The end of the EC card is imminent: These are the consequences for customers of Sparkasse, Volksbank & Co.

Created: 06/25/2022, 07:29

By: Stefan Ruhl

The classic EC card could soon be history.

© Julio Rodriguez/Imago

More and more banks are doing without giro cards.

Visa and Mastercard are on the rise.

What bank customers of Sparkasse, Volksbank & Co. need to know.

Kassel – It is a development that can probably no longer be stopped: more and more banks are gradually using debit cards and are slowly separating from the giro card, also known as an EC card.

Visa and Mastercard are the beneficiaries.

The giro card is still a widespread means of payment in Germany.

In 2021, around 5.9 billion payments were made with the giro card.

The number of EC card payments also increased significantly during the corona pandemic.

EC card before the end: implications for customers of Sparkasse, Volksbank & Co.

However, more and more savings banks, Volksbanken and direct banks are switching to US competitors Visa and Mastercard.

One of the largest direct banks, ING Germany, recently followed suit.

In future, a monthly fee of EUR 0.99 will be charged for using the giro card.

Other banks allow existing customers to use it free of charge and only introduce a so-called service fee for new customers.

The main reason for the conversion of the savings banks, Volksbanks and direct banks is international payment transactions.

So far there has been a cooperation between the US provider Mastercard and the German Girocard system, which means that EC card payments can be made abroad.

This is the Maestro function, whose logo can be seen on most EC cards.

This cooperation has been a thing of the past since autumn 2021, it was terminated by Mastercard.

Therefore, from July 1, 2023, no more cards may be issued with the Maestro logo and its functions.

EC card at Sparkasse, Volksbank & Co. before the end: advantages and disadvantages for bank customers

Due to the discontinued international function of the giro card, consumers will have to have several cards with them for payment when they go on vacation or on business trips by 2023 at the latest.

In the long run it is expected that not many will join in and switch to the debit card.

However, this is not a credit card, because in contrast to this, a debit card is linked directly to an account, which means that payments are debited immediately.

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The savings banks, Volksbanks and direct banks want to be ahead of the fact that several cards will be required in the future by entering into new partnerships with US manufacturers and continue to offer a compact all-purpose card, a wish of many customers.

 "Visa and Mastercard can charge significantly higher fees for transactions from retailers."

Claudio Zeitz-Brandmeyer, speaker at the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations, in an interview with Die Welt.

The conversion of payment cards aimed at US corporations could lead to a monopoly on the German market, which would then allow them to set and raise prices for paying with their cards.

Ultimately, such a price increase would be passed on to customers by discounters and supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Edeka, or other shops.

At the end of May 2022, a software error paralyzed the payment system by card throughout Germany.

Troubleshooting took several days, sometimes even weeks.

In many places it was no longer possible to pay by card.

Some supermarkets even exchanged their payment terminals in an emergency.

(stru)