Google Pay records the largest search query growth, Paypal is searched most frequently. The interest of Germans in mobile payment options is increasing rapidly. Google Pay showed growth of 3,074 percent in search queries, with Apple Pay posting an increase of 813 percent. In third place among the Germans landed Amazon Pay with an increase of 191 percent. But well-tried payment methods such as debit card (+167 percent), also known as the giro card, and direct debit (+136 percent) seem to continue to attract increasing interest among Germans. This results in a recent analysis of the online visibility management platform SEMrush.
The top 10 payment methods after growth of search queries (search queries from 2016 to 2019):
- Google Pay (+3,074%)
- Apple Pay (+813%)
- Amazon Pay (+191%)
- Debit Card (+167%)
- Direct Debit (+136%)
- Transferwise (+110%)
- Bitcoin (+105%)
- Samsung Pay (+54%)
- Paypal (+22%)
- American Express (+18%)
Google Pay and Apple Pay started in the US in 2015. In 2018 followed Germany. Before the German rollout at the beginning of the analysis period in November 2016, the searches with 1,600 and 14,800 searches were still manageable, but increased sharply in the following months and after the launch and with the growing number of participating partner banks, due to the users' information needs , Amazon Pay has been around since 2007. The third strongest growth is explained by the uninterrupted interest in the online mail order company and its payment method.
Looking at average monthly searches this year, regardless of growth, results in a different ranking. In 2019, Paypal ranks first (5,021,000), well ahead of Bitcoin (766,200) and American Express (110,550). The top 10 payment methods of Germans after search queries (average monthly searches of Germans between January and October 2019):
- Paypal (5,021,000)
- Bitcoin (766,200)
- American Express (110,550)
- Transferwise (83,900)
- Apple Pay (81,000)
- Credit Card (68,900)
- Mastercard (60,700)
- Google Pay (41,630)
- Ethereum (40,740)
- Sofortüberweisung (38,280)
Sofortüberweisung is an online payment system of Sofort GmbH for cashless payment on the Internet. The procedure is a pseudo pre-cash system, as the trader does not receive the payment immediately, but a payment confirmation.
Established payment methods have less need for explanation and are less sought. Instead, customers are interested in alternatives to established payment methods. Although PayPal has been around since 2002, it enjoys uninterrupted popularity without strong growth in search queries, as it has long been a common, secure and easy payment method, whether mobile or desktop.
Instead of leaving the field to credit card companies and projects like Libra, the policy should create a digital Euro, demands the trade association.
The German Trade Association (HDE) has called on politicians to create a digital Euro as payment method. The should be an alternative to the major credit card networks and tech companies such as Facebook with the planned digital money Libra. Before the meeting of the EU finance ministers on 5 December, the association also made itself strong by letter to Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
"Global credit card companies have been using their strong position for years and have already reached a market dominance that trade can not ignore", wrote HDE Chief Executive Stefan Genth, according to a press release. Genth also sees a desire for payment from the hustle and bustle of tech companies "data collection". The trade would lose more and more direct contact with the customer. A state digital currency could offer more independence from such system operators.
Facebook's plans to launch the crypto-currency-based payment method Libra have long been fueling a debate over possible central bank coins. Libra is supposed to become a kind of crypto-money administered by a consortium of private companies backed by a basket of normal currencies such as Dollars and Euros.
This met with politicians and regulators on sharp refusal. Instead, about an e-Euro is brought into play, issued by the European Central Bank. Treasury secretary Scholz has already spoken out in favor, and the German parliamentary group of the CDU was in favor of it. Projects for such digital currencies of central banks already exist from several countries. Among other things, Sweden is working on the E-Krona, the People's Bank of China is also in the starting blocks for a digital central bank money.
Central bank money for end consumers exists in this country so far only as cash, but not in digital form. For payments via the banking system, such as transfers from checking account to checking account, only so-called bankroll money is moved. This is book money generated by commercial banks, which is merely a demand for the disbursement of cash issued by the central bank. From a formal point of view, bankroll is not a legal tender in Germany, so there is no obligation to accept it; in everyday transactions, it still accounts for the majority of payments.