TravelerMax

I understand what you're saying, but it's funny - just as I got to the last line I was thinking "hopefully Europe will move to the future and there will be payment system harmony." :-)

Louie_LI

Which is kind of why I didn't go into detail about Confinoga.

I have nothing to add to bodory’s answer to these questions.

jbcarioca

Actually Europe has. The entire Euro zone has no cross-border fees, including money transfer. All fees are required to be identical domestic and Euro zone. All of Europe including non-Euro countries and non-EU countries use the BIC system for money transfer. The US is the odd player out in this, using only the antiquated ABA system. Europe predominately uses standing orders for almost all payments and has had automatic systems for years. The US is struggling to implement the Check 21 truncation process. Many US government functions still demand checks. Even in backward brazil the government no longer accepts checks, dealing entirely with electronic transfers.

Payment system harmony requires all parties to accept common standards. the US has never been noted for playing well with others. Witness that the US still cannot seem to go metric. Witness CDMA.

The US is also still not accepting EMV (chip/pin) for cards even though that system reduces fraud and authorization system costs. The US still objects to the capital costs and ignores the operational benefits.

imagineertobe

(and the rest of your comment)

+1 ^

TravelerMax

I'm aware of all of your points and I don't foresee any rush for the US to change systems that "work" for us. But to cater to the intended humor of my first point, it's still a very rare site to find minimum charge requirements to use credit cards here. It's nice to have the progress of being able to go cashless when buying a postage stamp. :-)

IrishRed

Do automated gas stations accept Euro cash at the pumps?

stimpy

None that I've seen or noticed. Maybe they exist somewhere.

jbcarioca

I agree with that point, one reason why Moneo and other 'electronic purse' systems are so popular in Europe. The cost of accepting them, or debit cards, is negligible to small merchants who often have very tiny margins (max 12 basis points) so every tobacconist (they sell stamps in France) seems to accept them in Europe. The US system also works but has much higher cost for small merchants.

Wierd to see an area in which US costs are higher than those of Europe, but this is one of those arcane areas.

Villavic

I’m planning to go to Loira valley and other near towns by car. I’ve been reading about how to pay with credit card at gas stations. Some travelers mention that at self-service stations, they always charge 130 euros, no matter if final price is less. And days later they refund the difference of what was not consumed. Those reviews are from 2 years ago aprox. Is still that way? I read some comments that it took several days for refund, or even they never received the refund (foreign cards).

So that's why I want to avoid self-service stations. Is it easy to find gas stations with attendant? Do they belong to specific brands? Do you know what they are? Or how to identify/find stations with attendant?

mlin32

The self-service stations are by far the majority. They place a preautorisation/hold for 150€ but only the actually filled amount is finally charged.

The duration of the preautorisation depends on your bank.

The only alternative is to prepay in advance during normal business hours. Go to the cashier and prepay an amount of your choice, the pump is then opened to dispense up to that prepayment.

A similar process occurs in places like Canada and the US, except the preautorisation amounts tend to be lower.

Goldorak

I havent't seen an attended station in France for decades. I believe 99% of the stations are self-service. The reports you are mentioning are totally fake. A pre-authorization can be made sometimes but it's released very quickly.
The best for you is to use the pumps where you pay with your card directly at the pump (as opposed to the one where you go inside to pay to an attendant).

Villavic

Thanks for the info. Just in case, at those stations where I can pay inside, they receive a deposit cash and later give back the change, don't they?

kerouac2

Why are we piggybacking on a thread from 11 years ago when just about everything has changed.

Autoroute stations (which you want to avoid due to the price) always have an attendant for payment if you are not using the card machine. Hypermarket and supermarket stations have an attendant during business hours. The other stations are variable, but most have someone on duty during normal business hours.

If you have no card at all, you just go into the manned places and pay cash.

mlin32

Yes. So an example : You want to fill up your vehicle, so you go inside first and hand the cashier 80 € for pump n° 5 for diesel. The cashier unblocks the diesel nozzle for pump 5. You go back to your vehicle and begin filling.

If your car needs less, say, just 72,50 €, then the pump clicks off normally at a full tank and you go back and retreive 7,50€ in change.
If your car needs equal or more than 80 €, pump will stop at 80€. No need to go back in unless you want to fill up more (e.g returning a hire car).

kerouac2

In many cases, no prepayment is required. If it is required, it is indicated at the pumps (in French of course). Generally you just push the start button, and they will unlock the pump in a moment or two. After all, you are under video surveillance at all times.