Germany

Wirecard will supply all digital payment POS services for KaDeWe, a dominant department store operator in Wirecard’s home market of Germany, as part of an expanded relationship.

A trial project using blockchain to transfer and settle securities and cash proved more costly and less speedy than the traditional way, Germany’s central bank president said.

Raisin is planning to create an online marketplace for high-yield savings accounts and CDs for the U.S., but persuading Americans to save could be a challenge.

A German fintech firm that counts PayPal Holdings Inc. among its investors wants to expand its internet platform for bank-savings products to the U.S.

Germans' devotion to cash is waning, as payments cards edged out cash for total transaction value in German retail sales in 2018.

Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended talks on a historic tie-up, throwing the future of the lenders into question after a series of failed turnaround plans.

With Wirecard's value tumbling since a Financial Times report two months ago alleging an accounting scandal in its Asian operations — and a followup Wednesday reporting that half of its revenue comes from "three opaque partner companies" — the German payments processor received a lift from a €900 million ($1 billion U.S.) investment from Japan's SoftBank.

While there is no formal mandate to pursue a merger and other options are still being considered, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing is said to have given up his resistance to doing a deal this year.

German payments company heidelpay has made a series of recent deals to diversify its merchant appeal, including this week's agreement to buy digital point of sale terminal seller Alpha-Cash Payment GmbH.

Furniture retailers typically split payment for big-ticket items with a deposit and the balance due upon delivery, but the process is usually fraught with paperwork, security and efficiency gaps.