Around 100 million Girocards (“EC cards”) are in circulation. In many cases, there are changes to international payments because Mastercard’s Maestro function is being phased out.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt Most Germans have a Girocard in their wallets, and there are more than 100 million of them in circulation. Most cashless purchases are paid for with the Girocard, better known by its old name “EC card”. There were 5.9 billion transactions in 2021, and the trend is rising.
But despite the great popularity among consumers, more and more financial institutions are turning away from the Girocard. Several private customer banks, especially subsidiaries of foreign banks, already offer or even mainly offer a debit card from the US groups Visa or Mastercard. Neobanks like N26 also rely on this type of card.
Some banks have only recently changed their card strategy and turned away from the Girocard, Visa in particular has recently benefited from this. There is speculation in industry circles that other financial institutions could follow.
Read on now
Get access to this and every other article in the
Web and in our app free of charge for 4 weeks.
Continue
Read on now
Get access to this and every other article in the
Web and in our app free of charge for 4 weeks.
Continue