Will Germany Take Mobile Payments Seriously?

Just recently, we had a look at the European mobile payments market thanks to Expert Market, who dropped a lot of word our way about that. One of the report’s centerpieces is that Germany is a major player in the mobile payments field, number two on the list behind only the UK. However, new word from SIX Payment Services suggests that all Germans may not be so quick to embrace the field, and any gains Expert Market found might be transitory in nature.

The word from SIX’s head of merchant services, Roger Niederer, points out that the mobile payments market in Germany isn’t exactly accommodating. At present, only Google Pay is available and even that for Android handsets. From there, to engage in contactless shopping, users have to store credit card data within the app, and just to make it even harder, Google Pay only works with a handful of German banks to begin with.

Debit cards, oddly enough, don’t support the full range of Google security features, and there are at least “some indications” to suggest Apple Pay will only “…work with assigned credit cards.” Thus when Apple Pay actually does join the party, it’s unclear just how much impact it will actually have.

Worst of all, Niederer noted, the Germans have “…a strong and ingrained attachment to cash.” While this is changing, especially among the younger set, it’s unclear how long Google, Apple, et al will stick around and wait for the younger generation to take over.

It’s worth noting that mobile payments are already doing fairly well in the field in Germany, which we’ve already seen from the Expert Market study. If the results we’ve already seen are coming out of a strictured environment, then if the field starts to loosen up, we may well see German mobile payments use explode. All it would take is a little dialing back on the limits of the system—including debit cards would be a big move here—and German mobile payments might well find themselves on par with British mobile payments.

While there are certainly concerns—Niederer has pointed out some good ones—we know the mobile payments market in Germany is doing well as-is. It can only get better from here, but it’s mobile payments’ game to lose at this point.