I am a German living in the Netherlands right now and find that quite annoying every time I come back to Germany, too. Before NFC I would have agreed that card

I am a German living in the Netherlands right now and find that quite annoying every time I come back to Germany, too. Before NFC I would have agreed that card payments are just much, much slower than cash. Most shops in Germany won't let you pay by card if the total amount is less than 5€, so you would always carry cash around anyway. NFC and self-checkout are quite widely spread in NL; in fact a small supermarket at a university here only has self-checkout systems with NFC. Often heard (from Germans with some international experience and its point of view) that innovations need around two years to arrive in the heads of Germany. Skepticism towards new ideas tends to impress people more than open-minded consideration of new developments. This may change at the moment as much of the younger generation gains lots of international experience and is exposed to frequent technological developments and innovative start-up culture.