The German savings banks launched a new payment service in late summer - with great success.
Now the savings bank group wants to expand the offer for its 46 million customers.
The
Apple Pay
payment service
is very popular in Germany.
In the summer, the 373
savings banks
activated
the payment system for their 46 million
Girocard
users - with great success.
Now the group wants to
expand
the
service
.
Our free
economic newsletter
regularly provides you with all relevant news.
Click here for registration.
Munich - The German savings banks want to significantly
expand
their
Apple Pay service in
2021.
"
From next year,
Apple
Pay will be available in conjunction with the
Girocard
for payment in apps or via the Safari browser on the web," a spokesman for the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV) told
Merkur.de
on Friday
.
However, the spokesman left an exact start time open.
The savings banks introduced the new payment service for their Girocard customers last September.
Previously, the service was only available to Sparkasse customers with a credit card.
With around 46 million users in total, the EC card is the most widely used means of payment in Germany.
Sparkassen: Strong demand for Apple Pay
With the expansion of the
Apple
Pay offer to all Sparkasse customers, the group apparently hit a nerve in the summer.
“By the end of the year, the savings banks will have more than 1.5 million
Apple
Pay users,”
Apple
Pay boss
Jennifer Bailey
recently told Welt am Sonntag.
This means that the Californian company has won a million savings bank customers for its payment service within around three months.
The launch of
Apple Pay
was "one of the most successful product launches by the savings banks in recent years," said Joachim Schmalzl, executive board member of the German Savings Banks Association.
The demand for contactless payment
options has increased significantly
in the current year due to the
corona
pandemic.
In addition to paying via the
iPhone
,
Apple
Pay can also be used via an
Apple Watch
.
A so-called
NFC
chip is used in the
iPhone
or
Apple
Watch.
The service can be activated in just a few steps.
Savings banks promise secure online payments too
Apple Pay
can also be used
on the web.
The users approve the transactions via the
iPhone
face
recognition
Face ID
or the fingerprint scanner.
The Californians' payment system works
differently than
Pay
even without an internet connection.
The transaction is processed in its own high-security chip.
At Google, the token is generated in the cloud.