# Which bank to open an account in, in Germany?



## Gemuse

I need to open an account in Germany.

Which bank would be the best?

Looking to store some money, possibly get a credit card in the future, good ATM access, minimal fees...


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## James3214

I use www.targobank.de which used to be the old Citibank. They have plenty of high street branches and are in the 'cash pool' network of ATM machines. They also have an English helpline if you need it.


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## MrTweek

DKB is completely free, including a visa card.
You can use virtually any ATM in the world for free.

I've been with them since ~5 years and I'm completely satisfied.


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## bluesaturn

ING DIBA. Free credit card, access via each cash machine with visa card, 1.75% only when asking for other currency. Interested?


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## mtlve

*Credit Cards*

I am interested in getting a credit card in Germany (card that you pay with and then have to payoff every month). Do most stores even take these in Germany? If so what brands do they most commonly take?

I have an American Express and a Mastercard in the US. It would be nice to get something with flight rewards again that give you extra money towards flights after you pay off so much of your card on time. I have extra fees to transfer the currency to Euros currently, so I would like to get a German card.


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## bluesaturn

Hm, I would say you would be fine with an EC card rather than a real credit card. Acceptance for EC is higher than for credit card I would say. Just ask when you do shopping next time. 
My guess would be a Visa credit card. Not even sure if American Express is accepted and Mastercard should work, but rare.


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## MrTweek

Credit cards acceptance is generally much lower than in many other countries. Our preferred way of paying cashless is EC, which is a local system (seems compatible with Maestro, which works internationally).
Most widely accepted credit cards are Visa and Mastercard. Few shops accept Amex, anything else seems almost useless.

Barclay cards seem to have the cheapest "real" credit cards (the ones where you don't need to pay off everything immediately). They'll give you a Visa + Mastercard for a low annual fee.

I think being rewarded for paying your card on time is rather uncommon. Most banks will expect you to pay back your money on time and will charge you a fee if you don't or even block your account.


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## Gemuse

How is Deutsche Bank?


For credit cards, what is the liability in Germany? Say my credit card gets stolen (without me knowing, eg while doing an internet transaction), and someone racks up a 1000 euro charge. Am I liable for the whole thing or is there a limit like in US?




MrTweek said:


> DKB is completely free, including a visa card.
> You can use virtually any ATM in the world for free.
> 
> I've been with them since ~5 years and I'm completely satisfied.



Do they have physical branches?


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## mtlve

Gemuse said:


> How is Deutsche Bank?
> 
> 
> For credit cards, what is the liability in Germany? Say my credit card gets stolen (without me knowing, eg while doing an internet transaction), and someone racks up a 1000 euro charge. Am I liable for the whole thing or is there a limit like in US?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do they have physical branches?


When I went and got a bank, the guy told me to get accidental insurance for around 10 euros a month. This covered identity theft type stuff supposedly


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## beppi

There are liability limits on credit cards in Germany, too. No idea where the limits are, most probably varies from bank to bank. You're unlikely to get a credit card without regular income.
DKB has one physical branch, in Potsdam. Otherwise they're Internet-only. It works. Branches have such restrictive opening hours that I (working during office hours) never manage to visit one.


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## MrTweek

I think, the liability limit is usually 50 €.
However, there is not liability if you knew this and didn't tell your bank. For example, if your physical card gets stolen or lost, you are liable for any payments made by third parties BEFORE you call your bank and cancel the card. Anything that happens afterwards is the banks liability.

DKB has only very few physical branches. I think most of them are in Eastern Germany. I never visited one. They have excellent support via email and phone. I used it a few times and was always satisfied.


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## Gemuse

What if the physical card gets lost, but you are not aware of the fact?

Or the number gets stolen on the internet, and you are not aware of it?

Does DKB have english support? I know only very very basic german.


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## MrTweek

> What if the physical card gets lost, but you are not aware of the fact?


I think, in that case you are liable for it.



> Or the number gets stolen on the internet, and you are not aware of it?


Not your fault then, as long as you report it as soon as you find out.



> Does DKB have english support? I know only very very basic german.


I obviously never tried that. Just check their website.


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## nfs99

Waking this thread up on a similar question. I thought it is better than opening a new one. I want to open a GiroKonto in Berlin
* Does anyone in this forum have any experience in trying to open a bank account without any German knowledge?
* Which banks are english friendly (like customer support and online banking, etc), is there a bank which has like an english speaking branch/counter or something similar in Berlin where I can get an appointment and open an account?


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## mtlve

nfs99 said:


> Waking this thread up on a similar question. I thought it is better than opening a new one. I want to open a GiroKonto in Berlin
> * Does anyone in this forum have any experience in trying to open a bank account without any German knowledge?
> * Which banks are english friendly (like customer support and online banking, etc), is there a bank which has like an english speaking branch/counter or something similar in Berlin where I can get an appointment and open an account?


Hi. I do not know german either and I am in a small german town, and it was fairly easy to find someone that spoke english. Just ask if they speak english. They told me to come back the next day for a person who spoke better english. They explained things in english. The one issue is that online banking and atms are all german only, but you can slowly figure this out.


