Started as a tiger, ended as a bedside rug: That is the fate of the European Payment Initiative.
Europe has badly missed the chance to become independent from the dominant US payment service providers Visa and Mastercard.
The interests in the individual countries were too particular, and the ranks among the German banks and savings banks were not cohesive enough.
It therefore seems strange to describe the German Girocard standalone solution as a piece of “economic sovereignty”.
Even if the plastic card issued by banks and savings banks is by far the most popular cashless payment method in Germany, beyond the national border it is only good for scraping ice.
The European Payment Initiative should have changed that, but as I said, nothing will come of it.
The Girocard also only becomes international through cooperation with Visa or Mastercard.
It's time for Germany to open up, the trade, the authorities, everyone who wants to collect money: for all cashless payment systems - the Girocard stands in the way.
The fees for using a debit card are also capped by EU regulations.
The haggling of some retailers or authorities for the supposedly cheapest means of payment is undignified and completely out of date.
And signs like "Card payment only from 10 euros" are prohibited by law.