What is "electronic cash"

Electronic cash is the debit card system of the German Banking Industry Committee, the association which represents the top German financial interest groups. Usually paired with a Transaction account or Current Account, cards with an Electronic Cash logo are only handed out by proper credit institutions. An electronic card payment is generally made by the card owner entering their PIN ( Personal Identification Number) at a so-called EFT-POS-terminal ( Electronic-Funds-Transfer-Terminal). The name “EC” originally comes from the unified European checking system Eurocheque. Comparable debit card systems are Maestro and Visa Electron. Banks and credit institutions who issue these cards often pair EC debit cards with Maestro functionality. These combined cards, recognizable by an additional Maestro logo, are referred to as “EC/Maestro cards”.