Electronic cash

Electronic cash is the debit card system of the German Banking Industry Committee, the association which represents the top German financial interest groups. Usually paired with a Transaction account or Current Account, cards with an Electronic Cash logo are only handed out by proper credit institutions. An electronic card payment is generally made by the card owner entering their PIN (Personal Identification Number) at a so-called EFT-POS-terminal (Electronic-Funds-Transfer-Terminal). The name “EC” originally comes from the unified European checking system Eurocheque. Comparable debit card systems are Maestro and Visa Electron. Banks and credit institutions who issue these cards often pair EC debit cards with Maestro functionality. These combined cards, recognizable by an additional Maestro logo, are referred to as “EC/Maestro cards”.

All of Germany's providers registered with the Central Credit Committee are connected in the working group Arbeitskreis der electronic cash-Netzbetreiber. According to the Federal Cartel Office of Germany, the following providers have considerable market shares:

In 2006, the following companies had market shares of less than 3% each: DVB Processing, CardProcess, Tyco/ADT, Bank-Verlag, CardTech, CCV Allcash, EKS, Alphyra, Experian, Paycom, Lavego, Telekurs.

In 2010, only CardTech and Lavego remain from the 2006 list (as well as the six top dogs), with AGES, BCB Processing, CardProcess, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche BP, Douglas Informatik & Service, Elavon, ESSO Deutschland, ICP International Cash Processing GmbH, Postbank, Shell and transact also offering services now.

Currently there are two valid acceptance marks for electronic cash: the electronic cash PIN-Pad and girocard pictograms. The Technical attachment to the eligibility requirements for participation in the electronic cash system of the German credit services sector (retailing requirements) includes the retailer's obligation to accept both of these acceptance marks at newly set up points of sale for the time being. Furthermore, the acceptance marks are printed on the debit cards of German financial institutions.

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