How do people in Germany pay online?
Most Germans shop online. Eurostat puts the share of people who bought something online in the previous 12 months at 81.38% in 2025, against an EU average of 73.56%.
E-payment methods lead by number of payments. In the Bundesbank’s 2023 payment diary, e-payment methods such as PayPal, Klarna and Amazon Pay made up about half of all online transactions. Credit transfers and direct debits followed with 28% and credit cards with 17%. By value the order flips: credit transfers and direct debits carried 44% of online spending and e-payment methods 39%. For purchases of EUR 500 or more, direct debits and credit transfers were the most used option.
Retailers see the same pattern. The EHI Retail Institute’s panel of 172 online retailers, with EUR 50.7 billion in net online revenue, put PayPal at 28.7% of online revenue in 2025, purchase on invoice at 26.1% and direct debit at 14.4%. Credit cards and international debit cards together reached 13.7%. Apple Pay appeared in the ranking for the first time, at 1.3%.
Purchase on invoice is a German habit. The shopper receives the goods and pays afterwards, and merchants often offer it through a pay-later provider such as Klarna. SEPA direct debit works the same way for the shopper: they give their IBAN and a mandate at checkout.
Wero is new. The European Payments Initiative launched Wero for online shopping in Germany on 17 November 2025, first with the Sparkassen and the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, with Postbank, Deutsche Bank, ING Deutschland and Revolut to follow. Wero is based on instant account-to-account payments. The domestic debit card, girocard, is mainly used in shops; since July 2021 Sparkassen girocards can also pay online through Apple Pay where the merchant supports it.
What rules shape online payments in Germany?
Shoppers have 14 days to withdraw. Under § 355 of the Civil Code (BGB), a consumer can withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days, and both sides must return what they received without undue delay. EU rules count the period for goods from the day of delivery. Since 19 June 2026 online shops must also offer a withdrawal function, a button that lets the consumer withdraw online, which Germany added to the Civil Code as § 356a BGB under Directive (EU) 2023/2673.
The order button has fixed wording. Under § 312j(3) BGB, if an order is placed with a button, the button must say “zahlungspflichtig bestellen” (order with obligation to pay) or something equally unambiguous.
Payment surcharges are not allowed. § 270a BGB makes void any agreement that charges the consumer a fee for paying by SEPA direct debit, SEPA credit transfer or a payment card covered by the EU interchange fee rules. Strong customer authentication also applies: Your Europe notes that online payments above EUR 30 need at least two authentication elements, usually a step in the banking app.
Instant payments are now standard. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, banks in the euro area must let their customers send instant euro transfers and must check the payee’s name against the IBAN (verification of payee) since 9 October 2025.
VAT is 19%, with a reduced rate of 7% for items such as food and books. A seller established in another EU country whose cross-border sales to consumers across the EU pass EUR 10,000 a year charges German VAT on sales to German customers, and can declare it through the One Stop Shop. Businesses in Germany have had to be able to receive B2B e-invoices since 2025, with transition periods for issuing them.
How would Omno route payments in Germany?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, amount and customer group. In Germany:
- PayPal and wallets would be shown in the hosted checkout through providers that support them, next to Apple Pay and Google Pay for shoppers who pay by card from their phone.
- Invoice and direct debit would go to providers that offer purchase on invoice or SEPA direct debit, with rules by amount and customer group, for example invoice only for returning customers below a set amount.
- Card pay-ins would follow rules by BIN, currency and amount, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Wero could be added through a provider with Wero e-commerce acceptance as more German banks switch it on.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for PayPal and invoice first. Together they carry more than half of online revenue in the EHI panel, and many German shoppers expect to see both.
Plan for the checkout wording. Label the order button “zahlungspflichtig bestellen” and add the online withdrawal function required since 19 June 2026.
Plan for no payment fees. Surcharges on SEPA transfers, direct debits and consumer cards are void, so price the cost of each method into the margin instead.
Plan for VAT. Check whether your EU sales pass the EUR 10,000 threshold and register for the One Stop Shop if they do.