London Banter - View Single Post - How much was a ticket for the underground in the 60s?

Dik T. Winter

In article (Neil Williams) writes:
On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:08:40 GMT, "Dik T. Winter"
wrote:
At least in the Netherlands there is a maximum amount that can be payed with
a debit card. And that maximum is independent of the saldo on your account.
When I bought a computer quite some time ago (and, no, it was not a cheap
one), the total amount exceeded this maximum (DFL 2000 at that time), so I
had to pay the remainder by credit card.

With prior notification to your bank, why have one?

How can I give my bank a prior notification that I decide to buy something?

I found a (Visa)
debit card to be an extremely convenient way of paying just over
gbp7,000 for a car a few years ago, certainly compared to the risk of
cash or the cost and inconvenience of a banker's cheque.

Also credit cards are limited in the maximum amount and I think those
gbp7,000 would exceed my limit.

Note moreover that in the Netherlands most people do not have credit
cards for two of reasons:
(1) It costs money to get a credit card
(2) It is possible that a retailer asks you to pay more if you pay
by credit card
(1) is not so strong for a debit card because it costs less than a
credit card (something like EUR 5 a year for a debit card against
EUR 30 a year for a credit card). (2) is not necessary for debit cards
because the cost for the retailer is *much* less than with a credit card
(a few cent for each transaction vs. 3 to 5 % of the amount of the
transaction).
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/