logos999

Yes it looks this way on the outside and true, the U.K has indeed been more "americanized" than other countries in Europe, on the inside the differences are drastic.

kerouac

I would like to point out that all of the French chip cards also have the magnetic strip so that they can be used anywhere in the world. And I would also like to point out that it is the magnetic strip that is used at autoroute toll machines, since no code is entered. The non acceptance of American cards at French toll booths has nothing to do with chip-or-not cards. I don't know why some American cards are not accepted. My parents, when they would come to France, had no problems with the toll booths using their Chase and BofA cards.

logos999

I sure love the US, just not the way people live. Some have come to their senses, a vast majority is simply scary. They live like there's no tomorrow and they don't need to care about anything. They don't even understand why they need to care about anything in the first place.

NeoPatrick

And some of them, believe it or not, don't make generalizations about "the vast majority" of the citizens of other countries.

logos999

Patrick, just go outside and count how many SUV you see in the street. It's a statement.

kerouac

However, "some of them" is unfortunately not the majority.

NeoPatrick

Certainly the "vast majority" of cars in our streets here are NOT SUVs. Nor are they big Mercedes, which I believe are made somewhere outside the US and are not necessarily any more "planet saving" than many SUVs.

What's your point again? Didn't it have something to do with banks being charitable operations rather than businesses looking to make profits? How did we get to SUVs?

tomassocroccante

On the payment method discussion, both North America and Europe are probably behind Japan and S. Korea, where I believe you can pay with your cell phone and skip the card and keypad altogether - Royal Bank of Canada is about to try it out. It works rather like the cards you "wave" at a machine to pay for fast purchases (Visa), what is called Near Field Communication. You wave your phone at the receiver.

Stay tuned.

logos999

>What's your point again?
That it's impossible for you to understand. No matter how hard I try.

NeoPatrick

Yes, talking about "the vast majority" of Americans driving SUV's to explain why banks don't change their scanners is difficult for me to follow, logos. Sorry, I'm so stupid.

Actually, I'm only kidding you. I do get your point. You've made it crystal clear over and over again -- "all Americans are self serving money grubbing low lifes." See, I DO understand your point.

logos999

You're SOOO far away from understanding even a single bit of what I've tried to tell you. Can't help you here.