When do I need a German bank account?

If you live in Germany, you going to need a local bank account because of 2 reasons. The first one is that most of the German stores don’t accept normal cards issued in the whole world (like Visa, Mastercard), but they accept only local cards (Maestro, EC, V-PAY). Second thing is that, if you work for a German employer, you going to need a German account number, to receive a salary.

Which account to choose?

N26

My favourite and most convenient bank in Germany for foreigners.

  • online registration
  • Maestro card and online shopping card available
  • whole communication/app in English
  • German account number
  • no municipal registration needed
  • no fee for a basic account
  • 3 uses of ATM per month for free

I believe this is the best bank for foreigners in Germany. You can open an account online in a few minutes, everything totally in English, without even knowing one German word. You can get a virtual card immediately. Banks don’t ask for municipal registration, you can even open a bank account in some other countries for a foreign address.

You can open the account online – the bank website: n26.com

Vivid

  • online registration
  • no German card (only Visa)
  • whole communication/app in English
  • German account number
  • no municipal registration needed
  • no fee for a basic account
  • free ATM withdrawals up to 200 EUR

That could be an ideal bank account, but it is not. The biggest problem is no option to order a German card, the bank offers only a Visa card. Everything else is good. The account is 100% online, everything is in English. Municipality registration is not needed, you can open an account in some other European countries.

You can open the account online – the bank website: vivid.money

Commerzbank

  • online registration or in-branch registration
  • Maestro card and online shopping card available
  • part of communication/app in English
  • German account number
  • municipal registration needed
  • no fee for accounts with income > 700 EUR/month
  • free ATM withdrawals from some ATMs
  • traditional bank

First traditional bank in this article. If you have enough income, the account can be free. Bank offers a German card and also a card for online payments. Some functionalities are available in English, but not all. It looks like it is possible to open the account online, but I think it is easier to go to the bank brunch. Municipality registration is needed for account opening.

You can open the account in a bank branch or online – the bank website: commerzbank.de

Others

You can also find a few different, big, traditional banks. Their accounts should be quite similar. If someone knows the German language and is registered in the municipality, could think about them.

How to get an online card? How to transfer money to other European countries?

Revolut

You can’t pay with some cards on the internet, like with Maestro/V-Pay. A good solution for that one is Revolut. After registration, you can get a Visa card, that you can use for online payments. Also, the Revolut app offers one of the best exchange rates. So if you want to send money to a country that uses a different currency than Euro (e.x. Polish zloty), you can send it through Revolut and save a lot of money. Revolut is part of Instant Sepa transfers, so money sent from some German banks arrives immediately.

You can open the account online – Revolut website: revolut.com

Useful links

Categories: EuropeGermany