girocard to gain pre-authorisation and in-app payments, opening up deposit use cases

The German banking industry is extending girocard with pre-authorisation, which separates cardholder authentication from the authorisation of the final amount, so a sum can be blocked without being debited and later reversed. In-app payments and a digital age check are being added alongside it. Implementation runs through EURO Kartensysteme, PSPs, network operators and banks; industry sources expect the rollout in the first half of 2027.

Hotels, car rental desks and other open-amount use cases in Germany still insist on a credit card mainly because girocard cannot hold an amount. Closing that gap moves domestic-debit-eligible volume away from schemes charging roughly 0.5 percent, and it removes an argument acquirers currently use when selling credit-card acceptance to German merchants.

Whether EURO Kartensysteme confirms a firm date in the first half of 2027, and how quickly terminal and PSP estates certify the new transaction type.

• t3n.de