German finance ministry sets out plans to force shops, restaurants and services to accept a digital payment method from 2027

Finance minister Lars Klingbeil's ministry circulated an Eckpunktepapier under which every business selling goods or services on site in Germany would have to offer at least one digital payment option alongside cash from 2027, and at least one of the accepted methods must be a European procedure. Merchants may pick the method themselves, but may not add a surcharge, set a minimum basket or make the digital route unnecessarily awkward, and no turnover threshold applies.

Amateur sports clubs, charities and one-off events such as village fairs are exempt, with a hardship clause still under review. The ministry wants the bill in cabinet before the end of 2026.

This is the first time the German state would mandate acceptance rather than encourage it, and it lands on the last large European market where a meaningful share of small merchants is still cash only. The European-method clause points straight at girocard and Wero rather than at Visa and Mastercard, so the mandate doubles as industrial policy for domestic rails.

The retail association HDE calls the rules unnecessary bureaucracy and demands the right to pass card fees to customers, while DEHOGA notes that more than 90 percent of hospitality venues already accept digital payment and asks for transition periods. For acquirers and terminal vendors it is a demand shock at the smallest end of the market, where acceptance cost per transaction is highest.

Whether the cabinet draft keeps the no-surcharge and no-minimum-amount rules intact, how the European-method requirement is defined in law, and whether a hardship exemption for micro-merchants and mobile traders survives.

• zdfheute.de
• Lebensmittel Zeitung, 11 Sep 2026
• AHGZ on the DEHOGA and HDE reaction, 11 Sep 2026
• Deutsche Handwerks Zeitung on the cost for small trades, 11 Sep 2026