Payment methods in Austria

Austrians use a lot of cash, cards are not so popular. They do have Bankomat or Maestro cards which are shortly changing to Visa/Mastercard debit cards.
Austrian banks are not keen on issuing credit cards. If they do to make online payments easier, expect a card which will direct debit at the end of each month.
Household bills are all payable by giro transfer or direct debit. Online banking also available.

When I first moved here (5 years ago) I found Austria to be wildly behind the times when it came to debit and credit cards. My first "credit card" from the bank was more like a membership card. I couldn't use it online. Even now I struggle to get my Maestro working online.

Fortunately there is a free credit card (Free.at) which works all over the EU and America. I use this mostly for online payments.

I still find it crazy that you have to pay for a bank account, AND pay to put money IN to that account, AND have to pay for extras like a credit card or a secondary debit card.

I still have my UK account for any UK purchases (and as a backup) and I also have a free borderless Transferwise prepay credit card which can be used worldwide (if you are transfering money between countries it is much cheaper through this system).

Austria are slowly catching up (kicking and screaming in to the 21st Century) but I would like to see a vast improvement in the number of banks that work with NFC ystems. At the moment only Apple pay is generally supported, so my Fitbit watch or Google Pay phone can't be used anywhere in the country.