s Scheckbuch Instead of personal or business checks, Germans, Austrians, and many other Europeans use a form of payment called a "money transfer" ( die Geldüberweisung), which transfers money from one bank account number to another account, rather than to a person by name. The "personal check" and checking account, so common in the U.S, does not exist in Germany. The German system is more like using a debit card, increasingly common in the U.S. and in Europe ( die Euroscheckkarte).