After much anticipation in Germany, the Giro card under the Sparkasse brand now has Apple Pay support.
German iPhone users can now add the Sparkasse Giro debit card in their digital Wallet app, joining the available credit cards in the same brand umbrella.
Direct support for Apple Pay is a novel transition for Germany. Since December of last year Apple Pay users could use Basis debit card; however, it’s a two-step process that requires them to load money onto the card before they could use it for shopping or paying bills.
Now, with the Sparkasse Giro card they can make purchases and the amount will be auto-deducted from their accounts.
Apple Pay debuted in Germany in 2018, and several bank institutions immediately joined. Commerzebank and Sparkasse were two entities that didn’t join on launch day, but soon did in December 2019.
Apple Pay in the US launched October 2014 and allowed for contactless payments for retail store goods and services using Apple Watch or iPhone.
