Germany

Visa and Mastercard are ramping up efforts to win over German consumers, leveraging global marketing muscle with locally resonant campaigns. Despite Germany’s traditionally cash-centric culture, both brands are pushing to shift perceptions and boost card usage through storytelling, sponsorships, and advertising.

The Deutsche Bundesbank explores the availability and reachability of cash withdrawal facilities in Germany, highlighting the challenges and trends in maintaining a robust cash infrastructure. Ensuring access to cash is crucial for maintaining financial inclusion and providing a reliable fallback during crises.

The Deutsche Bundesbank has established the National Cash Forum, gathering representatives of the banking industry, retail trade, consumer protection, the CIT industry, and vending machine operators to preserve cash as an efficient and widely used means of payment in a changing payment landscape.

The German central bank is working with strategic foresight researchers to create different future plausible scenarios for cash in Germany in 15 to 20 years. The objective is to steer the future of cash and be prepared for future challenges.

Payments service provider Paysafe has announced the acquisition of leading CashTech company Viafintech. Meanwhile, former Viafintech shareholder Gory invests in shared bank branch startup, OneBanks. The transactions demonstrate growing investor interest in CashTech.

A Deutsche Bundesbank survey shows that over three quarters of Germans have not heard about a digital euro and over half are skeptical.

Prosegur Cash has launched a comprehensive sustainability plan with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of its activities. The company aims to achieve a 1.5% reduction in the direct CO2 emissions of its armoured fleet by 2020. To do so, the main levers are the hybridisation and electrification of their vehicles.

The collapse of the German Fintech champion has sent shockwaves through financial markets, the FinTech industry and regulators. But those who have suffered the most are the vulnerable users of its digital payment services.

There are many cases in history where a country ceases to exist literally overnight, but what happens to its currency? Read the case of the DDR, or the reunification of Germany.

The German Bundesbank is exposing its treasures for the first time in an exhibit at the Money Museum in Frankfurt. The exhibit looks at the evolution of monetary policy and exposes numerous artifacts of great historical value.

According to the Deutsche Bundesbank survey on "Payment behaviour in Germany in 2017", cash is by far the most widely used payment instrument and accounts for 74% of transactions in volume and 48 % in value.

Germans' love for cash might as well be linked to their pragmatism and not at all to nostalgia.