Consumer Industries
Payment - Special Features in Germany
Cash payment and card payment are the two main payment methods used in stationary retail. Especially card payment has increased in recent years and further accelerated due to the pandemic and the necessity for contact less payment since 2020.
Cash is (still) king
However, cash payment is still the dominant method of payment (66 percent) when looking at transaction numbers and not just revenue alone. When looking at card payment in more detail, girocard dominates with 40.1 percent – its share has grown by nearly 70 percent since 2015.
Girocard wins over credit card
In a recent survey conducted by ibi Research, the preferred payment method by customers in stationary retail environments remains cash payment (37 percent) followed closely by girocard (36 percent) and credit card (16 percent). Cash and card payment is the preferred payment method of 90 percent of consumers in stationary retail, with the rest distributed to mobile payment methods.
The popularity of cash payment differs by age – nearly 50 percent of consumers in the 60-69 years of age group appreciate cash payment compared to just 28 percent in the 30-39 age group. Widespread acceptance in shops and high data protection levels as well as anonymity make cash payment so popular in Germany.
Security and data protection top valued
Whether using card payment in either online or stationary retail contexts, data protection and prevention of fraud is very important for consumers. Nearly 80 percent of consumers expect digital service providers to use their personal data sparingly and responsibly. The importance of this rises with age: 57 percent of 16-24 year olds find this important compared to 95 percent of consumers aged 70 years and older.
Protection against fraud or unauthorized access is important or very important to 84 percent of consumers. The most important characteristics for consumers in payment procedures are mainly criteria related to security/risk besides easy handling. Additional functions including cashback programs and insurance are irrelevant for almost 25 percent of all consumers.
