According to the payment transaction statistics released by the Deutsche Bundesbank, the volume of card payments in Germany increased significantly again in 2025. Overall, around 14.5 billion card transactions were conducted, representing an eleven percent rise compared to the previous year. As a result, card payments accounted for approximately 43 percent of all payment methods used by non-banks.
Direct debits remained popular, though their share of total payments slightly decreased from 31 percent to 30 percent. The number of direct debit transactions grew by one percent, reaching approximately ten billion. Transfers increased by three percent to 7.8 billion transactions, constituting about 23 percent of the total. Particularly noteworthy was the development of SEPA instant transfers, which more than doubled, soaring by 102 percent to around 680 million transactions. The proportion of these transfers jumped from 4.9 percent in the preceding year to 9.4 percent.
Regarding transaction value, transfers totaled about 66 trillion Euros in 2025, making up roughly 90 percent of all payments. Direct debits achieved a value of approximately 6.2 trillion Euros, which corresponds to a share of around eight percent. Further changes were noted in payment infrastructure: the number of domestic ATM devices fell by three percent to about 48,000 units. Conversely, the number of payment terminals in retail trade rose by eleven percent, reaching around 1.3 million.
