German Banks that support native NFC (Not dependent on GooglePay)

DKpacifier

Hi everyone, I'm new here.
Wanted some information from German users of GrapheneOS.
Which German banks use their own NFC service in their mobile app, I only know about Sparkasse (using Mobiles Bezahlen). Are you aware of any other banks?
I am asking because I'll be moving over to Germany pretty soon and I want to open my account in a bank which supports native NFC so that I can use NFC payments without having to use Google/Apple Pay on another device.

(P.S. I am aware of this https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/#germany but nothing about this is mentioned here.
Thank you so much !!!!

brandy078

DKpacifier Volksbank, too. They have a native app called Pay.

basedFOSS

DKpacifier I can confirm as oft this day that paying with Sparkasse Mobiles Bezahlen does work without Google Play Services.

HOWEVER, adding a card in the setup requires Google Play Services which you can uninstall right after setup

marq2

use curve app. unfortunately less and less banks are supporting nfc directly

Aeon

brandy078

I can second VPay of the Volks and Raiffeisen Banks in Germany.

I can recommend the free online only account from www.meinebank.de from the Raiffeisenbank in Hochtaunus.

Works great and when I made the account the account setup was really quick and mostly automated. ID check you can do either PostIdent or the ID check the Volksbanken use. Took the usual 4-7 business days for letters to arrive with physical Card and initial pin, but the account and virtual card worked as soon as my ID was verified.

ZoraIsHere

Check Chapter 4 on this link in the Kuketz-Blog:

https://www.kuketz-blog.de/nfc-datenschutzfreundlich-bezahlen-mit-dem-android-phone/

That blog is by the way the best you can find in Germany regarding security and privacy.

n2o

Aeon Sorry in advance for kidnapping this thread but you're the only one I found who confirmed that GOS and meinebank payment works. I got myself a bank account there for that exact reason.

Setup was pretty smooth with the Digitale Girocard and the VR Banking app says I can pay with it directly. The hotline confirms I should use that but when I try to pay it takes a few seconds and then I get an error that the payment failed.

The app itself says I should install the VR Pay app which I tried but when I try to set it up and login to the bank using the ID and PIN, it tells me they don't work. But they work in the banking app and on the web so that's not the problem.

I tried different permissions, none of them work. Do you use the pay app and what permissions did you give the apps and the Play Store and Services? Thanks in advance for any tipps!

enra

Second the curve app. Some Sparda banks use services from the Volks- and Raiffeisenbank (apps from Atruvia AG) too, then they have the app called Digitales Bezahlen which works like the pay (or vpay) app from them.

Miles

Icard supports nfc payments, works in the eu

Aeon

n2o

interesting, recently the Bank made some changes: the banking App now also supports nfc payments. i ask their support and they want to phase out the extra VPay app over time.

I can currently choose in which app (VPay or banking) I create a digital Card for nfc payments. I have not yet used nfc payment with the Banking app itself.

I installed the App with google play store and I have not changed any permissions. For me it worked ootb.

I rarely use nfc payment, so once I tried it I will update.

n2o

That would be nice, thanks a lot! Also good to know they want to get rid of the Pay app. That's probably why it won't connect anymore. What permissions do your Store, Services and banking app have then?

Aeon

n2o

Play Store has only Network and notification permissions

VR banking App has camera, Network, notifications

Aeon

n2o

its likely that their App developer wants to get rid of the pay app. meinebank uses a banking App developer that multiple german banks are using.

n2o

Aeon Yes it's the Atruvia apps. GLS also uses that but they don't offer NFC payments with it. The banking app is nice but terribly slow for me.

Thanks for the info with the permissions! My Google stuff has zero permissions but I did test network once. I will retest it, maybe it works then.

Aeon

n2o

yeah its the slowest of the banking apps I have on my phone.

n2o

Good news: I just successfully payed with NFC - twice! Once with network access enabled for the Play Store and then again, weirdly, without any permission for the Play Store. My feeling is that I had to hold the phone to the reader for a longer period (like 3-4 seconds) compared to the iPhone (1 second). Maybe that was the problem?

Anyways I'm very happy now as I can now pay with NFC and only the bank sees where I buy. No more data leakage to f***ists! Yay! Thanks @Aeon for your input!

So for anyone reading this: wireless payments with GOS and meinebank.de works with the standard VR Banking app and the free supplied digital Girocard. Google Play Store has to be installed but doesn't need any permissions.

Aeon

n2o

good to hear.

If you have a github account you might want to add the nfc payment option to the meinebank report on https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/#international-banking-apps

first hand reports are always better :-)

n2o

Aeon Done, thanks for the tipp!