All about girocard moving forward together
"Visiting friends" – with these words, Ingo Limburg, Director of Communications & Marketing at EURO Kartensysteme, opened this year's GBIC . Once again, the German Banking Industry Committee's information event offered a varied program for its guests. One thing became clear: in a world increasingly shaped by digitalization and new technologies, girocard is and will remain girocard indispensable instrument in German payment services. Its great importance for Germany was once again underlined at GBIC . But it was also clear that it must continue to evolve in order to remain successful in the future.
Multi-sensory branding: a new dimension of brand perception
One item on the agenda, for example, was the introduction of "sensory branding" for girocard. The aim of this approach is to strengthen the brand through a distinctive sound design that plays when transactions are completed. Guests at GBIC were given a first taste of the future sound design, which is intended to make girocard only audible but also visible. The new sound design has the potential to become one of the most frequently played sounds in Germany: customers use it to make payments more than 7.5 billion times a year – that's over 20,000 transactions every day.
New acceptance areas and functionalities
Another key topic was the steadily growing acceptance girocard including abroad—and its integration into new areas of application. For example, girocard can girocard be used directly abroad with increasing frequency. In addition to expanding the acceptance girocard other European countries, girocard 4.0 also aims to make girocard usable girocard other application scenarios. There is a particular focus on AppPOS technology, which is of great benefit to smaller retailers in the agricultural sector, such as fruit and vegetable stalls. Sales assistants can conveniently use a cell phone or tablet as an NFC-enabled terminal that also girocard .
The successful pilot of online age verification at cigarette vending machines was also reported on. At the start of the pilot, around 180 vending machines were able to implement age verification using a (digital) girocard. A so-called terminal without PIN pad (TOPP) is used for this purpose. Around 1,000 machines are now equipped with this function - 60 percent of transactions are already cashless. An expansion of the pilot project with additional machines is therefore firmly planned.
The relevance girocard a globalized payment landscape
"Customers are changing—and so are we," said Dr. Joachim Schmalzl, Managing Director of the German Sparkassen Association (DSGV) and current head of GBIC, as he began his keynote speech at GBIC 2024, in which he addressed the changes and new challenges in the payment industry. He emphasized that girocard the number one tool for keeping pace with these developments. "We are strong advocates of having our own infrastructure for payment services Germany because it creates great added value, but we need support from all sides," said Dr. Joachim Schmalzl. He also emphasized that girocard should girocard only be widely used at the point of sale, but should also play a central role in e-commerce. The versatile further development girocard an important step toward retail sector the requirements of customers and retail sector . In his opinion, an infrastructure offering for the region is an important contribution to sovereignty and independence in Europe. According to Dr. Schmalzl, it is therefore important to establish a joint model with larger scales in addition to the local hero, girocard, and for him, that is wero.
Conclusion
GBIC 2024 has shown that girocard will continue payment services a central role in German payment services in the future girocard numerous innovations and further developments. With a clear focus on customer needs, new technologies, and stronger brand awareness, girocard is positioned girocard an innovative model for the future. the Germany Banking Industry Committee intensively to girocard improve girocard and expand its acceptance both at home and abroad.
Further information on the speakers and the presentations from the event can be found at: www.dkinfo-digital.de.
