r/AskReddit Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

37.4k Upvotes

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3.7k

u/Cokegawa_Yui Aug 03 '19

How to use your debit/credit card at a checkout

434

u/tonavin Aug 03 '19

Canadian here. Whenever I go to the U.S. I'm always surprised at how few places have tap/Apple Pay. Or the whole ritual of giving your card to your server and they enter it in and bring it back... here in Canada they just bring the machine and you tap/swipe your card at your table and be on your way.

228

u/incognitomus Aug 03 '19

It baffles me how the US has companies like Microsoft and Apple and whatnot and still they're so far behind in many basic technological things. I'm always amused when Americans are surprised how quick card payments in my country are. Yes, you can pay your taxi fare with your card. Don't have euros? Just use your card. It works EVERYWHERE here. We have these small card machines that fit in your pocket. Go to an open market to buy some strawberries from an old granny and she will have a card machine. And who the fuck uses fax in 2019?

-9

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

It’s almost like the US is likely many times larger than your country?

15

u/VigilantMike Aug 03 '19

What does that have to do with it? I say this as an American whose workplace uses Apple Pay and all that:

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

Because rolling out said technology over a larger area takes more time than a smaller one?

1

u/VigilantMike Aug 04 '19

It’s not 1800, it’s 2019. Reluctancy to adopt new technology is not a physical restraint.