Several major banks in Germany have teamed up to develop on online payment solution that they hope will rival the likes of PayPal. Named Paydirekt, the payments solution will allow users to pay for items online. The banks have described the system as “as natural as paying with your own bank account” and believe that it will appeal to users as it is subject to Germany's strict data protection laws and does not involve any third-party companies. Online privacy and security is hugely important to German internet users, with a recent Bitkom study revealing that around 80% of German internet users worry about being monitored online and consider websites to be untrustworthy. The Paydirekt website is already up and running, with the first actual online payments expected to take place by the end of the year.Â
