Cashless payment to gain greater acceptance through initiative
Several financial service providers have joined forces to further expand the digital payment offering in Germany.
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An initiative by several financial service providers aims to promote the spread of digital payment options. The campaign is primarily aimed at small retailers who do not yet offer cashless payment options. Supporters include Deutsche Bank, Mastercard and Visa. Other companies can participate in the "Deutschland zahlt digital" initiative if they are interested. Applications for support can already be submitted to Commerzbank and the provider Flatpay.
In detail, the initiative wants to support sellers for one year to try out the cashless alternatives and will cover the costs during this period. Participating companies will not incur any costs for devices, installation or transactions.
The prerequisite is that the retailer has not offered a cashless payment option in the past twelve months and operates a maximum of five points of sale. Merchants who generate less than 50,000 euros in turnover in twelve months are an exception and can also receive funding.
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Poland as a role model
Similar projects in other countries serve as a model for the initiative. With a comparable approach, the number of digital payment options in Poland was increased to 36 payment terminals per 1,000 inhabitants. In Germany, there are now half as many, reports dpa.
Contactless payment is possible, for example, with giro cards and credit cards that have a so-called NFC chip. Contactless money can also be transferred using a smartphone or smartwatch with services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
The data for processing the payment is encrypted and exchanged with the terminal at the checkout when customers hold their card, smartphone or smartwatch close to the device. For small amounts, it is not even necessary to enter the PIN.
(tlz)
