September 15, 2023, 11:35 am | Read time: 8 minutes
It’s hard for bank customers to avoid the debit card. Banks issue the card as a replacement for the Girocard and credit cards, promoting it as a practical and fully usable alternative. But it is not. Complaints are currently piling up.
In 2022, many banks in Germany began issuing the debit card. It is intended to replace the Girocard (also colloquially known as the EC card or money card) and can be used like a credit card. The only difference: Billing is always immediate, not at the end of the month like with a classic Visa or Mastercard. For bank customers, there’s hardly any way around the debit card; those who want to keep the Girocard or credit card, especially at direct banks, must pay a monthly fee. Many will thus use the debit card as their sole “money card.” But that’s not a good idea, as TECHBOOK editor-in-chief Rita Deutschbein experienced firsthand.
Overview
How I Failed with My Debit Card at the Supermarket
I didn’t think much of it when I went to Rewe after work to shop. At the checkout, the employee asked if I also wanted to withdraw cash. Why not, I thought, since I had already pulled out my new debit card to pay. But then this happened: The employee glanced at my card and asked if it was “one that can do both.” I had to smile inwardly and said yes. The woman meant a debit card that is both a credit card and a Girocard in one. But then my smile faded. The employee politely informed me that withdrawing cash with the debit card at Rewe was not possible. The card readers could only process the classic Girocards. When I asked, she confirmed that this applied to all branches throughout Germany.
This incident made me pause. I had written a report about the first bank in Germany that completely stopped cash deposits and withdrawals. Customers of this bank are instead referred to supermarkets, where they are supposedly able to withdraw cash without any issues. It never occurred to me that supermarkets today might not be prepared for the debit card. Yet, a large number of customers also use the convenient service of withdrawing cash at the checkout when shopping. So what can they do?
Read also: The Differences Between Debit Card and Credit Card
The Reactions of the Supermarkets
Apparently not much, as inquiries to various supermarket chains and banks have shown. Rewe confirmed upon request that cash withdrawals in their stores are only possible with the Girocard. “There are currently no efforts to extend the service to debit cards from the credit card industry. We very much regret that some credit institutions and banks only issue debit cards from the credit card industry,” said Rewe spokesperson Thomas Bonrath.
Customers with a debit card also cannot get cash at other supermarket chains. Kaufland confirmed to TECHBOOK that “customers can withdraw cash amounts between 5 and 200 euros free of charge with their Girocard and the familiar PIN procedure from a purchase value of 10 euros.” The same applies at Lidl. At Edeka, however, we could not get a general answer to our inquiry. The stores in Germany are cooperatively structured, so the operators can decide for themselves about their markets. Some stores already offer the option to withdraw cash using a credit or debit card.
At Aldi Nord, withdrawing cash is also (still) not possible. Thus, this alternative is also denied to customers. Withdrawing cash in the supermarket with the debit card? This does not work in many parts of Germany. It even goes so far that retailers do not even plan to adapt their card readers accordingly.
One might say: “Then they should just get cash from their bank or an ATM.” But that is becoming increasingly difficult. As mentioned briefly at the beginning, TECHBOOK has already reported on a bank that no longer issues cash. Many large financial institutions in Germany have not yet taken this radical step, but a change in thinking is also emerging among them. Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse, and Commerzbank have closed numerous branches in recent months or plan to do so in the near future. ATMs are also disappearing increasingly–in rural areas as well as in cities. “Tagesschau” reports cases where customers have to drive up to six kilometers just to withdraw cash after their branch closes. That the banks then refer to the alternative solution in the supermarket gives the impression that no one really knows the status of the debit card in Germany.
Many Reports of Problems at Consumer Protection Agencies
And if you do find a branch with ATMs, you might not have access with some debit cards. The VZBV, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, writes in a recent report that between February 2 and July 17, 2023, 1,853 complaints from debit card users were reported.
Across all cards, they described problems with the ability to open doors to self-service areas at banks. Card acceptance remains an issue–in German retail stores, when receiving cash at the checkout, in hotels, at authorities, in clinics, or abroad. Cardholders also criticized missing functionalities such as age verification or the ability to use the ChipTAN procedure.
In 28 percent of the reported cases, users only had a debit card. They then rely on cash to have an appropriate means of payment in case the card is not accepted.
According to VZBV, acceptance problems are particularly common with debit cards from DKB, ING, Targobank, Santander, and comdirect. Direct banks generally issue pure debit cards from Visa or Mastercard. The fees are thus more expensive for merchants. Unlike, for example, the SparkassenCard, which has a Girocard function and a so-called Co-Badge VPAY, where merchants only have to pay the costs for transactions with Girocards, which are comparatively low in this country.
No More DKB ATMs–How You Can Still Deposit Cash
Girocard Set for a Revolution: New Features Coming in 2027
What the Banks Say About the Debit Card Problem
But what do the banks say, which promote their new card as a replacement for the Girocard and credit card? Well, Postbank customers can relax, as the card is still optional here. Deutsche Bank also relies on the Deutsche Bank Card and thus the normal Girocard for many accounts. Alternatively, the common credit card and the Deutsche Bank Card Plus, which combines the services of a Girocard (direct debit) with those of a classic credit card, are also available.
A spokeswoman for Berliner Sparkasse revealed to TECHBOOK that the SparkassenCard is issued as a debit card. Customers can also choose credit cards in cooperation with Visa and Mastercard. “The SparkassenCard has a Girocard function and a so-called Co-Badge VPAY. Cash can be withdrawn with both cards–debit and credit card–also in supermarkets,” said the spokeswoman.
Direct banks like ING and DKB now mainly rely on the debit card. The Girocard and credit cards are now chargeable. Both banks refer to cash withdrawals at Dm, Aldi Süd, or Shell gas stations upon our inquiry. A DKB spokesperson explains: “Our customers can access cash with the DKB Visa Debit Card or the Visa Credit Card nationwide at Dm drugstores (2,094 branches in the 2021/22 fiscal year) from the purchase of a product (no minimum turnover). Also at participating Shell gas stations (even without refueling or shopping) and at Aldi Süd (up to 200 euros from a purchase value of 5 euros). And since we continue to offer all customers an optional Girocard (for 0.99 euros per month), cash withdrawals at Rewe and Kaufland are also possible.”
The ING spokesperson also stated: “In addition, it has recently become possible to get cash at the checkout with the Visa Card at more and more retail chains. Aldi Süd, Dm, Müller, and Netto are already participating in the service. An expansion of participating retailers is planned.”
Read also: DKB Introduces Account Management Fee and Cuts Free Girocard
Gaps in Debit Card Acceptance Are “Annoying”
The gaps in payment and acceptance of the debit card in hotels or car rentals are regrettable. The DKB spokesperson said: “These cases are very annoying and ideally should no longer occur from our point of view. We are in regular contact with Visa, as the company actively works on finding and fixing acceptance gaps.” Much has already been done in car rentals. Providers like Sixt, Hertz, and Avis (according to Avis, debit cards are accepted everywhere except in Iceland and Canada) are already on board, “which is why we assume that any acceptance gaps will continue to decline in the future,” said the spokesperson.
A decline in the problem is not yet in sight, as the still-reported cases at VZBV show. Consumer advocates write that the current complaints contradict the promises of the banks. According to them, the new Mastercard/Visa debit cards combine the functions of what Giro- and credit cards could previously do together.