Expatica Germany surveyed six large banking institutions and one online provider on the various accounts they provide, EC and credits, savings accounts, ATMs and transfering money. Here is a comparative list of what we learned.

Girokonten (checking accounts), monthly fees and conditions.

Free Girokonto which pays €1/month and earns 0.25 percent interest. No fee if 1,250/month is deposited. Otherwise, €4.90/month. Student Girokonto free with either a €25 signing bonus or the BahnCard 25. No minimum balance required.

Direkt (online only), Classic & Brilliant accounts: €3.50, €7 and €13/month respectively. Students under 30 can get a Startkonto free; students over 30, €3/month. Startkontoplus, for those under 30, €3/month. Startkonto Plus allows customers to withdraw €2,500 or 2 months net income out of your account as credit.

No minimum balance required.

Kostenlose Girokonto: No fee if €1,200/month deposited. Komfort Konto: €7.90/month; Aktiv Konto (online only) €4.90/month. Students: Start Konto free.

No minimum balance required as long as you have a monthly deposit made to the account. No minimum balance required.

Three accounts ranging from €4.49 to €9.99/month; Students under 30, free. No minimum balance required.

Two main types of Girokonten -- Willkommenskonto (3 kinds) and GirokontoPlus (2 kinds). Willkommenskonto is free. WillkommenskontoStart is for those up to 30 and is also free. Also has Willommenskonto Start (for students) and Komfort version. For GirokontoPlus, it is necessary to maintain an average of €1,500 per quarter in your account otherwise the account costs €5/month.

Five different types of Girokonten, 3 with monthly fees. Citibest is free and a minimum of €2,500 needs to be in your savings, investment or checking account combo at all times. The account earns up to 3.25 percent interest per year. Also, City Plus is €6.60/month and the Einzelabrechnungskonto is €9.90/month with no monthly income required. Students: City One, free.

Girokonto Plus: free with €1,250 deposited monthly, otherwise €5.90/month. Girokonto Extra: free with a €3,000/month deposit. Students under 27: free GiroStart account.

EC card with a Girokonto? Fees?

Comdirect.de

free

Sparcard (EC/Maestro) free

free

An ATM/Service card. Free EC card if you have a regular monthly income

Free

Free

Free

Comdirect.de

Free Visa card

Free credit card with Startkonto and Plus accounts, free Mastercard Gold with the Brilliant account. For Classic and Direkt accounts, €29/year, Mastercard Gold €75/year.

Credit card has €19.90 annual fee if less than €2,900 is spent during one year. With annual spending of up to €5,900, an annual fee of €12.90. Free with spending of €5,900 or more. Gold card costs €66.40 annually unless €11,000 is spent.

Visa/Mastercard Gold for €30/€82 annually. With the €9.99 a month BestKonto, there is no monthly fee.

Hypovereinsbank

Free Mastercard with Willkommenskonto, €40/annually for Mastercard Gold. Fees apply for GirokontoPlus account depending on type of credit card.

Free Mastercard Gold with a regular monthly deposit posted to the account and maintain a minimum of 2,500 on the account.

Free Visa card for the first year. After that, €5/year for Start account, €20/year for Plus account, 0€/for Extra account

3.8 percent interest from the Tagesgeld PLUS-konto which is also free and can be used in connection with one's girokonto

Sparkasse offers a variety of savings accounts starting at 3.4 percent when you put 2,500 away for 6 months.

3.35 percent for 6 months, 3.6 percent for one year

3.25 percent - 4.4 percent interest per year with 4 options for a savings account. Example: GeldmarktSparen gives you a 3.45 percent interest rate per year for an amount between €5,000-€24,000

A savings account comes with the Willkommenskonto with an interest rate of 3.25 percent and a minimum of €25/month needs to be deposited.

Citibank offers various types of savings accounts. With the Sparbuch which you can open up with CitiBest, interest rates start at 3.25 percent/annually

Postbank

Many savings options starting with 3.25 percent annual interest rate through Quartal-Sparen.

Automatic teller machines (ATMS)? Number? Conditions?

Free withdrawals at CashGroup ATMs: Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank, Postbank, Hypovereinsbank, Deutsche Bank (7,000 in Germany). Other network ATMs: €4.50. Also in Spain and Italy, Deutsche Bank ATMs free of charge

Free withdrawal from all Sparkasse ATMs as well as many others depending on the region. In total, around 23,000 ATMs in Germany. Other ATMs: €4.50- €7.50

Free withdrawal at CashGroup ATMs: Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Hypovereinsbank (7,000 in Germany). Also in Spain and Italy, Deutsche Bank ATMs free of charge. Other network ATMs: €4.50.

Deutsche Bank

Free withdrawal at CashGroup ATMs: Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Hypovereinsbank. Additional information: In the U.S. free withdrawals from Bank of America; in the U.K. from Barclay Bank; in Canada from ScotiaBank. Other network ATMs: €4.50.

Free withdrawal at CashGroup ATMs: Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Hypovereinsbank. Furthermore, Hypobank also offers free withdrawals from UniCredit Group ATMS: approx 10,000 throughout 15 other European countries.

Around 500 Citibank ATMs and over 1,700 other ATMs from the CashPool Group are free of charge around the world. Other ATMs: €3.90 to €5.

Postbank

Free withdrawal at post offices and CashGroup ATMs: Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Hypovereinsbank. Also in Spain and Italy, Deutsche Bank ATMs free of charge. Other network ATMs: €4.50.

Transfers

Comdirect.de

Up to €5,000, €7.67 fee. Amount multiplied by 0.15 percent. A minimum of €7.67 and maximum €51.13

Up to €5,000 = €20; a 1.75 percent fee; minimum €12.50

For €5,000, €25. A 1.5 percent fee. minimum €12.50. Under €250, €10.

Up to €5,000, €29.05 (if you transfer online, an additional €5 at the counter). A 1.75 percent fee, minimum €12.50 online, €17.50 at the counter.

€5,000 cost €37.50 (only at the counter or over the phone. No transfer to the U.S. possible online)

Citibank DE to other Citibanks is free of charge although the receiving Citibank may apply charges. Under €6,000 = €9.

At €5,000, €14.50 from the counter and €7.50 online.

Nurhan Kocaoglu

Copyright Expatica 2007

Subject: Germany, banking, personal finance