New EHI figures on cash, cards and online payments
Mobile payments are on the rise in Germany. Customers are increasingly turning to their smartphones to pay in retail outlets. This is shown by the new EHI study “Payment Systems in Retail 2026”, which is being presented today at the EHI Payment Congress in Bonn. “Mobile payments via smartphone or smartwatch are in vogue and are being used more and more frequently in retail. Around one in five cashless payments at retail checkouts is now made via mobile,” explains payment expert and study author Horst Rüter.
One in five card payments made via mobile
19.3 per cent of cashless payments were made via mobile at the checkout last year (2024: 12.8 per cent). This corresponds to 9.3 per cent of the total 20 billion annual payment transactions. Almost nine out of ten card payments are now made contactlessly by holding up a card or mobile phone.
While the Sparkassen organisation has been offering both credit cards and the Girocard in the iPhone Wallet for several years, cooperative banks and the online market leader PayPal followed suit last year via their own apps. This further boost to mobile payments was made possible by market leader Apple partially opening up the previously protected contactless interface of the iPhone. Following intervention by the European Commission, payment transactions using third-party apps are now also possible here.
International debit cards are booming
The trend towards cashless payments continues to have a significant impact on the share of turnover accounted for by cash payments. This is falling to 32.3 per cent (2024: 33.8 per cent). The share of turnover accounted for by cards, on the other hand, is growing to 65.1 per cent (2024: 63.5 per cent). At 40.5 per cent, the Girocard accounts for the largest share of this, although it has lost a slight one percentage point.
International debit cards from Visa and Mastercard are recording significantly strong growth of 2.5 percentage points to 9.4 per cent. Credit cards account for 8.2 per cent, whilst SEPA direct debits account for 6.4 per cent. Total card turnover amounts to €328.6 billion, representing an increase of €14.5 billion. Looking at transaction shares (purchases), cash remains slightly ahead at 50.5 per cent compared to cards at 48.1 per cent, though the gap is continuing to narrow.
Online payments: PayPal and purchase on account dominate
The boom in debit cards is also having an impact on online payments. Credit and international debit cards recorded the strongest growth at 1.4 percentage points and rank fourth in the payment method rankings by turnover share at 13.7 per cent. PayPal maintains its leading position in e-commerce with 28.7 per cent (2024: 28.5 per cent). Purchase on account follows behind with 26.1 per cent (2024: 25.8 per cent). Direct debit loses almost three percentage points and comes in third place with 14.4 per cent. Apple Pay (1.3 per cent) is included explicitly in the ranking for the first time.
