Apple Pay Launches in Germany

A sad day, now Germans will have nothing to complain about.

A sad day, now Germans will have nothing to complain about.

Oh, there will always be something. Good example - shopping carts in Germany need a little free token (That you can get for free so easily), or a small coin which you get back when you return the Cart to the stack. Some Years ago the carts at our local Supermarket stopped accepting a 50 cent coin, & instead it had to be a one Euro coin (Which, as I say, you get back). For weeks after the conversion, I'd regularly be grabbing a cart, & there would be a couple of random people nearby complaining about the "Price Increase" ;)

A sad day, now Germans will have nothing to complain about.

There is still a lot to complain ;)
ECG anyone?

A sad day, now Germans will have nothing to complain about.

No we still can complain about apple news, the ecg feature an a lot more ;)

I've been to Germany many times and I've always noticed just how much more cash is used there compared to the United States. The difference is stark, at least in my experience. I've always respected it, as I think it shows a more direct relationship to your money, as opposed to how we in the States rarely handle cash in our day to day. Here it is more in the ether and less real. I guess times are changing in the Fatherland too.

A sad day, now Germans will have nothing to complain about.

Of course I have, my two banks aren’t listed

Finally...

Yeah, I travel extensively throughout Europe and I've always been surprised how Germany, one of the "big players" has been so slow to widely embrace credit cards (that's not a criticism, just an observation). Everywhere else in Europe, I've always just assumed credit cards will be accepted without issue and that's invariably the case (apart from taxi drivers in Ireland!), but Germany I quickly learned not to expect it. I think that's maybe changed a bit in the last couple of years, but it's the one country I always make sure I've got cash with me, especially in the former East Germany cities where the take up seems to be even slower.

Part of it is historical, ie, just how things developed. Europe and Germany in particular simply developed debit card systems that at least nationally were almost universal (ie, one or two systems accepted everywhere) but also had wide acceptance Europe-wide, negating the need for credit cards for cashless payments. As almost every bank customer got a debit card included with their checking account (not least for use at ATMs), getting a credit card was almost always an additional cost that served little real benefit over the debit card.

Add to this a greater aversion to credit of any kind (compared to America and in particular in Germany) and credit cards had limited appeal to Germans. Most credit cards in Germany are also either balanced within days or at least at the end of the month automatically, there is therefore little of a 'credit function'. Even debit cards might feel like buying on credit compared to paying with cash where you always are fully aware of how much is left in your wallet.

Thus, with relatively few people having credit cards but almost all having debit cards, stores had much less incentive to also accept credit cards, in particular since they came with higher transaction fees. German retail, in particular in the grocery sector, is highly competitive, meaning stores try to cut costs wherever they could (for some, even the lower fees of debit cards were too much and a system of direct debit authorisations, "Lastschriftverfahren", has been used until very recently where the debit card only served to identify the customer).

Lastly, Germans are big on privacy and cash is the ultimate anonymous payment method.

Endlich!

I've been to Germany many times and I've always noticed just how much more cash is used there compared to the United States. The difference is stark, at least in my experience. I've always respected it, as I think it shows a more direct relationship to your money, as opposed to how we in the States rarely handle cash in our day to day. Here it is more in the ether and less real. I guess times are changing in the Fatherland too.

Thankfully, it is changing a lot in the last few years. I used to memorise the businesses that accept debit or credit cards and without minimum amount. Now, the list had gotten so long that I don't bother doing that. I hardly pay with cash nowadays since more and more businesses, including small mom-and-pop stores, have NFC-enabled card readers.

The biggest complain is some businesses are so stuck in the dark ages of customer service. They would insist on minimum amount of €5 or €10 or, gasp, €20 if we want to pay with cards. Their idiotic explanation is that the businesses would have to swallow the transaction fees even though they cost laughably tiny. A few of them would accept only EC-cards (debit cards issued by European banks that work only within EU and EEA zones) but not credit cards.
[doublepost=1544515880][/doublepost]

Does this mean I can travel to Germany and use Apple Pay? Are there restrictions on which credit card/banks stateside are compatible? Or is Apple Pay like the Euro in a sense; if a country accepts it, it works? (Maybe not the best analogy but hope it makes sense)

Yes, you can do that. I live in Germany and have been using Apple Pay here surprisingly since October 2014, and many businesses with NFC-enabled card readers accept Apple Pay with no issues. To be clear, I used the debit card from American bank.
[doublepost=1544516389][/doublepost]

A sad day, now Germans will have nothing to complain about.

Oh, yes, Germans will have something to complain! Two biggest complaints I have faced since I started using Apple Pay in Germany since October 2014 are minimum amount and severe abhorrence toward credit cards.

Some establishments insist on the minimum amount of €5, €10, or, gasp, €20 for card payments. I am so sick of hearing the excuses about the so-called transaction fees that are nothing more than the cost of one peanut or two.

Additionally, I am so tired of being told off at the cashier that credit cards aren't accepted even the EC-Karten (debit cards issued by European banks for EU and EEA zones) are accepted. Deutsche Post (German postal service) won't accept credit cards, for instance.

Won't surprise me if Germans blare at those establishments about minimum amount and bias toward credit cards...

Oh, by the way, I use the debit card issued by American bank for Apple Pay here in Germany since October 2014. It works here surprisingly since October 2014. Don't believe me? Check YouTube from January 2015: [MEDIA=youtube]5Jv6tDbNUBw[/MEDIA]