this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
31 points (94.3% liked)

Buy European

5754 readers
1395 users here now

Overview:

The community to discuss buying European goods and services.

Matrix Chat

Rules:

  • Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. No direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments.

  • Do not use this community to promote Nationalism/Euronationalism. This community is for discussing European products/services and news related to that. For other topics the following might be of interest:

  • Include a disclaimer at the bottom of the post if you're affiliated with the recommendation.

  • No russian suggestions.

Feddit.uk's instance rules apply:

  • No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or xenophobia
  • No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies
  • No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users
  • Do not share intentionally false or misleading information
  • Do not spam or abuse network features.
  • Alt accounts are permitted, but all accounts must list each other in their bios.
  • No generative AI content

Benefits of Buying Local:

local investment, job creation, innovation, increased competition, more redundancy.

European Instances

Lemmy:

Matrix:

Related Communities:

Buy Local:

Continents:

European:

Buying and Selling:

Boycott:

Countries:

Companies:

Stop Publisher Kill Switch in Games Practice:

Banner credits: BYTEAlliance

founded 3 months ago
MODERATORS
maam@feddit.uk
alex@jlai.lu
circledot@feddit.org
Argyle13@lemmy.world
Sunshine@feddit.is
Sunshine@lemmy.ca
buyeuropean@lemmy.ca
buyeuropean@feddit.org
lazycog@feddit.uk
31
A European replacement for Wallet: Curve (www.curve.com)
submitted 1 day ago by blackbeard@europe.pub to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Curve is a Google wallet replacement app that consolidates multiple bank cards into a single smart card and digital wallet, making it easier to manage your finances. Here are some key points:

PRO:

  1. Curve allows you to link multiple debit and credit cards to one Curve card, simplifying your wallet and making it easier to switch between accounts.
  2. The app claim to offer robust security features, including instant card freezing, transaction notifications, and the ability to set spending limits.
  3. Curve provides cashback and rewards on purchases, which can add up over time and provide extra value.
  4. The app is intuitive and easy to navigate, with clear transaction histories and spending insights.
  5. Go Back in Time: A unique feature that lets you switch the card used for a transaction after the purchase, providing flexibility and control.

CONS:

  1. While the basic version is free, some premium features come with a subscription fee.
  2. Curve is not available in all countries, however, should be available in all EU and the UK.

top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] noodlejetski@lemm.ee 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

okay, and who are they selling my transaction history to?

[โ€“] blackbeard@europe.pub 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They got a privacy policy that tell you everything they do with your data. Isn't an open source app, isn't privacy focused and that's absolutely bad. But, my alternative is keep using Google. This is an alternative.

[โ€“] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 9 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

You have a third option beyond "google as card aggregator" and "curve as card aggregator". Third option is no card aggregator.

[โ€“] blackbeard@europe.pub 4 points 7 hours ago

I want an app like that just to be able to pay with my phone, the rest of functionalities are quite superfluous to me.

[โ€“] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 9 points 20 hours ago

But bruh.... How will I digital?

[โ€“] HK65@sopuli.xyz 4 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Does the NFC payment feature work without Google Play?

[โ€“] blackbeard@europe.pub 3 points 7 hours ago

Yes, it should work on a degoogled phone, that's my point in using it but there are some review on streaming platforms you might want to see. It's definitely working on E/OS.

I'm running some additional tests in the next few weeks.

[โ€“] eutampieri@feddit.it 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

There are two (really) good things about Curve:

  • no forex for your first 250โ‚ฌ
  • fallback cards if the selected card declines the transaction

Otherwise, would not recommend

Edit: here https://feddit.it/post/17220902 they say that on Android it will work as an NFC wallet, so I'm wrong!

[โ€“] blackbeard@europe.pub 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is there any other replacement for Google Wallet you would recommend?

[โ€“] eutampieri@feddit.it 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hi OP! I didnโ€™t mean to be negative, but it depends on what you use x Wallet for:

  • if you use to consolidate cards, then it will be a bit harder but it will accomplish the goal
  • if you use to pay from your phone, then there are a multitude of national apps, which UX this again a bit worse, imho. In Italy we have Satispay, then there's Wero Pay (DE, FR, BE, NL iirc), Swish (SE) and Mobile Pay (DK, FI and maybe NO). We should aim for a EU-wide payment app
[โ€“] blackbeard@europe.pub 4 points 1 day ago

There is a project for a wide eu platform, it goes a bit further than that including other functionality, however, even if they started a few years ago, they didn't make massive progress. This is the only service based in Europe (UK) that provides service to all Europe.

[โ€“] AND_MY_AXE@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why not? Got Curve for about two years to make Amazon and other online payments with my otherwise unsupported Diners Club via Curve. Works really good. Although I wish there was a EU based payment system that's available everywhere...

[โ€“] eutampieri@feddit.it 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Thatโ€™s an edge case I didnโ€™t consider. Dinerโ€™s cards arenโ€™t so widespread.

Edit: there are a few cases where Curve is really useful, but not as an Apple/Google Wallet replacement

[โ€“] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How on earth does combining cards work, and what on earth are the benefits (and drawbacks)?

[โ€“] blackbeard@europe.pub 3 points 1 day ago

Ask them. I would never use that, got a card and it's more than enough, but...it might be useful for others.

[โ€“] MoonlightFox@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I am not a huge fan of having multiple cards. Its economic suboptimization.

People tell me they get cashback, points and all sorts of advantages.

If you calculate the actual savings in euros, its not that impressive.

If you spend 10 000โ‚ฌ a year with 1% cashback. That's 100โ‚ฌ. Which is more than nothing. However you can ignore the whole min/maxing with cards and just make a couple more meals from scratch, bring coffee instead of buying for a couple weeks, buy something used instead of new once or twice etc.

The time spent getting all these points and maximizing is often comprehensive. The credit card bill has to be paid every month, if you miss it once, then the whole thing was a waste of time. So you have to be certain. Checking if everything is paid is thus important.

Also they loyalty part is manipulative and might not actually be beneficial in many cases.

So I stick to my ONE debit card.

[โ€“] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Youโ€™d better cut out the avocado toast too. Thatโ€™s the real budget killer.

[โ€“] MoonlightFox@lemmy.world 0 points 17 hours ago

Haha, with a price of about 1.5 euros per avocado. You got to skip a lot of toasts ๐Ÿ˜‚