] george@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Everyone that I know pays with their phone. So yeah, Apple Pay and Google Pay are big in some parts of Europe at least.

[โ€“] Kornblumenratte@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I pay with my phone using my bank's app. No need for Apple or Google stuff whatsoever.

[โ€“] george@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Not all banks have this. And I think this is only possible on Android? From what I know Apple does not allow to replace Apple Pay.

Yes, I cannot find a corresponding IOS-App for my bank. VR Bank offers it, though: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/vr-banking-einfach-sicher/id1505855171

[โ€“] MoreMagic@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

I have iPhone, and I use other payment apps. Swish (native Swedish direct payment, mostly p2p, but also widely used by small businesses) and Klarna.