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Apple Pay Apple Pay in Germany

All the German Apple Pay Cash support pages have disappeared. Mistake? Preparation for a launch? Who knows. I still think it was a mistranslation, as only the German version featured "in den Deutschland" which fits with the English "in the United States". Someone accidentally put Germany in.

Apart from that has anyone had the Apple Pay Cash card appear in Wallet?

Also: The last couple of days the T&Cs of PKO Polski Bank appeared and they launched Apple Pay today. As we haven't seen any signs of leaks from the banks, it's a safe bet to say the launch is at least a week or two away. iPhone Ticker.de even stated, that they had heard November was the month to look out for. That would be quite a disappointment to be honest. o_O
 
That really would be strange. Cause launching in November they would never have talked about it in last earnings call. If they launch in November, something have gone really wrong...

And tbh, I cannot believe that. It’s not a new technology, it’s well documented and there is help available.
 
I really don't think that they've got problems on rolling out Apple Pay in Germany. Only thing I could imagine if they really want to get those pesky GiroCard supported to really conquer the German market.

But my hopes are still high for this or next week.
 
No GiroCard support, no considerable usage in Germany at the moment. That's just a fact. Might be different in a few years, but now is 2018 and the GC is the prefered card by customers, merchants and banks.

But I don't think, that they are waiting for GC support. On the other hand, without GC support they could have started years back.
 
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Hm maybe Credit Cards and and Co badge of the Girocards. There were signs for this in the past. This would also have great coverage here. They could still add Girocard support later
 
I don't think it's as easy as it sounds, as Girocard might not even be compatible with the Apple Pay backend / server side. Endless tokens and offline transactions aren't possible with Girocard as we speak, so that would be one big stepping stone. Also all banks that are currently onboard don't focus their banking around Girocard, so it's not all that relevant right now.

Also: I hope Girocard just dies and get's replaced with a more modern and international system such as the leap from Maestro to MC Debit with Erste Bank in Austria. Looking at the German market, the Girocard only plays a minor role with the big private banks. DKB, ING DiBa and comdirect all prefer users to use their VISA cards, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank offer Debit MasterCard. It's just the plain old Sparkassen and Volksbanken who have stuck to the system and pushed it through. But thanks to the market that refused girogo, which was an utterly rubbish system - even before its launch.

I don't think German bank customers want or like Girocard, they just use it because it's the only debit card their bank has on offer and replicates the spending of cash more closely than the dreaded credit card. Give them a MasterCard Debit, which they can also use online and on holiday, have instant push and other goodies and I don't think hardly anyone would not want one. Girocard just gets trumped by just about any other card scheme out there.
 
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sir-hd said:
I don't think it's as easy as it sounds, as Girocard might not even be compatible with the Apple Pay backend / server side. Endless tokens and offline transactions aren't possible with Girocard as we speak, so that would be one big stepping stone. Also all banks that are currently onboard don't focus their banking around Girocard, so it's not all that relevant right now.

Also: I hope Girocard just dies and get's replaced with a more modern and international system such as the leap from Maestro to MC Debit with Erste Bank in Austria. Looking at the German market, the Girocard only plays a minor role with the big private banks. DKB, ING DiBa and comdirect all prefer users to use their VISA cards, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank offer Debit MasterCard. It's just the plain old Sparkassen and Volksbanken who have stuck to the system and pushed it through. But thanks to the market that refused girogo, which was an utterly rubbish system - even before its launch.

I don't think German bank customers want or like Girocard, they just use it because it's the only debit card their bank has on offer and replicates the spending of cash more closely than the dreaded credit card. Give them a MasterCard Debit, which they can also use online and on holiday, have instant push and other goodies and I don't think hardly anyone would not want one. Girocard just gets trumped by just about any other card scheme out there.
Click to expand...

Imo the biggest selling point is the widespread acceptance of GiroCard because of their low cost for the shops to use. I think it‘s at 0,3% per transaction but minimal 8 ct.
 
Pounty said:
Imo the biggest selling point is the widespread acceptance of GiroCard because of their low cost for the shops to use. I think it‘s at 0,3% per transaction but minimal 8 ct.
Click to expand...

In my routine I never really come across any Girocard-only terminals - and when I do its usually because they're old and don't support contactless anyway. Germans need to be aware that no one else even knows what Girocard is. Maestro / MasterCard / VISA are the standard cards and should be accepted everywhere. Low fees regulated by the EU will help those schemes push through to nearly every terminal and it's improving daily.

There is one petrol station near me that only accepts cash, Girocard or Maestro. But even with a co-branded card in Apple Wallet (for me with bunq) that helps me fill up with Apple Pay there as well.
 
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If somebody of you has time, he could try to write a script, that is brute forcing all the different card images on apples amp-device-content servers. Maybe they have already uploaded a girocard logo on to their server. :D

https://smp-device-content.apple.co...est-52782a36-44b8-479e-93bd-699f47fb40b9.json

The url string would have to look like this but the number after /hero/ und the uuid after @2x- are likely to change:
https://smp-device-content.apple.co...s@2x-04bf9cfc-4a5e-43e3-bf1e-a327ba5ad2e3.png
 
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sir-hd said:
... Low fees regulated by the EU will help those schemes push through to nearly every terminal and it's improving daily....
Click to expand...

Funny enough these EU regulations don’t really get to the merchants. Don’t know wherever hangs. Merchants have still to pay higher percentages.
I believe someone explained to me that these regulations don’t mean the contracts the merchants have with the bank, it regulates what the banks have to pay.
So however I had a girocard only drug store, where we even tried credit and Boon and it was not accepted. Did not try wireless Giro as DKB will just now send me one.
 
sir-hd said:
In my routine I never really come across any Girocard-only terminals - and when I do its usually because they're old and don't support contactless anyway.
Click to expand...

I know some Subway and KFC, which have modern terminals (same as in REWE) and only accept Girocard.
 
At what time did AP usually start? Morning times or evening? Couldn‘t find any data :(
 
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