Melvint83: I strongly suspect some lack of agreements on the side of QNB. It was not magnetic stripe for sure.

Tomici: I find interesting your remark about Romania. I am planning to spend vacations in Czech Republic, does anyone have experience with that country and Qatar-issued cards?

Of course I will take my UK and Brazilian cards as a backup, as they will work for sure, but QNB is just more convenient, since my salary goes here, and I won't need to go extra mile to pay cards from home.