PAYBACK has been a daily shopping companion for Germans for many years – both in brick-and-mortar shops and online. The programme is now also available in Austria, Italy, Poland and several other countries in Eastern Europe, such as Croatia and Slovenia. In 2025, Germany's largest loyalty system will not only celebrate its 25th anniversary, but also a year of major changes – with new partners where points can be collected and new services.
35 million consumers use PAYBACK
PAYBACK was launched on 13 March 2000 as the first multi-partner bonus programme with nine partners. After just one month, one million customers were already collecting PAYBACK points – today, 35 million active consumers are rewarded with points when shopping at over 700 partner companies. These include Aral, Amazon, Alnatura, dm-drogerie markt, C&A, Fressnapf, Otto and Thalia.
Out at REWE and in at market leader EDEKA
In 2025, several new major partners joined the programme, offering points for the first time: At the end of 2024, the partnership with REWE and Penny came to an end, and since January 2025, the market leader in food retail, EDEKA, and Netto Marken-Discount, which belongs to the EDEKA group, have been cooperating with PAYBACK. The companies GALERIA and Fressnapf are once again relying on the strength of multi-partner programmes, and the car-sharing provider MILES has also joined the programme.
What else is new? Sparkassen and travel
Another new development is the cooperation between Sparkasse and PAYBACK. Millions of customers can now collect points with their Sparkassen Card at participating partners. This is possible at more than 10,000 locations of regional retail partners that are linked to the Sparkassen partner programmes. PAYBACK is also expanding its ‘travel’ segment: it is currently possible to collect points when booking with over 60 partners, including AIDA, Condor, Expedia, FTI, HolidayCheck, rtk and Reiseland travel agencies, Lufthansa, SunExpress and TUI. They offer the opportunity to save money when travelling.
Customers benefit from programme expansion and a multi-partner app
PAYBACK is further expanding its market leadership with EDEKA, Netto Marken-Discount and Sparkasse. Millions of points collectors can collect even more points in-store and in online shops, saving even more money – between £200 and £500 per year and more is easily possible if you use coupons wisely. The best way to do this is with the PAYBACK app, which has become one of the top three shopping apps in Germany with a reach of 17 million users. The practical thing about the app is that it not only brings together 700 partners, but also offers a wide range of functions at the same time, like a Swiss Army knife: shopping, collecting PAYBACK points, redeeming points, activating coupons and making mobile payments. You can even play games and earn points with the PAYBACK app!
Mobile payments with PAYBACK PAY: now also available online
What was previously only possible in brick-and-mortar shops – namely, paying easily and securely in one step with the PAYBACK app while collecting and redeeming points at the same time – now also works online. dm-drogerie markt is the innovation partner for the new online payment function, with further partners to follow. According to Statista, PAYBACK PAY, together with PayPal and Klarna, is already one of the most important and best-known mobile payment functions in Germany.