Best Bank in Germany for Expats (2020)

The struggle of finding a German bank account for non-residents is real given that most banks charge high fees and fail to offer multilingual support. Moreover, the absence or lack in number of ATMs for certain banks makes it quite a task to locate the best bank in Germany that caters to all your needs and that too at an affordable price.

How to open a Bank Account in Germany?

Most banks in Germany drag the customer through a time-consuming process of going to their store, attempting at making the consultant understand your broken German and still not get the service that you came for. This problem is solved with Direct Banks (German: Direktbanken) by offering the option of post identification. This means you can fill in the forms online and verify your identity with your passport at an official post office. Still, the best solution was invented by mobile banks that enable video identification which allows you to open your bank account in no time by simply using a video chat application on your smartphone. Thus, they provide an easy approach to avoid all the hassle.

Banks in Germany compared

Basically we can differetiate between stationary banks and direct banks (also called: online banks). Stationary banks offer you personal advice in their branches. However, almost all of them ask for a management fee for the account and for other services. In contrast, direct banks do not have branches, but offer great services online. In most cases you won’t pay any fees for your account and additionaly get a free credit card, too. In the following grid, you can see the most popular banks in Germany and compare their condtions.