Euro Bank Account

languagestudent

Hi all,

Firstly, I'm not sure if I'm writing in the correct place so please feel free to direct me to the right place.

I'm a student and I will be starting a year abroad as part of my university course this September. I'll be splitting the year between working in Germany and studying in China.

Currently I am looking into bank accounts and specifically looking at bank accounts that are denominated in Euro but serviced in the UK. I see that most high street banks offer an account like this, but you have to be an existing customer of theirs (my accounts are with Barclays).

I could set up an account once I reach Germany, since my language skills are good enough, but this would mean closing the account once I leave the country. On top of this, German banks often charge for their basic accounts, and are more difficult for foreigners to open accounts.

I am in the process of applying for the Barclays Euro account as a sort of stop-gap for payments I receive, but this is not a solution to my question as they do not offer debit card functionality with this account.

If anyone has had previous experience of a similar situation, or if anyone knows any accounts which suit my needs then I'd love to hear from you. You would not only be helping me out, but also ten other students. :beer:

colsten

languagestudent wrote: »

I could set up an account once I reach Germany, since my language skills are good enough, but this would mean closing the account once I leave the country.

Why would you have to close it? I have had an account with netbank.de for several years and I live in the UK. I use Transferwise to move money between my UK account and netbank as they usually offer the best deal.

languagestudent wrote: »

On top of this, German banks often charge for their basic accounts, and are more difficult for foreigners to open accounts.

My netbank account is free of charge, and I believe there are other internet-based ones also foc. Definitely cheaper / less onerous than having a Euro account with a UK based bank.

Not sure what the current procedures for applications are, but perhaps this site will help: https://www.deutscheskonto.org/en/

DCFC79

You could search the forum for other answers. There's many a thread for Europe bank accounts.