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Germany’s girocard has reported double-digit increases in transactions in H1 2023, and remains the country’s top card payment method, according to its latest results.
girocard has continued on its strong growth path of recent years in H1 2023, as confirmed by the company’s latest results and analysis released this week.
From January to July of this year, according to figures from the German banking industry, consumers made about 3.65bn girocard transactions.
This amounts to a 15 percent increase in transactions over the same period in 2022, when girocard racked up 3.17bn transactions.
Sales also grew strongly again, with an increase of 10.6 percent and amounted to €149bn in H1 2023, compared with €134bn in the previous year.
girocard has also seen steady growth in the retail space, with merchants that accept the card having increased by around 7 percent since H1 2022.
In total, girocard users can now pay at more than 1m terminals, with the company saying that it means that girocard is “the market leader at the cash register”.
Contactless payments are also becoming increasingly popular, girocard said. The girocard was used for 81 percent of contactless payments in H1 2023, compared with 74 percent in the same period last year.
The banking industry is continuing to use the girocard to harness innovation as well.
For example, girocard is currently undertaking a pilot for age verification with the card. This could mean that, for customers who are old enough, they will be able to buy products such as alcohol at self-service checkouts with ease in the near future.
The pilot started at the end of June, with 180 cigarette vending machines in southern and western Germany being part of the project.
According to girocard, the first transactions have already been successfully approved and, over the course of the year, it is expected that the pilot will expand.
Launched in 2007, girocard is a domestic debit card network based on standards and agreements developed by the German Banking Industry Committee (GBIC).
Since then, banks and savings banks in Germany have issued more than 100m girocards, making it the most common debit card in the country.
