Germany’s payment landscape continues to evolve, with card payments experiencing a significant surge in 2024, according to data released by the Bundesbank (German Central Bank) this week. The volume of transactions processed by German payment service providers using cards increased by 11% compared to the previous year, reaching approximately 13 billion transactions. This represents 40% of all transactions initiated by non-bank entities.
Direct debit payments also remained a prevalent method, registering a 3% increase to 9.9 billion transactions. However, despite this growth, their overall market share slightly decreased from 34% to 31%. Traditional bank transfers saw a 4% rise in transaction volume, amounting to 7.6 billion, maintaining a consistent 24% share of all payments.
Notably, SEPA Instant payments demonstrated particularly strong growth, jumping 37% year-on-year to reach 337 million transactions. This represents a 1 percentage point increase, bringing their share of electronically triggered transfers to 4.9%.
Analyzing the value of transactions, bank transfers continued to dominate, accounting for 90% of the total with a value of €64 trillion. Direct debits held 8% of the market, representing €5.9 trillion.
Alongside the digital shift, a continued decline in physical infrastructure was observed. The number of ATMs operated by German payment service providers decreased by 3% to approximately 49,750, down from roughly 51,300 the year before. Similarly, transfer terminals also saw a 3% reduction, falling from approximately 23,200 to around 22,500.