What replaced giropay in Germany?
Wero. The banks closed giropay on December 31, 2024, and Wero, from the European Payments Initiative, has been live for online payments in Germany since the end of 2025. Retailers such as dm, Decathlon and Lidl already accept it.
In detail
Wero. The German banks shut down giropay on December 31, 2024, and Sofort was folded into Klarna and dropped as a standalone method in 2025. Wero, the wallet from the European Payments Initiative (EPI), now fills the gap for pay-by-bank at the checkout.
How Wero arrived
Wero launched for person-to-person transfers in 2024 and has been live for German online payments since the end of 2025. Retailers such as dm, Decathlon and Lidl were among the first to accept it. It runs on instant payments, which are growing fast in Germany: SEPA Instant transfers doubled to about 680 million in 2025.
Still early
Adoption is at an early stage: 5% of Bundesbank survey respondents had set up Wero. In the meantime, German shoppers who want to pay from their account mostly use SEPA direct debit, which takes 14.4% of online turnover, or prepayment by bank transfer.
What it means for payment operators
For operators serving German merchants, Wero readiness is worth planning now, next to PayPal, invoice, direct debit and cards. Connecting it through a provider that supports it lets you enable it for the merchants whose customers adopt it first, without rebuilding the checkout later.