Apple Pay Will Reportedly Launch in Germany This Week, Possibly Tomorrow

[itsmilo]

In Germany you can’t even pay with a credit card in most places..

Actually you can nowadays UNLESS it’s a restaurant or a club. They really hate anything but cash. However I take cash over the waiter just walking off with my credit card like in the US any day.

Good luck with this. Germany is still very much a cash-based country, as I discovered when spending 2 months in Berlin this summer. Wanna pay for lunch with a credit card? Nein! Many restaurants simply don't accept credit card. It's kind of shocking actually.

Also, in the off chance they do support contactless payments, the brand/make of terminal that most places use is so wretchedly awful you'll just default to cash to avoid the hassle.

I found the opposite to be true. I was in the US earlier this year and basically no store offered tap to pay and the staff seemed overwhelmed by Chips on a card as well like it clearly said PIN VERIFIED and every single store still had me sign in a non existing position of the receipt

 

[justperry]

Next up NL.....probably can grow a beard, not that it's actually needed here, NFC is widely used here, tapping a card is no less convenient, and as for security, we don't have to pay anything if our cards are compromised, the banks do.

Actually you can nowadays UNLESS it’s a restaurant or a club. They really hate anything but cash. However I take cash over the waiter just walking off with my credit card like in the US any day.



I found the opposite to be true. I was in the US earlier this year and basically no store offered tap to pay and the staff seemed overwhelmed by Chips on a card as well like it clearly said PIN CERTIFIED and every single store still had me sign in a non existing position of the receipt

Is tap to pay ubiquitous in Germany?

 

[tuckerjj]

Good luck with this. Germany is still very much a cash-based country, as I discovered when spending 2 months in Berlin this summer. Wanna pay for lunch with a credit card? Nein! Many restaurants simply don't accept credit card. It's kind of shocking actually.

This is true, but although credit card acceptance is rare, most places do accept EC debit cards, and many, many more Germans have these than CCs. This also lines up with a credible theory as to why Apple Pay took so long to come to Germany, that until iOS 12 EC cards weren’t even supported by Apple Pay.

 

[needfx]

Kazakhstan, nuff said

 

[BornAgainMac]

Only took 4 years. A tad bit ridiculous.

It was faster than how long it takes for Apple to update the Mac Mini.

 

[saschke]

In Germany you can’t even pay with a credit card in most places..

That is absolutely NOT true. Source: A German (me) who pays stuff with his credit cards daily. The only places that are weak with CCs are some smaller Restaurants and Bakeries.

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Endlich!

 

[paffko]

I hope it is the Czechs' turn soon now!

 

[justperry]

I hope it is the Czechs' turn soon now!

Spoiler.







It might take years

 

[otternonsense]

Well, that didn't take long. Just 4 years and counting

 

[PR1985]

This is true, but although credit card acceptance is rare, most places do accept EC debit cards, and many, many more Germans have these than CCs. This also lines up with a credible theory as to why Apple Pay took so long to come to Germany, that until iOS 12 EC cards weren’t even supported by Apple Pay.

EC will not work with Apple Pay.

 

[sledgehammer89]

Good luck with this. Germany is still very much a cash-based country

They can't be tracked by companys and government and can't be killed via mouse click from government, if they have a cash reserve at home or doing tiny jobs, which can be paid with cash.

 

[Gwendolini]

EC will not work with Apple Pay.

Since EC is dying and GiroCard is the "new" kid on the block, what about that?

 

[tabilo]

Apple Pay supports MasterCard, Visa, Amex in Europe, plus the debit card scheme Meastro (Mastercard), there might or might not be future support for VPay (VISA). Both Maestro and VPay will die in the next years in favor of the prober debit cards. EC cards do not exist anymore (10y+), Girocard is the pure German scheme that’s often co-branded as Maestro for international use.

I am really interested if Apple will eventually integrate Girocard, since it is mostly relevant for the Sparkassen to have this.

 

[d0nK]

We have chip and pin in the UK. I still don't understand why Apple Pay is a thing.

 

[Äpfelchen]

Is tap to pay ubiquitous in Germany?

Surprisingly yes. We’re cash-obsessed but somehow we managed to roll out Tap and Pay almost nationwide recently.

 

[justperry]

Surprisingly yes. We’re cash-obsessed but somehow we managed to roll out Tap and Pay almost nationwide recently.

Good to know, here, your friends on the west side it's so widespread that you won't see much cash anymore.

EC will not work with Apple Pay.

Read somewhere it will, or was that Visa...

Apple Pay supports MasterCard, Visa, Amex in Europe, plus the debit card scheme Meastro (Mastercard), there might or might not be future support for VPay (VISA). Both Maestro and VPay will die in the next years in favor of the prober debit cards. EC cards do not exist anymore (10y+), Girocard is the pure German scheme that’s often co-branded as Maestro for international use.

I am really interested if Apple will eventually integrate Girocard, since it is mostly relevant for the Sparkassen to have this.

Oh, that was the one instead of EC cards.

They can't be tracked by companys and government and can't be killed via mouse click from government, if they have a cash reserve at home or doing tiny jobs, which can be paid with cash.

Another advantage is, if there's a wide power outage, or a systemwide payment issue you can't do anything, cash still flows.

 

[cableguy84]

Bit late

 

[justperry]

Bit late

Still waiting in most countries around the globe.

 

[Taipan]

Germany is a third world country when it comes to tech. The good reputation we have for reliability and innovation is purely historical, we are going downhill fast (and have been for some time).

 

[Shanghaichica]

Actually you can nowadays UNLESS it’s a restaurant or a club. They really hate anything but cash. However I take cash over the waiter just walking off with my credit card like in the US any day.



I found the opposite to be true. I was in the US earlier this year and basically no store offered tap to pay and the staff seemed overwhelmed by Chips on a card as well like it clearly said PIN VERIFIED and every single store still had me sign in a non existing position of the receipt

No portable payment machines in Germany?

Here in the uk they bring the card machine to your table and the whole transaction is done at your table where you can see.

 

[tuckerjj]

EC will not work with Apple Pay.

Maybe I’m using the term “EC” incorrectly but it’s certainly going to work with Electeon, VPay and Maestro (and my Maestro card always seems to get referred to as “EC” by Germans in shops...)

 

[itsmilo]

No portable payment machines in Germany?

Here in the uk they bring the card machine to your table and the whole transaction is done at your table where you can see.

They do not seem to have that in the US. You usually place your card in a fold out thingy and they walk off with it. I am sure everytime they walk off with the card and just swipe it in the back, a German dies somewhere

 

[Baumi]

EC will not work with Apple Pay.

Since EC was the pioneering system, many Germans use "EC card" as a general term for all debit cards, even though they may be actually be using Maestro or VPay, and the old EC system has been re-branded as Girocard. In fact, most people wouldn't even know about the different debit card systems, since pretty much all physical terminals accept cards from all of them, so it simply doesn't matter which logo you have on your card.
[doublepost=1544481921][/doublepost]

No portable payment machines in Germany?

Here in the uk they bring the card machine to your table and the whole transaction is done at your table where you can see.

They are quite common in restaurants in Germany – at least in the larger ones.

 

[PR1985]

Since EC was the pioneering system, many Germans use "EC card" as a general term for all debit cards, even though they may be actually be using Maestro or VPay, and the old EC system has been re-branded as Girocard. In fact, most people wouldn't even know about the different debit card systems, since pretty much all physical terminals accept cards from all of them, so it simply doesn't matter which logo you have on your card.
[doublepost=1544481921][/doublepost]

They are quite common in restaurants in Germany – at least in the larger ones.

We will know it in some hours from now.