Subject of the statistics

The collection of payments statistics data focuses on payments by the non-payment service providers as customers of domestic payment service providers (PSP). These reports inform the analysis of payment habits and of Germany's financial structure and, in addition, are an important data source for establishing, managing and monitoring payment and securities settlement systems. As such, they are fundamental to the fulfilment of the Bundesbank's official mandate, pursuant to section 3 of the Bundesbank Act, which stipulates that the Bundesbank "shall arrange for the execution of domestic and cross-border payments and shall contribute to the stability of payment and clearing systems".

Methodological notes

The payment statistics were harmonised within the European monetary union beginning with the reporting year 2007 and are collected in Germany using a census survey of all MFIs with the exception of money market funds. Since reference period 2014 the reporting population has been extended by payment institutions and covers all domestic PSPs: monetary financial institutions (MFI) and payments institutions. Money market funds are exempt from the requirement to report. In addition new reporting positions and a geographical break down were introduced. Owing to methodical differences with respect to the contents of reports, the results for 2014 are comparable only to a limited extent with those from previous years.