General differences between Poland and the USA?

That's right : when made to look stupid, resort to attacking the poster!

For what it is worth, I saw an American using a mag stripe and signature earlier. Unthinkable in Europe now.

It is a benefit and mincing words won't change this. Even the British Treasury calls it a benefit: hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/benefits.htm

Collecting National Insurance while living in Poland and posting on polishforums all day long makes you a dole troll.


So you've done nothing. It sounds more like you were living in a drug fueled hippy commune before being kicked out. If you had made a mark it would be evident and you wouldn't need to hum and haw about it.


US$3 million in direct investments here.


You know banks are there but know next to nothing about them or their relationship with their account holders. Technology changes all the time and retail consumers care little about the technology which goes into their cards. All they want is to buy what they want with little or no fees and get their money back if they are unsatisfied with their purchase or have an unauthorized charge. Banks on both sides of the Atlantic have very similar policies which make the convenience seamless for their global traveling customers. But you wouldn't know this.


LOL! You are the poster child for this sort of behavior. If you really believed this then 99.9% of your own posts should be binned.


Earlier where? If you are in Poland like you tell everyone you are then seeing an American using a mag stripe and signature wouldn't be unthinkable in Europe now.

It is unthinkable because we moved on a long time ago - most Europeans would be thoroughly surprised at the usage of such...ancient technology. Even the majority of ATM's these days access the chip, not the mag stripe. I'm really not sure why you keep defending a system that is clearly unfit for purpose.


Hardly - it's an insurance payout. Trying to claim that it's a benefit is ridiculous, given that it's not subject to any means testing nor is it provided solely to those in need.


You seem to be rather familiar with the subject.


Remind us who was claiming (claiming) a 3 million investment in Poland?

Then again, it's only to be expected from a guest user on PF.


Customers do care, hence why Europe has modern technologies used for banking while the US system relies on paper and mag stripes.

Remind us why many US companies still rely heavily on chequebooks? It's not exactly the sign of a modern banking system, is it?

Just a few differences off the top of my head:

Polish (and possibly European) banking systems, especially online banking systems, are more modern and imo better than the U.S. ones. The primary way of transferring funds between banks/accounts is via "przelew" (an EFT), as opposed to writing checks in the U.S. In Poland, "przelewy" are free or dirt cheap at most of the banks. You log in, type in the destination bank account number, set the amount and click "send" - that's about it. On the flip side, nowadays checks are mostly unheard of.

Services of a Notary Public are expensive. In the U.S. you can get documents notarized for a small fee, but mostly for free if you have an account with a bank that offers such services. In Poland, you have to set an appointment with a Notary Public in his office (it's a regulated profession, with limits, etc.) and pay up your a$$ for any tiny thing.

Forget about free refills on your drinks. My estimate - based on my own experience - is that only around 0.5% of all businesses offer free refills with your drink purchase. Also, the sizes of drinks are noticeably smaller. If you are a fan of ice cubes in your drinks, prepare for some serious embitterment.

An unnecessary amount of traffic signs on the road. While in the U.S. the number of signs is kept to a minimum, in EU you might be overwhelmed at first when driving. However, EU knows how to place their STOP signs, as they are being placed reasonably on the roads, while in the U.S. every other intersection has a STOP sign instead of a yield sign. My personal pet peeve.

We use metric system

Air Conditioning is a highly optional amenity. Apartment blocks are now still being built without them, or even a predesignated spot for installation. In the U.S., most of the time, it's unheard of not to have an AC unit.

In the U.S. the Police pull you over by driving behind you with their lights on and siren blaring. In Poland, you can expect the Police to be represented by two police officers hidden on the side of the road, in a nearby bush, clocking your speed. They pull you over by waving a "lizak" (a lollipop).

These are just the very few I could think of right now.

HMRC is not the British Treasury: they are two completely separate departments. And the UK state pension is actually administered by the Dept for Work and Pensions:

gov.uk/browse/benefits
gov.uk/browse/working/state-pension

I see you are as knowledgeable about UK pensions as you are about American and Polish banks.


In reality I spent an academic year training teachers at a Polish university. I see you are as knowledgeable about the work of Peace Corps in Poland as you are about American and Polish banks.


Really? So perhaps you can explain why in the EU and the USA different parties are liable for fraudulent charges? I doubt it.

You mean washing up liquid??

Alright that's so cheap that's nothing to pay.

Also so what is the difference between these chips in the cards and what we currently use? I personally don't mind using my magnetic strip and signature not that they even check your signature.

