European here. Happily never been a customer of PayPal or used harmful stuff like Bitcoin (ponzi-system). “Here” was never a need for them.
Why?
The banking system in Europe relied for long time on federated and regulated wire-transfer/direct-debit.
More than a decade ago SEPA made cross-country transfers easily. And the instant-transfers are great! Little to no fees for transfers itself. Downsides? Both should have been added much earlier! Especially instant-transfers. Most Europeans don’t value that.
I’m always baffled by differences, especially using checks. And yes, we rely on cash because…you’ve seen PayPal? And fragile infrastructure.
The US direct transfer system is supposed to launch later this year. If it works out, it is going to absolutely crush PayPal, and Roundrect Cash or whatever they call themselves these days. I can’t wait.
FedNow is between banks, though, not an end-user service. Assuming it is as awesome as Zelle is, I don't think it'll crush my habit of using Venmo (which is a PayPal subsidiary).
Even as a European, there are times when paypal is the only viable solution. Though, they have been become less and less over the years, but they still are there. For example, looking at Humble Bundle just now, there is no SEPA-Option. It's paypal, credit card, Klana or Alipay. And I trust Klana and Alipay even less than paypal.
Why?
The banking system in Europe relied for long time on federated and regulated wire-transfer/direct-debit. More than a decade ago SEPA made cross-country transfers easily. And the instant-transfers are great! Little to no fees for transfers itself. Downsides? Both should have been added much earlier! Especially instant-transfers. Most Europeans don’t value that.
I’m always baffled by differences, especially using checks. And yes, we rely on cash because…you’ve seen PayPal? And fragile infrastructure.