Are debit cards accepted in Europe?

It has been widely reported that such cards often do not work at all overseas. I have no idea whether there are any exceptions, but I wouldn't even bother to take the card with me.

Edited to add: I think I misunderstood what sort of card sallytravels is asking about. See my later post below.

Thanks, craven. I like to make sure I am paying for things as I purchase them. If I purchase with a credit (not debit) card, I should be able to see the record of this purchase pretty fast and then even authorize payment through my bank. Would that work? (I am one of those dinosaurs just now learning to replace the old-fashioned wallet-style checks for debit and credit purchases here in the States!)

Yes, they will work in Europe just as they do in the US. Being a Visa branded card, they act as a credit card, but there could be glitches due to security measures that might be in place (if the PIN is valid, your card may restrict areas for use, the transaction may be declined until you verify you are in the area).

Most on here use them for ATM withdrawals only, many have concerns about using them for purchases since they are associated with your primary checking account, not sure if that is much a concern, your account is protected the same as a credit card.

sallytravels, I have my credit card set up to provide such notifications, but even here in the US its not a quick communication. As I understand it, it is not common in many European countries to use debit cards for point-of-sale purchases, so systems may not work the same as in the US.

We used our debit card in the Netherlands and in London in February. I don't think we ever used our credit card in London, just our debit card, including in the Tube and hotels. The only vendors who wouldn't accept it took only cash (and there weren't too many of those.)

Thanks to all of you. I will carefully use my debit card as well as my credit card for purchases, and visit the ATM when necessary, as well as notify my bank about this.

Just an FYI, if you use Apple Pay for credit or debit charges, it will show the transaction almost instantly along with prior transactions, so you can see a running balance of your charges at any time.

sallytravels, I have my credit card set up to provide such notifications, but even here in the US its not a quick communication.

My bank does this as well. Once the credit charge is sent through to Visa I get an email via my phone. (I have a minimum of $1.00 set for an alert.) This will alert you incase the amount is wrong or you did not make the charge. You should also alert your bank that you are out of the country from-until dates. This way foreign charges go through without a delay. Also, you should make sure you do not get charged foreign transaction fees on either your debit or credit cards.

I apologize. I believe I misunderstood the situation. I thought sallytravels was asking about the pre-loaded cards marketed by Visa (and I suppose others) rather than a standard debit card such as we all use in the US to extract money from ATMs. It's the former type of card (some of which also seem to charge fees every time you touch them) that have often been useless outside the US. I would expect my ATM/debit card to work in Europe if I tried to use it to pay for something. I don't do that, even at home, because the conventional wisdom (perhaps no longer accurate) was that there were better consumer-protection features on purchases made by credit card.

Sorry to have caused potential confusion.

We do have ApplePay, but I have not used it yet. I always notify my bank and will do that now. Thanks, all.

We only use credit card to charge anything anywhere. There are significant protections afforded credit card fraud that debit cards do not have.

There are significant protections afforded credit card fraud that debit cards do not have.

Very true. We only use debit cards for getting money from ATMs - and we're very careful doing that. Everything else is credit card or cash. If a credit card is skimmed or otherwise compromised, you have lots of things to protect you . Not always true with debit cards. If not caught right away, a compromised debit card can do serious damage to your bank account.

And remember when you use ATM’s, don’t use ones outside on the street.
There are many that are inside the banks, usually in a glassed-in foyer.
A little less chance of someone looking over your shoulder, or “helping” you .
I try and use them in a bank that is actually open, in case it eats my card.
In that case you may possibly get a bank employee to help you.

Good advice. Once inside a bank in Rome, the machine ate my card. it took forever to convey to the bank people what happened. They had to go into a room behind the machine and practically take it apart in order to get my crumpled card. Then they nicely suggested I use another bank ATM!

"And remember when you use ATM’s, don’t use ones outside on the street.
There are many that are inside the banks, usually in a glassed-in foyer."

Only while the bank is open. There have been recent reports of after-hours robbery, physical attacks while the customer is trapped inside the glass doors. So, only during bank hours when you know someone is inside the bank.

We only use credit card to charge anything anywhere. There are significant protections afforded credit card fraud that debit cards do not have.

We normally follow this practice, using our debit card only to get cash from ATMs. However, this past February, I unthinkingly came very close to maxing out our credit card, so relied primarily on our debit cards and cash for pretty much everything. Luckily, we had no problems.

I did use my debit card here at home just last week for a large purchase, but I knew the organization from whom (from which? For some reason, "whom" sounds better to me) I was making the purchase, and tracked the transaction online.

We usually use credit cards for traveling and pay it off when billed. Why? Easier to dispute questionable transactions.

And as mentioned make sure you have backup cards. We've had two cards eaten by ATMs over the years. One time I was jet-lagged so maybe it was my fault.

I use a debit card in any country,including US for one location,one purpose ONLY, to get cash from an ATM.
Debit cards linked to a checking account are too risky. You don't have the same protection in recovery of fraudulent transactions.
In the past month I had 2 friends who used a debit card for purchases in US, a bank issued card and a PayPal debit card (really bad idea)
One had everything taken out of their checking account, another was able to to promptly take action, but it was traumatic .
And if you have an overdraft account lined to your debit card, that can be emptied as well.
Credit cards in addition provide me with benefits, my venture capital and chase sapphire cards allow me to apply credit to travel purchases. But even if that were not the case,I would never use a debit card for a purchase.

What about using ApplePay to make purchases here and overseas? Is that also risky?

Sally, this might help:

https://support.apple.com/enus/HT203027#:~:text=Apple%20Pay%20is%20designed%20with,to%20help%20protect%20your%20transactions.

I wouldn't have any concerns tapping my Visa Debit card on a POS using Apple Pay ; I would have a concern if I used that same Visa Debit Card to pay for anything online where I had to physically enter the card number.