Alas, I speak just enough German to be able to order a wurst at a street stand and to ask for a Coke to go with it.

Visa Debit Cards
 

Going back to what started this thread - i.e., the German system not recognising Visa debit cards as debit cards:

As I discovered last night the German system is not the only one that is not geared up to Visa debit cards. Switzerland would appear to be the same - i.e., the system can handle Visa cards, but only by processing them as credit cards.

I booked a flight with Swiss last night, on their own web site. They charge extra for credit cards, but not for debit cards.... and the only logo listed in the "Debit cards" section is the Maestro one. Visa debit cards get treated as credit cards.

Sorry for digging up this older post, but I just wanted to add some information.

In general, there are two major competing debit card schemes in Germany: Girocard and Maestro. They are both being touted as the successors to the EC-Card, with the latter term still in general usage today.
Girocard is vastly more accepted by merchants in Germany than Maestro as the transaction fees are significantly lower. Some shops (such as Aldi-Nord, iirc) have terminals that accept both, but officially advertise only Girocard as available payment option. Most shops just plainly state "EC-Karte" (even when asked specifically if Maestro and/or Girocard) and leave it up to you to try if your Maestro card gets processed or not.

From several conversations with shopkeepers I can indeed confirm the reluctance to accept CCs and Maestro is due to the transaction costs involved for the shops, which they tend to minimize by focusing solely on Girocard, or not offering plastic payment options at all. Pretty much unpredictable, even though the rule of thumb is the pricier the store the more likely you can use your Maestro or CC there. Girocard is by all means your best bet.

PS It is true many people in Germany seem to distrust any form of money or investment that is not "physical" in nature, but ask these folks where they get their "hard" cash from and you're left with a baffling "I draw it from my bank's ATM. Why?" :rolleyes:

Anyway, just my two Cents...

It seems that also Mastercard debit cards are not accepted by some stores in Germany, like Saturn, even is Mastercard and Maestro are from the same company.
Anyway, it seems that Mastercard debit cards (embossed and with chip) are accepted in more stores than Visa Electron debit cards, which are not accepted by almost any store in Germany...

It seems that this is something particular to Germany - all debit cards and credit cards, from any country, are accepted by 95% of all stores even in countries like Romania, but I also used them successfully in Netherlands, Italy or Denmark without problem.