Getting a Loan in Germany

DebtFreeWannaBE

I'm not sure if anyone on the forum has any knowledge of the finance system in Germany, but I'm considering getting a loan in Germany instead of constantly transferring money back to Canada to cover student loan payments there. It costs me 27€ to transfer funds to the Canadian account and I just noticed a $15 fee from my Canadian account for transferring funds, which I don't even know what that one is for...? I'm kind of tired of just throwing money away. But the whole credit and loan system is a bit different here. For example, my German credit card is tied directly to my bank account and has a low limit set to ensure that I can never wrack up debt that can't be paid back, and then I don't make payments, but the charges come directly out of my account at the end of the month. I'm ok with this system and that it isn't a system that encourages credit card debt, but then I am not completely sure what the general rules are for taking out a line of credit then, and what qualifies or disqualifies someone. My German is ok, but when it comes to understanding technical and legal documents.....not good enough.

So, if anyone has taken out a loan or line of credit in Germany, can you give me some insight and advice? Thanks. I appreciate it.

foxy-stoat

Why not just take out a loan in the country you live in and clear the student loan in whatever country your paying it to.

DebtFreeWannaBE

That's why I am asking about taking out a loan in Germany. Was that not clear? Why else would I want to consider taking out a loan in Germany?

Candyapple

DebtFreeWannaBE wrote: »

That's why I am asking about taking out a loan in Germany. Was that not clear? Why else would I want to consider taking out a loan in Germany?

Because this is a UK forum (despite the .com end of forum name) so no-one here knows about the finance system in Germany.

Given you live in Germany, why not go to a local bank branch and find out for yourself? Or better yet, ask on the German money related forum.

jonesMUFCforever

I wish I had said that but free speech is not allowed on here anymore.
If the OP complains expect a yellow card LOL.

paddyrg

GeldSparenExperte.de

DebtFreeWannaBE

I'm sorry guys. As I mentioned in another thread, I wasn't aware that this was a UK only forum. Now I know and I won't ask anymore foreign finance questions. There are nicer and more supportive/helpful ways of saying that though.

Voyager2002

If anyone had bothered to read DebtFreeWannaBe's original post before jumping on him, it would have been obvious that 1. s/he lives and works in Germany but is servicing student debt in Canada, and 2. her/his German language skills are not good enough to deal with German-language resources: hence the request to people who use this UK board to see if anyone here has experience of the German financial system.

In terms of being helpful, all I can say is that there is no need to pay such outrageous fees on money transfers. There are several companies around that make electronic transfers into your Canadian bank account without charging any fees (they make their money on a small margin in the exchange rates) and that accept SEPA payments from any EU bank account. The service that I use is at xe.com but there are many others (eg TransferWise) that may be more suitable for you. You will find discussion of these services in the Foreign Travel board.