Sparkasse revolution: new payment system for all Girocard payers comes much earlier

The Sparkassen Group is about to introduce a new payment service for the Girocard. With 46 million customers, it is the most widely used means of payment in Germany.

• Contactless payment systems have gained momentum due to the corona pandemic .
• In late summer, the Sparkassen Group also wants to make ApplePay available to its around 46 million Girocard users .
• Now it could go even faster .

Munich - "In August", Sparkasse customers could activate the service, explained a person familiar with the processes to Merkur.de *. Officially, the Sparkassen- Gruppe had so far been aiming for ApplePay * to be launched "in late summer" on the basis of girocards. The calendar beginning of autumn falls on September 23 this year. Now it could go much faster.

With ApplePay, the US group would open up another large target group. According to the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV) around 46 million girocards are in use nationwide. This makes the Sparkasse card the most widely used means of payment in Germany.

So far, Sparkasse customers have only been able to use Apple's payment system together with a Visa or Mastercard credit card. This will soon also be possible with the Girocard , which is still known to many consumers as an EC card. The Donaukurier had previously reported on an earlier launch of ApplePay.

At the request of Merkur.de *, a DSGV spokesman referred to earlier statements on the planned start date in late summer. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

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ApplePay: Germany started with a delay

Apple had taken an unusually long time to introduce its payment system in Germany. It was not until December 13, 2018, four years after the official launch, that the ApplePay group also introduced it in this country. For the German premiere, among others, Deutsche Bank , HVB , Comdirect , N26 and the now insolvent payment service provider Wirecard supported ApplePay. According to industry experts, the introduction in Germany was delayed mainly because of the long lack of support for electronic credit cards.

In the USA , Apple started the service back in 2014. Great Britain, Canada and Australia followed in 2015, and the service was available in other countries such as China, Japan, France and Spain in 2016.

With ApplePay, customers can pay with the iPhone and the Apple Watch * at the checkout as with a contactless card. A so-called NFC chip is used in the iPhone or Apple Watch. Contactless payment has also received a significant boost in Germany due to the spread of the corona virus .

ApplePay can also be used on the web. The users approve the transactions via the iPhone * face recognition Face ID or the fingerprint scanner. In contrast to Google Pay, the iPhone manufacturer's payment system also works without an Internet connection. The transaction is processed in its own high-security chip. At Google, the token is generated in the cloud.

Sales and the number of transactions from ApplePay have more than doubled compared to the previous year. "

Apple CEO Tim Cook: "Over 15 billion transactions"

According to Apple , the payment service is growing rapidly. "Sales and the number of transactions from ApplePay have more than doubled compared to the previous year," Apple CEO Tim Cook * said at an investor conference in January. In total, “over 15 billion transactions” would be processed via ApplePay in the year as a whole. * Merkur.de is an offer from the Ippen Digital Network.