Cash is a quick and cheap means of payment in the German retail trade sector. On average, cash payments take just over 22 seconds and cost around 24 cent per transaction, according to a study on the costs of cash payments in the retail trade sector which the Deutsche Bundesbank carried out in cooperation with EHI Retail Institute.

Bargeld ist in Deutschland nach wie vor das meistgenutzte Zahlungsmittel, auch wenn die Digitalisierung im Zahlungsverkehr voranschreitet. Dieses Video bietet einen Einblick in unsere Geldbearbeitung.

Die Bundesbank begrüßt es, dass Kundinnen und Kunden sich zunehmend auch im Einzelhandel an der Kasse mit Bargeld versorgen können. In einem Gastbeitrag für das Magazin "Der Handel" weist Bundesbank-Vorstandsmitglied Johannes Beermann allerdings darauf hin, dass alle Bargeldakteure dazu verpflichtet seien, Banknoten auf Echtheit zu prüfen und Fälschungen zu erkennen. Die Bundesbank bietet hierfür entsprechende Schulungen an.

Cash is quicker and cheaper at the point of sale than other means of payment, a recent study has found. It performed better than other payment types for transactions of up to €50 in particular. According to the study, three out of four payments are settled in cash.

The German economy is set to recover only arduously from the period of weakness that has persisted since the outbreak of Russia’s war against Ukraine, write the Bundesbank’s experts in the Monthly Report. The industrial sector is still up against difficult conditions, and households’ mood for spending remained subdued in the third quarter. The experts do not expect economic output to see slight growth again until the first quarter of 2024.

Since 2008, the Deutsche Bundesbank has been taking a comprehensive look at how the population pays, what attitudes they have towards cash and electronic means of payment, and what developments can be expected in payment transactions.

Immobilienfinanzierung ist für die Bundesbank aus ganz verschiedenen Blickwinkeln ein wichtiges Thema: Zum einen für volkswirtschaftliche Analysen, da Immobilien eine große Bedeutung für die Vermögensbestände privater Haushalte haben.

Economic activity in Germany may have more or less stagnated in the first quarter of 2022, the Bundesbank’s economists write in the current issue of the Monthly Report. They expect Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine to have had only a limited impact on Germany’s economy at first. Even so, the repercussions of the war are likely to significantly weaken the recovery, which had actually got off to a strong start. “Disruptions to foreign trade and supply chains, soaring energy prices and heightened uncertainty are weighing on enterprises and households,” the report states.