Bank card help - GERMANY

As far as I know, Maestro cards can be used just like Master cards, except that you cannot buy on credit (i.e. only spend what you have).
Alternatively, you could just get a normal credit card and make sure you don't spend more than the corresponding bank account contains.

You can find in supermarkets Rewe Penny und Netto a master card name jokermaster card for 10 Euro
First thing you have to activate it on the card web site then you can recharge it like what you want 25-50-100 Euro its up to you
You can find the recharging cards in the same supermarkets
I'm using it from Long time
And buying a lot of stuff in internet
Good luck sayo

Can't you just set up a PayPal account that gets paid over your Maestro card? As long as you keep enough money on your account to cover the usage, then you won't be in minus and have to pay any interest. I don't buy a lot online but when I do, there often seems to be an additional charge using most cards of any kind but not with PayPal.

1) Most internet payments allows "vorauskasse" with your bank account

2) when you buy digital services overseas (music, movies) your local mobile provider usually has a variety of alternative options available. Ie you can even buy prepaid itune cards at a trusted tobacconist shop.

3) in general if you have a smartphone the easiest is to use a mobile wallet- ie for deutsche telekom customers it is myWallet with which you can pay and receive money internationally

4) in addition most modern smartphones have a NFC chip with which you can pay contactless at most large grocery stores nowadays (+ the usual mcdonalds/subway/...)
Just lookout for this symbol at the counter:

(Funny thing is the the cash registry personnel usually don't understand the "magic" that happens, when you pay contactless by only swiping your phone in the vicinity instead of a plastic card.)

5) the true future is the bitcoin wallet (see app) that allows you to receive and pay bitcoins internationally, secure+ untraceable, without intermediary institutions(like banks) siphoning off high service charges for relatively low value-added/risk taken). The risk institutions had in 2016 is not the same as the risk they had in 1800's and they conveniently forgot to adjust for this in the absence of proper regulation or real competition.


6) btw paypal is also not free.
If you receive money (ie sold something) the surcharge is 1,9% + 0,35€ in the EU ( this might change in Britain, soon).
Paypal Participating partners pays
1.7% + 0,35€ (5.001 - 25.000€)
1,5% + 0,35€ (> 25.000€)

Bitcoin is still too dubious for mainstream usage - over 90% of transactions are for drugs, weapons and other illegals. Also, its value (compared to other currencies) fluctuates wildly.
Paypal charges for receiving money are roughly equal to credit card charges (which the merchant pays, and the end user probably never notices). Other payment methods probably cost similar, but it might be more hidden (e.g. In bad exchange rates, etc.). There is no free lunch!

I agree with Beppi. Bitcoin doesn't fit to the intended usage or need at all! Beckie mentions wanting to make normal online purchases and not large money transferes or other complicated things. For online shopping, one pays nothing extra over Pay Pal. If there are any charges, they are paid by the seller not the buyer. Why make things so complicated?

Hehe.  Whilst it too early to do microtractions with bitcoin (see my earlier statement), it is incorrect to say that the blockchain mechanism or bitcoin for that matter is not trustworthy. It is a popular rumour circulated by financial institutions because the transaction costs are minimized in its entirety. A successful bitcoin would render old retail banking obsolete like a sony walkman.

Blockchain as algorithm is more trustworthy than any large institution, because it doesn't allow a middle man to manipulate the transaction , to take a small cut for himself.

When we used cash the last millennium , it was also not traceable. You didn't know whether the same note was used by a criminal also.

This new notion that an individual is by default subject to leave digital traces without his/her consent->  that are subsequently available to all out there  with good and bad intent, is a larger threat in my opinion.

Look at it another way. It is so secure that even the biggest criminals can use it. Criminals themselves don't trust others by default - so for bitcoin to win their trust it has to be pretty safe for them. Mistrusting a mechanism because all types of people can use it is like avoiding all knives/syringes  because it is also used  by murderers and drug dealers.

Anyway, as mentioned in my ealier post, bitcoin is the future and not the solution to use today. I listed 4 other alternatives prior to that.

Well, imaybe you know much more about Bitcoin than me.
Judging by the hype, there must be something to it, although I really fail to grasp what:

- A system where all past transactions are lodged in a central database (the "blockchain") is either not anonymous (if the database can be read) or open for manipulation (by those who control the database).

-A system that has no transaction fees because those encrypting the transactions (which requires huge processing powers) are paid by additional bitcoins that are created as a side effect (the "mining" process) is a Pyramid scheme.

Even if I am wrong with this, my basic rule with financial instruments is not to invest in anything I do not understand - and so far nobody has been able to explain to me how Bitcoin actually works!

Hi Beppi, 

We might be sidelining the original question a wee bit - but in essence it provides more info on one of the 5 possible solutions. So we can entertain its potential oh so slightly if the originator does not object.

Onwards- to your valid concern : That is the beauty of blockchain.
There are no "central database" which can be manipulated or controlled by a single government or institution for their own benefit. And the algorithm is in public domain. In public domain means that the code itself cannot be manipulated without other seeing it. The  database is replicated over millions of nodes. The replication destinations are also itself is also coincendental so that a large supercomputer cannot predict all the nodes and manipulate them all together . So one transaction have many many siblings. If one institution tries to manipulate the chain then all other siblings will not match. Then that manipulated node chain dies/ends.

The blockchain works like you standing in the middle of a very large arena and 100 million anonymous witnesses noting that transaction.

You can see why banks are extremely nervous about the blockchain as it is. It will make it impossible for them to load hidden costs behind the scene. Of course they can add their costs, but it will be fully transparent to all.

As a consequence a number of them have started "flavours" of blockchain that allows such intransparencies.

Blockchain as a mechanism is a extremely useful in many other parts of industry like logistics, business partnerships, communications and will certainly become a cornerstone for the internet of everything (IOE) because in large complex chains , we know that there are parties that are not trustworthy and try to manipulate the truth.  Blockcain keeps gazillions of certified copies like certificates against which you can validate fraudsters.

It is a must read for anyone that wants to understand the potential / challenges  of  IOE. Innovation in this area will now start to follow Moore's law (where processing power already exceeded it)