In addition to vast numbers of online shops, more and more retail shops in different categories, restaurants and cafes accept electronic payment other than payment by debit card or credit card. One can conveniently choose to pay by credit card, debit card, even to utilize tools from payment service providers, such as PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay.

In Germany, it doesn’t matter which institution issued your debit or credit card, it is always either Master Card or Visa sitting behind it. As for payment providers, you can hardly find one beyond PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay. To make it simple, the market is dominated by giants from the United States.

And don’t forget SWIFT. In case there is turbulence in market stability and the USA payment service providers fail to deliver their products to the German market, it is hard to imagine how consumers in Germany could handle the turmoil. Without a German local service provider maintaining a decent market share, is payment system in Germany secured? Maybe for now, yes.