Users look for non-American tech solutions due to varying reasons

In the digital landscape of Europe, Germany is witnessing a significant shift in preferences, with a growing number of users turning towards locally-based services. One such service, Wero, is making waves, with about 30% of the German population aware of its existence, and approximately 1.8 million active users as of mid-2025.

Wero, a mobile wallet, allows for real-time money transfers without the need for an IBAN, making it a convenient option for customers of Sparkassen, Volksbanken, and more recently, ING. In August 2025, ING integrated Wero into its banking app, enabling free, real-time transfers for its users.

However, not all is smooth sailing in the world of digital payments. PayPal, a popular online payment service provider, has faced a setback due to security lapses, allowing fraudulent direct debits to go through. This has led several German banks to halt forwarding direct debits from PayPal's bank in Luxembourg.

The concern for data protection is not lost on consumers, according to Florian Glatzner of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv). He stated that while companies and authorities have a higher awareness of data protection, consumers are lagging behind.

In response, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) advises consumers to consider the potential impact on their data and their relatives' data when choosing a product or service. The BSI also recommends paying attention to the security measures and contact options offered by the provider in case of incidents.

This focus on digital sovereignty is not limited to Germany. The BSI advocates for a dual strategy: strengthening the EU market and the domestic digital industry, and technically securing international products to enable sovereign use.

The push for digital sovereignty is not just a local effort. The German government, along with France and the EU Commission, plans to host a summit on digital sovereignty in Berlin on November 18. The aim is to minimize risks and ensure the resilience of economies.

Meanwhile, European competitors like the neobank Revolut and Wero, the service provider of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), are using the argument "Made in Europe" to compete with US-based online payment service providers.

However, there is ongoing political controversy surrounding data protection questions and strategies to reduce dependencies. For instance, a representative survey conducted by Bitkom in spring revealed that 68% of respondents believe Germany is too dependent on the USA and China in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and 60% want Germany to be less dependent on US AI companies.

In the realm of AI, Germany's equivalent of Mistral AI, Aleph Alpha, focuses more on specific AI solutions for corporate clients and public sector clients that must meet high data protection requirements. On the other hand, the French AI startup Mistral AI (Le Chat), which focuses on developing open-source language models and prioritizes privacy, is still largely unknown in Germany.

As for Windows 10, Microsoft ended free support for the operating system on October 14, leaving users with potential security vulnerabilities. Private customers can obtain security updates for Windows 10 for a fee for one year after the end of free support. However, the minimum requirements for a device to install Windows 11 are so high that many still functional devices may need to be replaced, or users may switch to another operating system.

Two-thirds (67%) of people in Germany aged 16 and above use generative AI at least occasionally, with usage almost exclusively limited to the leading providers OpenAI (ChatGPT), Microsoft (Copilot), and Google (Gemini).

Despite concerns about software and hardware from China and the USA, many users have a "bad feeling in the pit of their stomach" about these products, but this discomfort often does not lead to a change in behaviour.

In the face of these challenges, Germany, along with its European counterparts, is striving to assert its digital sovereignty, aiming to ensure the security, privacy, and resilience of its digital landscape.