German payment services in transition

The payment services landscape is currently overshadowed by the scandal around Wirecard. Unfortunately, this is distracting the focus from technological innovation and the increasing digitisation of daily life, which have significantly changed the payment landscape in Europe and, in particular, Germany in recent years. Gone are the days where Germany, in comparison to its other European neighbours, was perceived as a somehow exotic “cash-is-king dinosaur” in the payment services universe.

In particular, the strong and continuous growth of eCommerce has promoted the rapid development of technical solutions for the digital initiation and processing of payments. The increasing number of innovative German payments services providers, including numerous FinTechs, gives strong evidence to this. Furthermore, global players in the payment sector are increasingly focussing on Germany seeking to profit from the ongoing growth potential. This has resulted in strong and continued M&A activity in the payments sector in Germany with landmark transactions such as the sale of Concardis, Heidelpay, Payone.

Click here to read the full publication on the the influence of technological developments on payment habits.