Overview

• Card payments generated 63.5% of Germany's €495 billion retail turnover in 2024, a 1.7 percentage point increase from the previous year, while cash fell to 33.8%.
• Cash remains the most common payment method by transaction volume, used in 54.6% of the approximately 20 billion transactions in 2024.
• Mobile payments via smartphones and smartwatches grew significantly, now representing 12.9% of all card-based transactions, up from 7.5% in 2023.
• Girocard remains the dominant card payment method with a 41.5% turnover share, while international debit cards and credit cards account for 6.9% and 8.3%, respectively.
• In-store cashback withdrawals rose by over 10% in 2024, reaching €13.57 billion, reflecting increasing consumer reliance on point-of-sale cash services.