Sparkasse and banks are working on the revolution
The Girokarte is the most commonly found in German wallets. There is no other bank card that Germans prefer to use. In mid-2023, however, the giro card will lose a popular function. Savings banks and banks don’t want to know anything about an end, they are already working on the future with new features.
Maestro will end in July 2023: The payment system for Europe will be discontinued, and the well-known blue and red logo will then disappear from credit and debit cards.
Sparkasse and banks want giro cards with more functions
The Maestro-Aus is not the beginning of the end of the giro card. On the contrary: “We want to make the Girocard even more usable with new functions in online trading and in the digital world,” says Henriette Peucker, General Manager of the Association of German Banks (BdB).
In the future, the giro card will also be used to deposit to be paid – for example for the hotel room or the rental car (source: manager magazine). According to Peucker, the aim is to close functional gaps in everyday life. For this purpose, the giro card should also be brought to the smartphone, for example Enable in-app payments. However, there is no fixed timetable for the innovations; preparations are currently underway.
On the other hand, things are a little further with the integration of the giro card into a common online payment process: “The technical preparations have been completed, the offer is now being made available to customers.” A first retailer is already offering the system.
Remarkable: The debit card is used to pay 17 million times a day. It accounts for 42 percent of sales in German retail.
How to be safe with online banking:
New functions only for money?
Whether consumers for the additional new functions in your pocket the BdB general manager did not want to reveal. However, the giro card is also in competition with other payment services. There are alternatives for customers. “Everyone is aware of that,” explains Peucker – possibly an indication that, at least in the short and medium term, the competitive pressure will mean that the new functions will not cost any additional money.
