The first time I read "US store X supports Apple Pay or Google Pay now" I was really confused. I didn't know that was a thing. Here (NL) contactless payments works with every debit card, physical or stored Apple Google/Pay, in every store. There is no difference between payment providers, everyone offers contactless payments and it works with every bank.
(The only exception are credit cards, but they are not used a lot, mostly for online purchases outside The Netherlands or when renting a car abroad.)
> Here (NL) contactless payments works with every debit card, physical or stored Apple Google/Pay, in every store
That's how it works in the US as well. You might be conflating Apple Pay with Apple Wallet, which stores your credit cards for tap-to-pay. Most people in the US use Apple Wallet/Google Wallet to digitally store their credit/debit cards, and use those cards to pay at the store by tapping the POS terminal.
For example, I use Apple Wallet for nearly every transaction, but I never use Apple Pay/Apple Card as the payment method.
Can you point me to any documentation on how to use a credit card in Apple Wallet without using Apple Pay? To my knowledge that is not possible. You might be using Apple Pay without realizing.
https://www.wikihow.com/Add-Cards-to-Apple-Wallet
> Once added, your card can be used to pay for things anywhere Apple Pay is accepted
The method described in that guide is basically how you setup Apple Pay.
Apple Wallet is simply where the card is located on your phone. Once you use it to pay, you will use Apple Pay.
Last time I visited NL many shops (including Albert Heijn) only supported Maestro, so as a foreigner you effectively can't pay with Visa or Mastercard.
Not with Visa/Mastercard credit cards, but Visa/Mastercard debit cards work everywhere. In fact, my current main card is a Visa debit card (not Maestro or V-Pay, it has the same code format as a credit card and a CVC code, which my older Maestro/V-Pay cards didn't have).
This is one of the reasons why Garmin Pay is pretty useless here. Most banks only support it with credit cards and a lot of stores do not take credit card-based contactless payments (with some exceptions like e.g. Jumbo and Decathlon).
The reason is that debit cards have been the standard cards since the beginning. Nowadays more people have a credit card for online shopping outside the country, etc. But when I was young my dad had a credit card and that was fairly exceptional.
Back then there was still GWK. You could buy rolls of nickels to add some weight to your savings, american dollars and other foreign monies.
I'd buy myself a shitload of rupees (for a couple of tenners) if they were still around. Such a missed chance.