Apple removes bank transfer payments from online store in Germany

In a small change to their online checkout system, Apple has removed the support for bank transfer payments (also known as prepayment) from their online store in Germany. It’s unclear if any other countries are currently affected in the online store change but the change today leaves German buyers with the choice of using a credit card, PayPal, or financing as payment options.

The prepayment option previously offered to German Apple online store customers allowed buyers to complete a bank wire transfer instead of using a credit card or PayPal to purchase their products. Customers would send payment to Apple’s payment processing company, and once the money had been received and cleared, Apple would then move onto to building and shipping out the order.

Customers shopping stateside on Apple’s site wouldn’t normally see these options, but it appears to be more common overseas. Apple’s Shopping Help page gives more information on Bank Transfers explaining that for the UK, customers must call a specific number to place the order. For Germany, customers were provided with Apple’s payment processor’s banking information to help complete the transaction. Although the German Bank Transfer help page is still available, it’s not known if Apple will eventually move away from this option altogether. Customers who used to utilize the bank transfer could potentially see a delay in orders as the transfer would take five business days for payment processing.

With Apple expanding Apple Pay across the globe, Apple VP Jennifer Bailey has previously said that Apple was working ‘rapidly’ to bring Apple Pay to more countries in Europe and Asia. That being said, Germany is still one of the European countries that has yet to see Apple Pay come to its banks.