The upward trend in cashless payment with the Girocard continues. Banks and savings banks promise further possible uses: soon it should be possible to pay with it in all situations.
More and more consumers are using the Girocard for cashless payments. According to figures from the German banking industry, they used it to pay for purchases around 3.65 billion times in the first half of this year. That was 15 percent more than in the first six months of 2022, as the Frankfurt facility Euro Kartensysteme announced today.
“The German banks and savings banks want to use the tailwind of the high level of acceptance to accelerate the development of new solutions for everything to do with the Girocard,” said Euro Kartensysteme. “The long-term goal is that it should be possible to pay with the Girocard in every conceivable situation in Germany.”
For example, a digital receipt is being worked on together with trading partners. The focus of many developments is the digital Girocard in smartphones or smartwatches, explained Euro Kartensysteme: “For example, it should be expanded to include the option of making payments in apps.” Paying with Girocard will still work even if the Maestro payment system is gradually phased out.
Contactless payment preferred
Above all, contactless payment by card, smartphone or smartwatch is becoming increasingly popular: In four out of five cases (80.9 percent) in the period from January up to and including June 2023, payment was made using this method using the Girocard. At the end of June 2022, this value was still 74.3 percent; by the end of 2022 it was already 79 percent.
Contactless payment is possible with Girocards and credit cards that have a so-called NFC chip. In addition, money can be transferred contactlessly with a smartphone or smartwatch with services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay or with banking apps. The data for processing the payment is exchanged in encrypted form with the terminal at the checkout when customers hold their card, smartphone or smartwatch close to the device. For small amounts, it is not even necessary to enter the secret number (PIN).
The majority of the approximately 100 million Girocards that banks and savings banks in Germany have issued to their customers are equipped with the contactless function. According to Euro Kartensysteme, more than 96 percent of the almost 1.1 million terminals in retail now allow quick payment in passing.
sales increase
Because small amounts are often paid without cash in this way, the average amount paid with the Girocard is falling. According to the information, it was 40.73 euros across all payment transactions in the first half of the current year. A year earlier it was 42.36 euros, and at the end of 2022 it was 42.34 euros.
According to Euro Kartensysteme, total sales with the Girocard in the first half of 2023 were EUR 149 billion, around eleven percent above the level of the same period of the previous year of EUR 134 billion. In 2022 as a whole, it was a good 284 billion euros.
Cash remains popular
Critics of cashless payment appreciate, among other things, the financial privacy of cash. According to the Deutsche Bundesbank, cash is still a very popular means of payment, both in terms of turnover and the number of payment transactions. There has been a slow, steady decline in usage over the years. However, it is not foreseeable that cash will be completely replaced by cashless means of payment.
In the last major study by the Deutsche Bundesbank, a total of 58 percent of payment transactions for the purchase of goods and services were settled with banknotes and coins in 2021. The proportion has fallen compared to 2017, when cash was still used for almost three quarters (74 percent) of all payment transactions.