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## nfs99

mtlve said:


> Hi. I do not know german either and I am in a small german town, and it was fairly easy to find someone that spoke english. Just ask if they speak english. They told me to come back the next day for a person who spoke better english. They explained things in english. The one issue is that online banking and atms are all german only, but you can slowly figure this out.


I have heard that some banks all you to operate online banking in English, and offer customer support in English as well.


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## mtlve

nfs99 said:


> I have heard that some banks all you to operate online banking in English, and offer customer support in English as well.


sparkasse does not and it is the major bank here. 02 for cell phones also does not (this been more of an issue). Banking is not a huge issue though. I did have to call the banking support hotline once. The first guy I called did not speak english, but I called back later and got someone who did. I would not count on banks having english options here. we are in a place that even dubs all films into german  Banking has not been a huge issue though. I would just pick a major bank, and you will find someone who speaks english there


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## Nignoy

*sparkasse is cool!!*



mtlve said:


> sparkasse does not and it is the major bank here. 02 for cell phones also does not (this been more of an issue). Banking is not a huge issue though. I did have to call the banking support hotline once. The first guy I called did not speak english, but I called back later and got someone who did. I would not count on banks having english options here. we are in a place that even dubs all films into german  Banking has not been a huge issue though. I would just pick a major bank, and you will find someone who speaks english there


What type of sparkasse did you you try??Kreis or Stadtsparkasse?we moved from Australia to a small country town in Bavaria, my wife does not speak any german, we set up a n account with the stadtsparkasse over the internet while we were still in Australia, no language problems,everyone of the 10 local staff speak English, the atms and statement and payment computers all have multilingual programs, normally for qualified bank employees in Germany spoken and written English are considered essential,


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## mtlve

Nignoy said:


> What type of sparkasse did you you try??Kreis or Stadtsparkasse?we moved from Australia to a small country town in Bavaria, my wife does not speak any german, we set up a n account with the stadtsparkasse over the internet while we were still in Australia, no language problems,everyone of the 10 local staff speak English, the atms and statement and payment computers all have multilingual programs, normally for qualified bank employees in Germany spoken and written English are considered essential,


we only have 1 sparkasse here, so I am not sure. They do seem to run through the cities some though. I did not think this was in bavaria though since most of my coworkers who lived there do not use this bank.

Most bank employees I think speak some english at least. Many either are less comfortable with it or do not want to speak it though from my experience. 

People in general have issues with my american accent too, so my experiences might be related to this.


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## nfs99

mtlve said:


> we only have 1 sparkasse here, so I am not sure. They do seem to run through the cities some though. I did not think this was in bavaria though since most of my coworkers who lived there do not use this bank.
> 
> Most bank employees I think speak some english at least. Many either are less comfortable with it or do not want to speak it though from my experience.
> 
> People in general have issues with my american accent too, so my experiences might be related to this.


I think I will give Sparkasse bank a shot, if that doesn't go well I try with DeutscheBank, I am going with my Indian English accent - it's going to be lot of fun!!


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## Kerst266

If you want to be sure to find an ATM anywhere, literally anywhere in Germany, I'd suggest Sparkasse. The accounts aren't free, but their service is great. 
They give you an EC card / debit card, which you can use to buy stuff with at the stores without any fees. You can even use it in other EU countries without a fee. 
Credit cards aren't a must in Germany, unless you want to do some online shopping. But in every day life, you will be ok with only an EC card.


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## Nononymous

The application procedure is a bit complex when done remotely, but I highly recommend ING-DiBa. The only thing that was a bit difficult was depositing cash, you had to use a branch of a very small bank, few and far between. Otherwise great. Excellent customer service, no fees, and the Visa card can be used to withdraw cash without fee from just about any ATM. Not sure how good they are with English though.


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## ALKB

I am with Postbank, mostly because they generally are pretty efficient and have a "branch" absolutely everywhere - wherever there is a post office  AND they are open on Saturdays.

They also belong to the Cash Group, so I can use all the cash group ATM's free of charge.

Don't know about their ability to cope with English-only speakers, though.


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## Nignoy

*Sparkasse*

Got a phonecall from the Sparkasse this morning ,to pop in at my convenience, so I went to local branch, because we are moving to spain for the winter the customer services thought a secure Kobil Tan palm Computer would be more secure and easier to use than internet banking, one off price of 10 euro,s and free worldwide serviceservice, how about that for service!!just pop your card in and off you go!!


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## cyprusexpat

There are a lot of banks in germany:

Sparkasse (good bank)
Deutsche Bank (i hate it)
Volks- und Reifeisenbank (more like Sparkasse)
Fido Bank (works also for people with bad fincial repuation)
Postbank (from Deutsche Post)

I think the easiest bank account opening would be on postbank.de.

Regards from a german guy.


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## aisha119

MrTweek said:


> DKB is completely free, including a visa card.
> You can use virtually any ATM in the world for free.
> 
> I've been with them since ~5 years and I'm completely satisfied.


Do DKB have an English help line?


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## aisha119

I read the whole thread and got the answer. Thanks


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## tXc

mtlve said:


> When I went and got a bank, the guy told me to get accidental insurance for around 10 euros a month. This covered identity theft type stuff supposedly


True story. They are always trying to sell you insurances... but I had no trouble with them so far (as a bank).


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