Germany’s Giropay, paydirekt and Kwitt merge under Giropay brand

A little over a year ago, rumours started circulating in the press, in which people speculated about the merger of paydirekt and Giropay.

The Kwitt service, according to the rumours, was also to be merged with the other payment services for P2P payments.

The aim being “to merge the currently existing payment methods paydirekt, Giropay and Kwitt under one brand”, wrote the “Handelsblatt” with reference to the German Banking Industry, the joint interest group of the German banking associations.

So today’s news was not really surprising. Banks and savings banks will use the online payment methods paydirekt, Giropay and Kwitt under the Giropay brand.

The aim is to “harmonise and interlink” the payment processes for customers and retailers, the goal, a uniform payment brand.

“The common Giropay brand has the potential to set a new standard in the future and combine convenience, security and European data protection,” explains Dr. Joachim Schmalzl, executive board member of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association.

“Consumers will no longer have to ask themselves how they pay – they will receive a comprehensive range of products for all channels from their bank.”

The introduction of the combined brand will start in mid-May with the visual standardisation of paydirekt and Giropay. The aim of the multi-month transition phase is to establish Giropay as the payment brand for customers and retailers.

Gradually, the “Giropay Money-Send” P2P function will be integrated on the basis of the existing Kwitt procedure. Banks and savings banks that are already offering their customers the Kwitt P2P process will switch to the “Giropay Geld-Senden” brand.