Giropay is a virtual payment system used to make payments and transactions through direct credit transfers from a bank account. It is a German company that was founded in 2005 and launched for public use in February 2006. It was started by Giropay GmbH until it was taken over by Paydirekt in December 2020. However, both companies merged in May 2021 and are now known as Paydirekt GmbH.
Giropay has about 1,500 participant banks which consist of Sparkasse, cooperative banks, and some major commercial banks. It is available to both merchants and individuals and it is accepted in many other European countries. It makes up 16% of commonly patronized online payment methods in Germany. Giropay can be used to pay for services and products on many platforms.
Features of the payment system
For a third-party payment platform such as Giropay, security amongst other things are very crucial to its optimal functioning. Giropay combines an air-tight security infrastructure amongst other features to deliver efficient services to its customers. Below is a breakdown of various features of Giropay that make it commonly used:
Security
Giropay uses the same security as users’ bank security, hence the safer the bank the safer the transactions, allowing real-time risk-free payments. It offers very secure methods such as 2-factor authentication i.e. challenge-response access token and simpler ones like PIN and TAN (Transaction Authentication Number) – based codes to verify transfers. Transactions are not authorized without a pin. It also ensures that customer’s sensitive information is not shared with merchants on transactions, only bank codes are shared with them.
Speed and Reliability
While making transactions on Giropay, notifications about the success or failure of payment are sent immediately. In about 5 minutes, payments are authorized and in total it takes less than 15 minutes to complete all processes.
Also, Giropayments can be refunded for up to 180 days after the original payments. Refunds are only made after payments have been confirmed.
Widely Accessibility
On Giropay, though transactions are done in Euros, international transactions can be made and payments are received in the receiver’s local currency. Some of these international countries include the United Kingdom, Turkey, Italy, and many others. Since many commercial banks participate, it is available to a wide range of customers using different banks.
Easy connection
Giropay is compatible with all devices and while creating an account, no extra registration is involved making creation easy and fast.
Varying costs
For each transaction on Giropay, costs are calculated per value of the transaction. Rates usually range from 2.0% to 0.9% plus €0.14 per transaction and no hidden fees are involved. Also, transactions below €100 are not charged.
How to connect
To connect your bank to Giropay:
- Go to the Giropay website.
- Select your bank.
- Fill in your bank details.
- Your Giropay account will then be created under the bank.
- After creating an account, log in to Giropay to access bank account data.
- During payments, you will either be redirected to your bank or Giropay.
