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Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

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Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#71

Post by Thlom »

jupp0r wrote: post #52

As a German, I think ot's always intersting to get an outsiders perspective. The article strikes me as absurd, though. There is a deep caution against technology here, especially if it's foreign technology. There were numerous attempts by German banks to reinvent the wheel with incompatible payment systems (Geldkarte, ...) none of which could be used for online payment. All of them failed. I would also counter the ef…

Norwegians mostly use debit card thanks to the BankAxept system which all banks are part of. Most BankAxept cards are both bankAxept for everyday use and VISA if necessary (online shopping etc). When you pay with BankAxept it's counted against your account immediately. Another reason debit is mostly used is that not all shops accept credit card (which might also be because everyone has a BankAxept card so having MaterCard capabilities or whatever costs more than it's worth.

I think BankAxept is pretty similar to the Danish Dankort.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#72

Post by ant6n »

mtmail wrote: post #2

According to https://www.cashforless.de/ec_cash_info/Fakten_zur_Kartenzah... methods for payments in stores 2011 was 57% cash, 5.3% credit card, 33% debit card ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash ). > "of course, [the Germans] attitudes toward currency must owe something to Germany’s tumultuous monetary history. During the Weimar-era hyperinflation that peaked in 1923 [...]" > "the German tendency to sett…

> As a German I call that theory into question. Our currency has been stable for 60+ years.

Also as a German, OUR currency has been stable for 26 years.

I'd still question the theory.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#73

Post by [deleted] »

mtmail wrote: post #2

According to https://www.cashforless.de/ec_cash_info/Fakten_zur_Kartenzah... methods for payments in stores 2011 was 57% cash, 5.3% credit card, 33% debit card ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash ). > "of course, [the Germans] attitudes toward currency must owe something to Germany’s tumultuous monetary history. During the Weimar-era hyperinflation that peaked in 1923 [...]" > "the German tendency to sett…

[deleted]

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#74

Post by nxc18 »

m_mueller wrote: post #33

As a Swiss German I think the currency stability argument is moot. Swiss Frank is one of the most stable currencies available and we still have a similar attitude to cash as Germans. IMO it's mainly due to the following reasons: 1) CC is slow, at least in Switzerland. Like in Germany, efficiency is baked into the culture - people hate to wait on someone paying his chocolate bar with credit card. It's also not rare fo…

Interesting. At least in my experience in the us, people paying cash is much, much slower than using credit or debit. All it takes is one customer paying cash to turn a fast register into a storefront-filling queue.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#75

Post by Raphmedia »

revelation wrote: post #66
Raphmedia wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Canada) As far as I know there are no transaction fees on credit cards. That's one of the reasons to stop using debit and use credit. The only fees are on the merchant (1.5%). Example : https://www.desjardins.com/ca/personal/loans-credit/credit-c... with no transaction fees (or monthly fees) along with 1% cashback.

Right, merchants pay the transaction fees and then in turn charge you, maybe minus a bit for what they save on cash handling. There is no free lunch.

Here it's illegal for merchants to add fees at checkout.

That being said, yes, they might mark up their products for it. That being said, I doubt it. The retailers I've worked with while developing e-commerce solutions already made enough profits on their products to absorb that fee.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#76

Post by arjie »

macspoofing wrote: post #58
laumars wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your economy is much more stable than mine in the UK yet anecdotally I've observed we use cards to pay for everything. Even silly little things that only cost a couple of £. In fact it is rare that I ever carry cash. The same is true for a fair number of my friends and family as well.

>Even silly little things that only cost a couple of £. I use a credit card to pay for a $1.25 coffee. I never have cash, partly because I forget to take some out.

Contactless is faster than making change, so it's just far too convenient to use a contactless card.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#77

Post by ballenf »

intsunny wrote: post #65
m_mueller wrote: post #33

As a Swiss German I think the currency stability argument is moot. Swiss Frank is one of the most stable currencies available and we still have a similar attitude to cash as Germans. IMO it's mainly due to the following reasons: 1) CC is slow, at least in Switzerland. Like in Germany, efficiency is baked into the culture - people hate to wait on someone paying his chocolate bar with credit card. It's also not rare fo…

> 1) CC is slow While the CC may or may not be slow. In the 5+ months I've now been living in Germany, I've noticed that people are very keen to pay with exact change if they can dig it up. This is an even slower process, but also seems to be the norm.

But having exact change on hand is seen as being responsible and prepared, which is another highly valued trait. You came into the shop with the ability to pay the exact amount of the purchase.

That's made easier by the VAT system as opposed to the US sales tax system.

Totals are easy to calculate in your head. I'd say this is a stronger driver of cash use than anything cited in the article.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#78

Post by alextheparrot »

BartSaM wrote: post #61
egeozcan wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Debit card is pretty equivalent to cash, though. When my friends and family from my hometown (Istanbul) visit me the first time, they are usually quite shocked that most shops here do not accept credit cards at all. In Turkey (a place I call micro-USA), many credit cards automatically divide the payments for some transactions to 3+ months, whereas here in Germany, there's always some bureaucracy involved, even if you…

Not really. Debit cards are debit cards, not cash. You are comparing CC to DC as far as I can tell, but they are completely different products. There is a huge difference between having currency in your hand or use a medium to access money held by the private organization that can go bankrupt (and this happens much more often than, for example, governments with their currencies).

Both Germany and the US insure savings accounts for 6 figure amounts, meaning bankruptcy is not a major concern for most people.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#79

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

laumars wrote: post #18
mtmail wrote: post #2

According to https://www.cashforless.de/ec_cash_info/Fakten_zur_Kartenzah... methods for payments in stores 2011 was 57% cash, 5.3% credit card, 33% debit card ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash ). > "of course, [the Germans] attitudes toward currency must owe something to Germany’s tumultuous monetary history. During the Weimar-era hyperinflation that peaked in 1923 [...]" > "the German tendency to sett…

Your economy is much more stable than mine in the UK yet anecdotally I've observed we use cards to pay for everything. Even silly little things that only cost a couple of £. In fact it is rare that I ever carry cash. The same is true for a fair number of my friends and family as well.

I'm pretty sure I used my UK (debit) card, the other day, to pay for something absurdly cheap - maybe 49p? I was about as surprised that they accepted it as I am when a shop requires me to pay a huge minimum - e.g. £10 - and it's not quite as straightforward as "big shops do this, small shops, that".

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#80

Post by michaelhoffman »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #67
petard wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on 1) Recent touch-based CC terminals are really fast, and often don't require a PIN if the amount is less than 10€. I've stopped using cash since with these terminals CC are faster than paying in cash.

Same here. The limit is 25€, very convenient.

In Canada the usual limit is CAD 100 (about EUR 67). Tapping to pay is way faster than a cash transaction.
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