Eternity Law International — News — Opening a German Bank Account

Opening a German Bank Account

Published:
June 6, 2024

Key purpose of accounts-opening in a given jurisdiction is to get and process payments between users of local banking establishments. Government benefits and wages are transferred by employers and the government exclusively to such accounts. Trips to supermarkets are paid for with cards, and rental needs, utilities, Internet and insurance are carried out by transferring funds from clients to the service provider’s account. For this reason, everyone who’s living locally and has reached the 18-age is needed to pass through account-opening. For businesspersons, opening a business bank account in Germany provides highly-demonstrated interest.

Our team is highly-qualified experts in the field of corporate-directed business-services. We grant fully covering advisory and practically-implemented support in getting accounts in the USA, Europe and Asia anywhere worldwide.

How to open a bank account in Germany?

Opening a bank account in Germany as a foreigner, the user is given a card – this is a visa or a Maestro debit card (which is almost never issued since the summer of 2023). Using such cards, people may pay for products acquisitions and obtain physical monetary means from ATMs. If desired, they may issue cards. Accounts may be created in any locally registered financial establishment, and number of such accounts is not limited. Terms and rates depend on specifically used units.

Residents may get accounts at a locally registered establishment requiring minimum necessary service range for ordinary life purposes. Banking facilities don’t possess rights to refuse to get the accounts, even if the client has bad credit records with SCHUFA. Each person can have one such account.

  1. Now, there’re almost no fully free accounts. Good deals include no monthly maintenance fee as long as you get paid regularly.
  2. In some cases, banks grant promotions, offering bonuses of 50-100 EUR for new clients.
  3. In opening a student bank account in Germany, persons may get preferential terms, particularly, free-of-charge services. It’s done in order to attract young customers who will then receive highly valued profits.

There’re approximately 1,900 locally registered German financial establishments and savings used ones. Lucrative financial remedy of opening a bank account in Germany for non-residents is admissible in each. Figuring out where it’s ideal to do it can be complicated. Plenty of banking establishments advertise free account openings, but the word “free” is often relative. Instead of a monthly fee, the user may pay for each extra service, or overdraft interest rates can be high. Nevertheless, there’re actually good deals.

Offline and online bank account opening in Germany: necessities to know

  1. Maintenance-keeping fees and commissions: bear in mind monthly-paid costs and commissions of maintenance-providing for operations. Various establishments grant free-of-charge service in case of regularly-made deposits. It can be any income, but some banking units set salaries crediting.
  2. Card fees: find out if chosen establishment needs annual fees. It’s spreading as more commonly-happened practice.
  3. Terms and costs: annual fees for credit cards can be similar to maintenance-providing fees. Several banking establishments don’t need a fee if the client uses the card regularly.
  4. Fees for transfers-making on locally-bordered level: fees amount for operations, particularly, immediate operations.
  5. Opening a bank account in Germany from abroad, bear in mind overdraft: its interest-rates can range from 7% to 11.22%. Lower costs of servicing, higher-set overdraft may be.
  6. Overdraft limits: in first months of cooperation, banking establishments may not allow the use of an overdraft. A limit is set later. Please note that repaying an overdraft can be a lengthy and expensive process.
  7. Interest for exceeding the overdraft limit: if determined limit is surpassed, interest-rate may increase to 17% per annum.
  8. Infrastructure accessibility: make sure chosen establishment possesses enough ATMs and offices, as well as easy online admission possibility.
  9. Cost of a second card: extra money for card issuance for a spouse or family members.

People need to confirm legally-approved residence, over 18-years-age, income and locally-registered status.

According to requirements for opening a bank account in Germany, documentation needed are as below:

  • passport;
  • documental income statements;
  • residential address documentally-formed evidence (rent agreement, ownership certificate at the mayor’s office, etc.).

Best banks in Germany for non-residents are Commerzbank, HypoVereinsbank, N26, DKB and Deutsche Bank.

How to open a bank account in Germany from abroad: identification methods

  1. VideoIdent: a specifically-appointed employee contacts via video, asks obligatory questions and asks to see your passport. If it’s not possible to speak in German and employee does not speak English, it is better to evolve another method.
  2. Postident: after registering on the bank’s web-site, you need to get printed papers and visit the post office. The clerk verifies your ID-document and verifies your signature, then sends documents to appropriate institution.

In a week or 2, banks will start sending letters with admission to online-banking, cards, PIN-code and other important documents.

How to change an account

If currently-provided service-rates are not satisfactory, you may send your funds to another unit. There is 2 ways to do it.

  1. Via the transfer system virtually.
  2. Using physical banking unit in direct way: indicate date of closure of old account and give necessary data. Banking establishment passess data about operations made over the last 13 months to new branch and it’ll set payments and notify partners being in cooperation.

If there’re delays or errors in the transition, banking establishments are predominantly responsible for this.

How to close a banking account

To close an account, you must send a written notice to banking establishment. Although locally-functioning law doesn’t set a determined notice period, it is common for the bank’s terms and conditions (AGB) to stipulate a minimum of three months prior to the desired closing day.

Banks have rights to close accounts without giving any reason, but must give account-owners at least two months to open a new one.

How to use bank accounts in Germany

To pay for renting an apartment, indicate amount and account number and bank-code (BIC) of landlord indicated in agreement. Banking unit issues a transaction to landlord’s account on a special Überweisungsformular form. For regular payments-making – rent or ARD/ZDF television tax – you may issue a Dauerauftrag (standing orders) to automate process.

For regular payments-making with varied amounts – telephone charges – fill out a power of attorney for automatic withdrawal of money. The institution sends a form in which you indicate the IBAN, bank code, sign and send back. You can dispute and return the payment within two months.

If there is not enough money by payment date and there is no overdraft or its limit has been reached, the payment will not go through and the recipient may be subject to a fine.

If you don’t intend to trust someone to make withdrawals on regularly-set basis or go to banking office for all transfers, turn to online-banking via a web-site or mobile app. Admission to last-mentioned ones is possible after entering login and personal password. For example, an email is used for login, and the password is confirmed with a fingerprint on the phone.

When making a transfer or changing settings, you’re needed to enter a randomly generated TAN; it’s sent via SMS or push notification to your phone. Once the correct TAN is confirmed, the operation is performed.Our firm is ready to fully support you with opening offshore accounts and ones in onshore jurisdictions. You can entrust your business-project to our professional hands. Rest assured – we will become your reliable allies on this path.

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