Card payments in the upswing: A look at the EHI study 2025

The current EHI study "Payment systems in retail 2025" shows a clear trend in favor of the card payment in German retail. Despite a still high cash share that remains in absolute numbers, its share of sales drops through card payments, which now make up over 63.5 percent of the total retail turnover. The cash share has decreased to 33.8 percent. This makes it clear that card payment is taking up an ever larger space in payment transactions, even if cash is still the most common payment method in relation to transactions.

shares of the payment methods

In 2024, cash with more than 54.6 percent remains relevant at around 20 billion transactions. Nevertheless, the share of sales that cash generates has become more balanced. The number of purchases has reached the level of time before pandemic, with around 239 purchases per capita year. This stability in shopping behavior has been particularly highlighted after a decline in 16.6 billion purchases was recorded in the Corona years.

shares of the card payments

The Girocard remains dominant with 41.5 percent, even if it has a slight decline. International debit cards such as Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard are on an upward trend while credit cards go back slightly. Overall, the combinations of credit cards and international debit cards make up 15.2 percent of sales in inpatient retail, which underlines the growing importance of these payment methods.

shares Mobile Payment

An impressive increase is shown in the area of ​​mobile payments. Over 44 percent of the purchases are now handled with a card - physically or digitally - while the use of mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay or Google Pay has risen to 5.7 percent. The doubling within five years shows how quickly these technologies prevail in retail.

investments in payment infrastructure

After a phase of the decline, the willingness to invest in retail for payment infrastructure has increased again. This includes the modernization of payment terminals and the digitization of loyalty programs in order to offer customers a better user experience. In addition, the focus is on adapting to the accessibility law, which ensures that all customers have discriminatory access to cashless payment methods regardless of their skills.