Online shoppers or payers often have to face the issue of repeatedly entering their debit card PIN for every purchase. If you’re also struggling with the same problem, then the ELV (Elektronisches Lastschriftverfahren) Payment mode, based on and supported by the financial institutions in Germany, will help you with the benefits.
ELV is termed as the electronic direct debit payment mode, which allows customers to register with the merchant and eliminates the need to enter the PIN multiple times. Supported by only German banks, it is also an ideal alternate for customers who wish not to use credit cards for their digital payments. The company asks users to authorise with the merchant and allows them to debit the amount after the card is swiped directly. It is one of Germany’s most opted payment methods, facilitating easier, instant and safer payments.
Which payment portals support payments through ELV? The section below has details covered for you, as we have the list of payment portals (in and outside Germany) that facilitate ELV direct debits –
- WorldPay – The leading payment portal in Asia and Europe, it offers a wide range of solutions for SMEs by facilitating online payment acceptance from customers.
- CitoPay – It is used in Czech and allows high-risk merchants to accept digital payments via ELV, credit and debit cards.
Apart from these two, other platforms like Skrill, Payzoff, PayMill, AltaPay, Adyen, Be2Bill, Buckaroo, Alternative Payments, Abilipay, 2000Charge.com, Kalixa Payments Group, Ingenico ePayments, Heidelpay and NETBANKS also accept payment through ELV. According to the published reports, payment processing through ELV may sometimes take upto five days. However, when paying with ELV offline, the payee cannot check the fund availability and may risk their payments, which is not a hassle during online ELV payments.
Features of ELV
- One of the significant benefits of using the ELV card is reducing the transaction speed, both on the end of the merchant and the customer, as they need not to enter the PIN and wait for authorisation. Therefore, all the transactions are completed only in a matter of seconds.
- After the introduction of SEPA ELV, the mandate for issued payment is only valid once, eliminating the merchants’ risks.
- Detailing the benefits for customers, they can reverse the payment within eight weeks.
How ELV Payment Works?
The procedure starts with the standard process, where customers must swipe their card to a POS (point-of-sale) terminal. It reads their BIC and IBAN through the magnetic strip. Users can also create an ELV with their phone. SEPA then automates the direct debit procedure for the requested amount (which is only valid once).
Once done, the customer needs to sign the printed receipt or use the signature pad to confirm the direct debit authorisation, which is then passed on to the bank by the payee for the final booking.
