At the end of 2017, German households’ financial assets amounted to €5,857 billion, up by €78 billion, or 1.4%, on the third quarter of the year.

In the latest Monthly Report, the Bundesbank’s payment specialists look at distributed ledger technology (DLT).

This study examines the costs incurred by the use of cash and cashless payment methods in brick-and-mortar retail and related industries.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €18.9 billion in November 2021, up €1.3 billion on the previous month’s level. The surplus in the goods account declined slightly, but the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, increased more strongly. 

The €500 note is to be abolished, and ceilings on cash payments are being discussed - and yet coins and notes remain Germany's favourite medium of payment. These were some of the topics discussed by constitutional scholars and representatives of banks, the retail trade, consumer protection and the Bundesbank, among other parties, at the Bundesbank's third cash symposium.