What German payment methods do you need to include if you plan a German go-to-market strategy?
Popular German payment methods – Localization matters #
If you have a business in Germany or plan to expand to the German market, a close look at preferred online payment methods is crucial to make sure that customers do not jump ship at the checkout. After all, every second (58 %) customer sees a variety of payment methods as essential when it comes to choosing an eCommerce brand (source: Radial).
It’s also important to know that many German customers tend to be a bit more old-fashioned regarding their payment choices. Established brands and traditional payment methods closely tied to the customer’s banks are much more popular than newer, more digital options, even if those might provide more advantages.
In fact, paying by invoice is still the second-most popular German payment method for online shopping which is not exactly popular with merchants but still widely expected, especially in the B2B sector.
The one big exception is PayPal which outshines every other online payment method in Germany due to its wide popularity. For Non-German companies, this is actually a good thing, since PayPal is a very typical and globally known payment method that also covers a lot of other markets.
By the way, Frisbii enables you to offer PayPal for both one-time and recurring payments.
What are popular German payment methods for eCommerce? #
- Digital Wallet (PayPal, Alipay) (64 %)
- Invoice (44 %)
- Klarna (28 %)
- Local credit card or debit card (28 %)
- Visa / Mastercard (25 %)
- Bank transfer (25 %)
- Direct debit (23 %)
- Voucher ePay (15 %)
(Source: DPD via statista, 2023)
What are popular digital payment methods in Germany? #
- PayPal (91 %)
- Klarna (45 %)
- Amazon Pay (28 %)
- giropay (20 %)*
- Apple Pay (17 %)
- Google Pay (17 %)
- Mastercard Click to Pay (Masterpass) (7 %)
(Source: Statista, 2024)
The top German payment methods in detail #
PayPal in Germany
As a so-called “Digital Wallet“, PayPal is incredibly popular and outranks all other German payment methods by a wide margin. So if you do want to conquer the German market, PayPal as a payment method is a must-have (which is great because it’s also known and popular in most other European countries).
Why are Germans in love with PayPal? My theory is that they just know and trust the brand from back when PayPal was ebay’s very own payment option. After Amazon, ebay is the second-most used marketplace in Germany (source: SimilarWeb via Statista, 2024) and has been popular since the early 2000s. German customers therefore know PayPal from its early days in 2002.
Klarna in Germany
Klarna is a Swedish payment provider that was founded in 2005 and offers different payment options such as invoice, instant bank transfer, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) or instalments. Especially the latter two options are very attractive for customers, since they allow for more expensive purchases without breaking the bank. Since it opened its services to the German market in 2009, it’s become very popular specifically for online shops.
It’s not only a popular German payment method but also works in Austria and Switzerland (in short: the entire DACH region loves Klarna).
Amazon Pay in Germany
It’s very likely that Amazon Pay is the third-most popular digital payment method in Germany since many Germans buy on Amazon. The most popular marketplace still “only” places third among the most popular payment methods in Germany.
The payment service was launched in 2007 and is available in 20 countries, mostly in Europe. It’s very likely that most customers use Amazon Pay when they’re purchasing from Amazon but prefer other payment methods outside of the online marketplace.
*giropay in Germany
Update (17.7.2024): giropay will be wound up by the end of 2024. For the German market, the best alternative will be PayPal (if you do not already offer it).
giropay is an internet payment system developed by the Deutsche Postbank in 2006 in Germany. It allows users to buy via direct online transfers from their bank account.
In 2021, the German Paydirekt GmbH bought giropay and merged its payment services.
Apple Pay & Google Pay in Germany
Considering that Germans are quite slow when it comes to adopting new payment methods, it’s rather surprising that after all 17 % of customers use Apple Pay and Google Play.
These Digital Wallets make it much easier to pay with a smartphone, pay online and do recurring payments. They are also accepted internationally, which makes them an attractive payment app for customers who like to travel, shop internationally and/or prefer contactless payment in stationary stores.
In Austria, Apple Pay (20 %) is even more popular whereas Google Pay is close to the German use rate (16 %). However, Swiss customers seem to love both Apple Pay (31 %) and Google Pay (25 %) so any DACH strategy should include these payment methods for more reach.
Source f. Austria: Statista, 2024
Source f. Switzerland: Statista, 2024
Mastercard Click to Pay in Germany
The former “Masterpass” service by Mastercard – another digital wallet – is now known as “Click to Pay” and not quite as popular as the other German payment methods I’ve mentioned. However, it can still be considered, especially for a DACH strategy, since it’s much more popular in Austria (11 %) and Switzerland (14 %).
It is currently available in 27 countries with 11 countries from Europe, so if you plan a European market strategy, it might help to check where Mastercard Click to Pay is available (can be seen here).
The right German payment methods with Frisbii
If you want to offer seamless, reliable and secure payments in the European market (and beyond), then the Frisbii payment gateway is the right solution for your business. Choose from over 50 one-time and recurring payment methods to customize your checkout experience to your customer’s needs and choose your own acquirer(s) for optimal rates and a better bottom line.
Download the European Payment Guide
If you’re not only interested in German payment methods but want to increase trust and checkout conversations across different markets, our European Payment Guide provides you with a comprehensive overview of payment trends and payment preferences in different markets.
Find out why picking the right payment mix can impact your bottom line, reduce cart abandonment and increase customer trust.
Covered in the guide:
- Why the right payment method matters
- Payment trends for digital wallets, credit cards, debit and more
- Payment habits in the Nordics, DACH, Southern Europe and Benelux countries
