AppleInsider Staff
Apple in a recent change to international retail policy eliminated money transfers, otherwise known as prepayment, as a purchase option on its online store in Germany.
As noted by local blog Macerkopf, Apple no longer accepts payment by money transfer, or Ãœberweisung, through its German online store, meaning customers must pay via credit card, PayPal/ELV or installment based financing.
Prior to the change, customers who elected to use the money transfer option had to route bank transfers through Apple partner WorldPay Customer Payments. According to the report, wire transfers could potentially lead to shipping delays, as Apple would send out orders only after receiving payment.
An Apple support document, which is still live on the company's website as of this writing, says processing of payments might in some cases take up to five days to post. Translated to real world shipments, prepayments could in some cases delay fulfillment by weeks, the report said.
Why Apple chose to abandon the prepayment option in Germany is unclear.
The retail change comes amidst a wider push to introduce Apple Pay to a growing international audience. Though not yet available in Germany, evidence suggests Apple is preparing to launch the fledgling service there in the near future. In October, for example, the company posted an Apple Pay support page to its regional German website, suggesting a future debut is in the offing.
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17 Comments
Are debit cards not common in Germany (or other countries)? I assumed that was a universal payment system these days.
Debit cards are normal here.
In fact, don't really get real "credit" cards. Ours are balanced monthly.
Yes, there are 3 systems. EC/Girocard, Maestro and V-Pay, but only the first is important.
They mainly have money transfers and debit cards. PayPal use is fairly rare outside of eBay.
Eliminating the old prepayment option is not a problem, since Apple's setup was the worst in existence. WorldPay needed up to a week to confirm incoming payments to Apple, while bank transfers within Germany rarely take more than 24 hours nowadays. Ordering new in demand items this way was nearly impossible, since the shipping day moved weeks or months until the WorldPay crooks finally admitted that they have your money. Unfortunately Apple still refuses to support better options like Giropay or Sofortüberweisung, which are both safe, instant and more convenient than PayPal. And as much as I like the idea of ApplePay becoming available here, let's not kid ourselves... If it comes at all, it will start with the same credit card companies that you could use right now. German banks will roll out at least a dozen non-working alternatives before they jump on board.