Cash(less) Payments. When I moved here years ago, cash payment was predominant all over Europe, as ATMs and banks were everywhere. Electronic payments were predominantly operated over local interbank networks like Girocard here, Carte Bleue in France, Bancomat in Italy, Link in Britain, and so on. The main criterion for choosing a bank was the number of branches/ATMs even before the annual cost of the account.
Fast forward, and we can all agree that nearly every banking business has shut down 3/4 of its branches and ATMs and counting, cash withdrawal from ATMs is limited to relatively small amounts, larger withdrawals are only possible at old-school cash tellers for a hefty fee, with limited operating times and usually not within reach.
This has been the trend in every corner of the world for the past 15 years or so. This situation has naturally pushed towards the adoption of digital payments, except over here, where it's not just opposed, but loathed by many business owners. I understand there is a wide consensus that such opposition is somewhat linked to tax evasion; however, no matter how hard I try, I can't help doubting that a conspicuous amount of business owners is so dumb and downright stupid to believe that the risk of being caught outweighs the increase of customer reach and therefore transactions! Unless, of course, many businesses in the country are nearer to shutting down than to expanding.
There must be something else slowing down the adoption of cashless payments, like regulatory or practical aspects. Biz owners around here, it would be great if you could share your pov!
Postal Mail. Pretty much the same that happened with ATMs and banks applies to the postal service: branches closing down, fees increasing constantly, and ultimately delivery services being slowed down due to cost and emission reduction initiatives enacted by DHL.
Yet again, a large number of companies, including a world-renowned credit card service I recently interacted with, requires snail mail for any enquiry going beyond the most basic operations available in their customer portal or through a call with customer service. If you have an issue with the service like I had, prepare to print out pages of A4 papers and pieces of evidence for a 4-to-6-week-long epistolary exchange, where misunderstandings increase exponentially with each letter you send or receive. I've also noticed that e-mails and messages through customer contact forms are increasingly being ignored. I'm not even wasting time getting started with faxing.
I understand that it's more of a legal thing: it's not that easy to ignore paper letters, especially if registered. DE-Mail would be a nice alternative and it's been there for years: its equivalents have been successfully rolled out in Switzerland (IncaMail), Italy (PEC), and Hong Kong (GovHK Mail). But I see neither a push from government agencies, nor even the smallest attempt to market this thing. On the flipside, DHL's downsizing plans in the mail delivery lines won't stop here. If policymakers don't react, you can already imagine where we would be in a few years.
In conclusion, I hope someone close to decision-making circles in this country lurking in this sub could share their insights. It would be a small but meaningful indicator of whether to expect some movement towards the 21st century, or prepare to coexist with a large part of this country desperately trying dragging a whole society towards a sort of Kafkian dystopia, also considering that the German industrial complex is obviously no longer able to contribute with its once mighty tax share to cover the humongous costs of bureaucracy and hyperregulation.
by lukedeg