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>Nowadays EC is mostly dead, though, except for Germany. It's dead in Germany as well. For quite a long time the banks rebranded their scheme as "electronic c

>Nowadays EC is mostly dead, though, except for Germany. It's dead in Germany as well. For quite a long time the banks rebranded their scheme as "electronic cash" and reused the logo. But a few years back they changed their brand to "girocard" [2] and MasterCard bought the famous "ec" trademark [1]. I especially like the consorsfinanz card, which is just a regular Debit MasterCard. https://www.mastercard.de/content/dam/mccom/de-de/privatkunden/cards/consors-finanz-dmc-card2.jpg https://www.mastercard.de/content/dam/mccom/de-de/privatkund... [1]: https://www.mastercard.de/de-de/privatkunden/produkte-features/produkte/debit-mastercard.html https://www.mastercard.de/de-de/privatkunden/produkte-featur... [2]: https://die-dk.de/zahlungsverkehr/zulassungsverfahren/electronic-cash-system/ https://die-dk.de/zahlungsverkehr/zulassungsverfahren/electr... (in German)

kuschku 9y ago
> It's dead in Germany as well. A 2017 study found that while over 80% of Germans have an EC card, less than 6% have a regular debit or credit card. As result, the entire payment structure is still aimed at EC. Mostly because only 2-3 banks offer free CCs or Debit cards, and the others have 30-90€ fees per year. And now that the EU forced CCs (which previously had between 3 and 7% fees (!)) to the same fees as EC (between 0.125% and 0.25%), even the existing free CC offerings are moving towards high fees.
- germanier 9y ago
  The card you call "EC card" (which is still called that in colloquial usage) is called "Girocard" officially and by the poster you replied to – you are not disagreeing except on terminology. It should be noted that what you call "EC card" is a Germany-only thing from its inception. There was another, totally different scheme under the name "Eurocheque" used internationally in Europe but that is completely dead for a few decades. It never relied on cryptography but rather holograms. The logo was then used for the "Electronic Cash" system which never was supported outside Germany. (I would also dispute the 6% number. Yes, the scheme of the German banks is really popular, but 6% is too low and doesn't match the numbers I know. Which study would that be?)
  - kuschku 9y ago
    > I would also dispute the 6% number. Yes, the scheme of the German banks is really popular, but 6% is too low and doesn't match the numbers I know. Which study would that be? I don’t have it on hand, but it was a study comparing the costs of cash, and prevalence of different payment methods, from Steinbeis I think, for either the Bundesdruckerei, or another federal agency. > but 6% is too low and doesn't match the numbers I know Remember that until 2015, REWE was the only retailer in most of DE to even accept CCs, and even today, most CCs still have fees above 40€/year. A card that no retailer accepts, which is useless in German online stores, and which costs you money, is only interesting to those who travel internationally.
    - germanier 9y ago
      I don't know such an 2017 study. The closest are the Bundesbank 2014 one https://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/Veroeffentlichungen/Studien/zahlungsverhalten_in_deutschland_2014.pdf?__blob=publicationFile https://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/Veroeffentl... which says 97% own a Girocard and 34% a credit card. 21% of the people that own a credit card responded that they got it for free with their bank account. (The second volume of that project that was published this year doesn't contain any new numbers as far as I remember – they are currently conducting new surveys). There is also the 2013 Steinbeis Cost of Cash study: http://www.steinbeis-research.de/images/pdf-documents/CFP_Cost_Of_Cash_Studie_Steinbeis_Deutsch.pdf http://www.steinbeis-research.de/images/pdf-documents/CFP_Co... It cites EHI numbers, about 30% with a credit card.

kuschku 9y ago

> It's dead in Germany as well. A 2017 study found that while over 80% of Germans have an EC card, less than 6% have a regular debit or credit card. As result, the entire payment structure is still aimed at EC. Mostly because only 2-3 banks offer free CCs or Debit cards, and the others have 30-90€ fees per year. And now that the EU forced CCs (which previously had between 3 and 7% fees (!)) to the same fees as EC (between 0.125% and 0.25%), even the existing free CC offerings are moving towards high fees.

germanier 9y ago
The card you call "EC card" (which is still called that in colloquial usage) is called "Girocard" officially and by the poster you replied to – you are not disagreeing except on terminology. It should be noted that what you call "EC card" is a Germany-only thing from its inception. There was another, totally different scheme under the name "Eurocheque" used internationally in Europe but that is completely dead for a few decades. It never relied on cryptography but rather holograms. The logo was then used for the "Electronic Cash" system which never was supported outside Germany. (I would also dispute the 6% number. Yes, the scheme of the German banks is really popular, but 6% is too low and doesn't match the numbers I know. Which study would that be?)
- kuschku 9y ago
  > I would also dispute the 6% number. Yes, the scheme of the German banks is really popular, but 6% is too low and doesn't match the numbers I know. Which study would that be? I don’t have it on hand, but it was a study comparing the costs of cash, and prevalence of different payment methods, from Steinbeis I think, for either the Bundesdruckerei, or another federal agency. > but 6% is too low and doesn't match the numbers I know Remember that until 2015, REWE was the only retailer in most of DE to even accept CCs, and even today, most CCs still have fees above 40€/year. A card that no retailer accepts, which is useless in German online stores, and which costs you money, is only interesting to those who travel internationally.
  - germanier 9y ago
    I don't know such an 2017 study. The closest are the Bundesbank 2014 one https://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/Veroeffentlichungen/Studien/zahlungsverhalten_in_deutschland_2014.pdf?__blob=publicationFile https://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/Veroeffentl... which says 97% own a Girocard and 34% a credit card. 21% of the people that own a credit card responded that they got it for free with their bank account. (The second volume of that project that was published this year doesn't contain any new numbers as far as I remember – they are currently conducting new surveys). There is also the 2013 Steinbeis Cost of Cash study: http://www.steinbeis-research.de/images/pdf-documents/CFP_Cost_Of_Cash_Studie_Steinbeis_Deutsch.pdf http://www.steinbeis-research.de/images/pdf-documents/CFP_Co... It cites EHI numbers, about 30% with a credit card.