Payment & Banking
Payment & Banking is a German-language specialist publication covering financial technology, payments and digital banking. Its reporting examines banking products, payment services, digital assets and artificial intelligence in finance. Articles, analysis and interviews give industry professionals information about the companies and services in these markets.
The publication serves banking and payments specialists, fintech founders and investors who follow changes in their industry. Podcasts combine news with conversations about business models, new technology and regulatory questions. Its newsletter complements the reporting and helps readers keep track of the topics covered by the editorial team.
Reporting on German payments
The editorial sections cover payments, banking and AI, with interviews, infographics and opinion pieces. Sponsored articles are labeled. Topics include girocard acceptance online, Wero and the regulation of payment services.
The German payments rules explain the licensing questions behind many of these stories; payments in Germany covers the methods used by merchants and customers.
Kilian Thalhammer and Maik Klotz
Kilian Thalhammer and Maik Klotz contribute to the conferences and podcasts. Thalhammer has worked at Deutsche Bank; Klotz is responsible for the publication's editorial content.
The shareholders of PBA Experts include both of them alongside André M. Bajorat, Jochen Siegert, Rafael Otero and Miriam Wohlfarth.
The podcast
Payment & Banking produces interviews and discussions about financial technology and payments. Conversations with industry practitioners cover payment methods, business models and the regulation of financial services. The archive includes discussions about girocard in digital checkouts and Mastercard, alongside a series on authorization and trust when AI agents prepare payments.
The AI in Finance podcast discusses artificial intelligence in finance. Payment & Banking also publishes Schnittstelle, a podcast about how banks, insurers, fintech companies and businesses in other industries work together and use data to build customer services. The Schnittstelle podcast started in August 2026 when 3x3=10 hosts Julian Prüfer and Marvin Vortkamp joined Sarah Schütz, who had helped build and run the podcast at neosfer. That podcast was Talk Between the Towers. How I Got Into Fintech explores individual career paths into the industry; the German-language interviews and discussions let listeners follow the reasoning and experience of the participants.
Payment Exchange and Banking Exchange
Payment & Banking organizes the Payment Exchange and Banking Exchange conference series. Payment Exchange, also called PEX, focuses on payment services, while Banking Exchange, or BEX, covers banking and financial technology. KI Exchange addresses artificial intelligence in the financial sector, and Fintech des Jahres is the group's fintech award.
Banking Exchange has taken place since 2017 and combines specialist discussion with an edutainment approach. Talks and panels give participants an opportunity to discuss financial technology with people from banks, fintech companies and service providers. The conference programs and networking sessions extend the publication's editorial subjects into personal exchange.
Where German payments teams meet besides these formats
Frankfurt holds the institutions. The ECB, the Bundesbank and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority sit there, which gives payments in Frankfurt a different crowd from payments in Berlin, where the product and startup side concentrates. Finanzplatz Frankfurt am Main, the information portal of Markus Hill, follows the institutions, and BTC-ECHO covers the crypto end of the same market.
Finance Loop runs its own meetups and conferences on payments, instant transfers, card payments and the digital euro, in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and Hamburg.
Who is behind Payment & Banking?
PBA Experts GmbH in Munich publishes Payment & Banking. Nicole Nitsche is the managing director, and Maik Klotz is responsible for the content. The shareholders are André M. Bajorat, Maik Klotz, Jochen Siegert, Kilian Thalhammer, Rafael Otero and Miriam Wohlfarth.
Is the Payment & Banking podcast in German?
Yes. The podcasts are in German, as are most articles. Payment & Banking occasionally publishes guest articles in English.
Payment & Banking and Finance Loop
Finance Loop runs meetups and conferences on payments in Germany. Participants discuss instant transfers and the digital euro with people from banks and payment providers.
Finance Loop is a professional network for new technologies in finance. Finance Loop's members build skills and professional contacts in Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.