The agreement enables German banks to issue debit cards that are able to process payments via either electronic cash or the V Pay network. In Germany, electronic cash is accepted at 550,000 terminals and approximately 51,000 ATMs. V Pay, meanwhile, currently has an acceptance network of four million terminals and 240,000 ATMs.
While acceptance points for electronic cash mostly are located in Germany, the co-branding of electronic cash cards with an international debit card product enables use abroad.
V Pay offers additional features to banks and card holders in Europe. The electronic cash cards that have been co-badged so far with Maestro for international usage can now be co-branded with V Pay, and will provide access to a broad existing acceptance net within Europe.
The co-branding agreement between ZKA and Visa Europe will increase competition within the cards payment industry. It also supports the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) initiative.
Electronic cash has been complying with the requirements of Sepa for a long time. With the planned cooperation of electronic cash with other domestic payment schemes in the Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes (EAPS) and the co-branding, private banks and saving banks have two additional options, the ZKA said. With V Pay, German banks now have a second solution that will be recommended and supported explicitly by the German banking industry.
