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Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

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Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#371

Post by lkrubner »

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…

Our currency has been stable for 60+ years.

Older osti don't see it that way. When I say "older" I mean "everyone over the age of 40" so not really that old. They've seen their currency change.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#372

Post by TrueCommander »

Before coming to Germany, I'd always pay for a coffee or pop or other $1 purchase with a debit card. I know it may seem like it makes more sense to pay for something with a Euro coin, but after the Pf and it becomes a Euro and extra change... and to me, it's just more of a hassle to pay with coins instead of plastic. I did try to get used to not using debit before coming here I just hate fishing around in my case for change and either having to know how much my stuff will cost before getting to the front of the till or dealing with the knowledge that I'm holding up the line.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#373

Post by CamelCaseName »

_up wrote: post #189
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…

Another big aspect is, German people like having control over their spending. Checking my Credit Card is unnecessary frustrating. While you have a pretty good overview of how much you are spending if you always get about the same amount from the ATM.

Huh? You don't have to check your CC if you feel you have a good grasp of how much you are spending.

If anything, the CC statement gives you an objective summary of your spending, in case you want to recall something 10 months later, or budget for the future. When you pay only in cash, it will be a burden to keep the receipts, organized and readable, for that long.

Plus, isn't it less hassle to use a credit card rather than visit the ATM every so often?

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#374

Post by alasdair_ »

gingerlime wrote: post #339
codegeek wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an american, I find it strange that cash is faster. Most people who pay cash need to wait to get the change back unless they know the total beforehand and happen to have exact change. In the US, credit card machines are very fast even the chip enabled ones. Cash workflow: - Cashier tells you the total amount - You look in your wallet/purse - You spend time counting exact change if you do have it - If not, you take…

I'm surprised it's not mentioned on other comments, but in Japan, the whole thing is automated. The cashier feeds the cash notes / coins into a machine, and the machine spits out the exact change. It's super-fast, even when the cashier counts your change in front of your eyes, and lays it out neatly onto a tray[0]. I wonder how come these types of machines aren't more popular in other countries. [0] sounds like some…

This happens in grocery stores in the US but many other stores don't have enough volume to bother.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#375

Post by alasdair_ »

plopz wrote: post #302
romwell wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note for the American readers: in the glorious lands across the ocean, chip cards of all kinds use a PIN instead of a signature, which makes way more sense anyway. Chip & sign is an American abomination.

Is this something that only triggers above a certain threshold? On the east coast, whenever I go to the grocery store, its just insert chip and press ok. I've never had to sign or enter a pin.

Many US-based stores only bother with a signature for amounts over a certain threshold (often $50).

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#376

Post by pmoriarty »

nstho9834nhtnt wrote: post #326
pmoriarty wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you count the change before you redeem it? That is a huge time-suck for me, and I hate doing it. Also, I feel really bad for the cashiers that are unlucky enough to have all that change dumped on them and are forced to count it all. Some banks have change counting machines, but surprisingly, many don't and the change is still counted by hand while you wait.

Are you serious? If you take it to the bank, they have change counting machines. Depending on how much you bring in, it takes about 1-5 minutes for the machine to count. In the US we have a company called CoinStar that has kiosks in every major grocery store chain which does the same thing. They take a small percentage, but we're talking about coins here, so it's probably less than a dollar per transaction.

I've taken change to banks that didn't have change counting machines. The tellers counted the change by hand. I was shocked.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#377

Post by comex »

nstho9834nhtnt wrote: post #326
pmoriarty wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you count the change before you redeem it? That is a huge time-suck for me, and I hate doing it. Also, I feel really bad for the cashiers that are unlucky enough to have all that change dumped on them and are forced to count it all. Some banks have change counting machines, but surprisingly, many don't and the change is still counted by hand while you wait.

Are you serious? If you take it to the bank, they have change counting machines. Depending on how much you bring in, it takes about 1-5 minutes for the machine to count. In the US we have a company called CoinStar that has kiosks in every major grocery store chain which does the same thing. They take a small percentage, but we're talking about coins here, so it's probably less than a dollar per transaction.

CoinStar’s fee is 11.9%, according to their website[1] - I wouldn’t call that small.

[1] http://www.coinstar.com/HelpCenter

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#378

Post by kuschku »

skrause wrote: post #369
kuschku wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany doesn’t use the MasterCard or the VISA network, instead having an entire separate payment network, EC, which uses under the hood wire transfers via SEPA. This is the E in EMV (EC, MasterCard, VISA) which created most of modern payment infrastructure. SEPA is the Single European Payments Area, standardizing how to process fast and cheap payments, all transfers are in Euro, from 2018 on also having a standardiz…

> Germany doesn’t use the MasterCard or the VISA network Well, it is used (almost all major stores and large grocery chains support both Visa and MasterCard), but Girocard is far more widespread.

Only since the EU limited the fees. Until 2016, neither ALDI nor LIDL nor REWE nor PENNY nor Edeka nor Coop supported it.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#379

Post by jhasse »

leokennis wrote: post #370
_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a German a.) I mostly pay cash because it's faster b.) some shops that can afford it only have cash payments to save on CC costs Not because of inflation or because something happend 100y ago.

I was on holiday in Germany. In The Netherlands I pay everything with my contactless debit card, where you hold it near the reader, wait 1 second and then you've paid. Every cashier in Germany (provided they accepted cards in the first place) insisted on "taking" my card, sticking it in the machine for a non-contactless payment, then hand me the machine so I can enter the PIN, then take back the machine, wait for the…

But ... what if you lose your card??

I guess Germans are generally very precautious and wouldn't trust contactless debit cards.

Re: Why Germans pay cash for almost everything

#380

Post by alasdair_ »

herbst wrote: post #255
taway_1212 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A) there is a risk as everyone can create a stripe account and buy a charger. Personally I would never notice. Personally, the convenience of: not having to wear a wallet at all (I just carry the card in my pocket) and not having to deal with coins, negotiate if I'm paying a big bill etc. is just amazing. Even if someone steals $10 from me once in a blue moon, it's well worth it.

For me it's a different world anyway. Currently I carry about $300 in 4 currencies, a debit card and a credit card. I travel a lot and without a stack like this I would have been stuck many times. The credit card never really saved me. It really just is there to make life a little easier.

I just got back from a four-country trip (3 currencies) and having a credit card was very useful for hotels and car rental places that want to "pre-authorize" charges (often 250 EUR or more).

When I tried using my debit card and they ended up taking the money and then refunding it over a week later.

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