Magnetic strips can be cloned very very easily.

Do you not use Chip and PIN in the States?
Have you never heard of EMV?
The French introduced the system over 20 years ago and the UK has been using it for 10 years now... it sounds a little strange that US still hasn't caught up with the rest of the world...

They still use cheques as an everyday part of the banking system, so you can hardly expect them to embrace EMV!

You are joking...!?!
I first first used Chip and PIN in New Zealand like 10 years ago...
On the flip side of the coin, I'm sure you don't have to pay for a bank account in US...

Some banks in the United States may require a minimum dollar amount, to open a savings account. Others may require a minimum monthly balance, in order to keep the account open.

With most accounts you have a choice either you can have at least 300$ in the account and then their is no monthly charge or you have to use the card at least 5 times a month. Like if I don't use my card at least 5 times i will get charged a service charge of 5.99 a month. And then of coarse you get charged when you use the ATM to get cash. But no it doesn't usually cost anything just to open an account unless it is an exclusive type of an account. I got 150$ put into my account just for opening it.

Everything depends on what type of account you have for another instance I have had an account open for 10 years and have never used it. I put money in it as a kid, but just leave it now to collect what little interest it can. I can have this account open forever if I want and will never have to pay a charge or anything on it.

Really, read on:

"Smart cards, first introduced in the mid-1980s in Europe, store data directly on the card via a microchip. Smart card adoption has been high in Europe, driven by challenging credit card verification capabilities in a telecom infrastructure that is not as robust as that of North America. The smart card has helped to reduce fraud at considerable cost savings for card issuers. In North America, the robust telecom infrastructure allows real-time verification of magnetic stripe cards for banking and loyalty reward programmes without the need for additional infrastructure."

thewisemarketer.com/features/read.asp?id=47

My account is free as long as I use my card for at least 100zl a month. It would be virtually impossible not to do this! The concept of paying for ATM transactions isn't common in Poland however.

As for you Meathead, the fact remains that the magnetic stripe can be cloned very quickly and easily.

Probably why we have so much credit card fraud in the u.s

I wonder why you failed to quote the date from that article. Could it be because that article was "Published by The Wise Marketer in June 2004."?


That is one reason. Another reason is that people in the EU who have a stolen card have much less use for it at all unless they know the PIN. A lot of the card fraud affecting EU cards is now cloned cards being used outside the EU in countries where Chip & PIN is not used, countries such as the USA.

How are magnetic strips not better with the your chip in your card people can easily steal all of your information by just having a card reading device nearby.

Let's stay on task here. The question was "Also I hear that in Germany they don't really use credit cards you have to carry cash on you, is that true in Poland?"

Now why is that they use cash? Because there is more credit card fraud or is it because much more personal information is carried on the "smart cards" and people don't like using them?

In any case, it's impossible to live in the USA these days and not have a checking account because everyone pays bills online now and ATM withdrawals at your bank are free. some banks/credit unions have free checking accounts regardless, others require that you have direct deposit with your job, that's it. i don't know anyone that actually receives a check from their employer anymore, it just gets wired to their checking account.

Not really, for a start, you're mixing up two different technologies.


Have you actually ever been to Europe?

They use cash for cultural reasons. Germany has always been a bit odd in Europe with the acceptance of cards - it goes back to how their banking system evolved and how they really only started to embrace bank cards for transactions not so long ago. France, the UK and Poland - card usage is widespread and common.

wow, 2 pages about magnetic stripes.

I suspect that they have experience with paying bank fees every time you turn around. So they avoid banks as much as possible.

How hard would it be to visit Poland in you don't speak the language do most people speak English??

You will always find somebody speaking English, but many times you will have to search. All people younger than 30 know some English, but minority speaks fluently. Most of older don't know even basics, because they were learning Russian in school. Also knowledge of English is higher in bigger cities, because there is higher proportion of younger and longer educated people. So to answer your question. No most people don't speak English. Wikipedia says 28%

Do people in Poland drive on the opposite side of the road?

I'd think twice about going to any American university. Cheating and affirmative action have destroyed their credibility.

@mochadot18, you can read about it here: bit.ly/YO4hXC

Not true, with open enrollment and student loans there's no reason to cheat. It's not that competitive.

Poland recently hosted (with Ukraine) the European Tournament in Soccer. Heavy emphasis was made on tourism, i.e. English speaking workers. Poland has made great strives in this department the past 10-20 years. But the farther you travel from the cities, the less often this is the case. In the villages you will find it very difficult.