The reason for this is simple: When paying with a debit card, retailers have to pay significantly more money to the service provider for each transaction. According to an HDE spokesman, the fees are sometimes up to four times as high. A purchase of more than 100 euros, for example, costs retailers around 20 cents, in the new system it is up to one euro.
Smaller retailers in particular are currently struggling with rising energy and personnel costs. The debit card fees are an extra burden here that the corporations don’t need.
