consumer
Cashless payment by Girocard at a record level
Paying with the smartphone in the supermarket. Photo: Franziska Gabbert/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Bill and coin or plastic card? Consumers are increasingly opting for cash at the checkout. For almost three quarters of all payment transactions, they only hold their Girocard up to the payment terminal.
Cashless payment with the Girocard received another strong boost in the second year of the pandemic.
Never before have Germany’s consumers used the plastic card so often instead of notes and coins as they will in 2021: the Frankfurt-based facility Euro Kartensysteme counted around 5.9 billion payment transactions with the Girocard last year, as can be seen from the Girocard annual figures published on Wednesday.
This surpassed the record of 5.5 billion transactions achieved just a year earlier by around eight percent – even though there were temporary restrictions in stationary retail due to the ongoing spread of the corona virus.
«Contactless payment has established itself in everyday life»
“Contactless payment was also the driving force behind this development in 2021,” stated Euro Kartensysteme, a joint venture of the German banking industry. According to the information, the proportion of contactless Girocard payments increased from around 63 percent at the beginning of last year to around 73 percent at the end of the year. The conclusion of the providers: “Contactless payment in the Girocard system with card, smartphone or smartwatch has thus established itself in the everyday life of customers.” On average over the year, two out of three payment transactions (66.5 percent) were made contactless with the Girocard. A year earlier, the proportion was 50.1 percent.
This type of payment was advertised in retail during the pandemic for reasons of hygiene. The German banking industry had doubled the limit for card payments without entering a PIN in retail from 25 to 50 euros per use. Smaller shops are also increasingly offering contactless payment, and consumers are increasingly paying smaller amounts without notes and coins.
The average amount paid with the Girocard fell further from EUR 43.14 to EUR 42.82 within a year. For contactless payments with the Girocard, the average amount increased further from 35.31 euros to 37.70 euros.
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 industry estimates, 90 to 95 percent of the more than 970,000 terminals in retail allow quick, on-the-fly payments.