Long shot - Advice on best Bank Account in Germany?

wookie6

Hi,

One of my relatives currently has a German bank account with Deutsche Bank, however their charges to hold the account soon add up.

Can anyone recommend a bank account in Germany that:

1) Has minimal or no charges
2) Has reasonable fees for international transfers

Thanks for any advice or pointers!

colsten

Stiftung Warentest, the German equivalent of Which?, says there are 8 free accounts, from the 73 they compared. It costs €2.50 to find out who they are

I have a Netbank account which has been free for over 10 years but ill have charges from April 1. They haven't yet told me how much the charges are, so I may or may not need to change.

wookie6

Thanks Colsten, thats super helpful!

Anthorn

Wow this takes me back into the mists of time: That was a time when the thing to have was a German bank account and the easiest to get was Postbank for U.K. Girobank customers. I had one and everyone I knew had one. Although Girobank in the U.K. is no more Postbank is still the best option. Also good in Scandinavian countries especially Finland. Used to be good in Netherlands but is now no more or at least eroded.
https://www.deutscheskonto.org/en/postbank/

Robisere

Takes me back too: from 1968 to '75 I was in BAOR. The Army changed to Pay banking from Cash Pay Parades in early '69 and had a deal with Commerz Bank. I had a German gf/partner who advised me to bank with Dresdner Bank for a better deal. Just looked at Dresdner Bank out of curiosity and shocked to learn that it was taken over by Commerzbank in 2008. Commerzbank is now the biggest bank in Germany. I hope they handle accounts better than they did then: several of my mates had banking errors which cost them money.

I also recall the Sparkasse bank being quite good at the time.

wookie6

Anthorn wrote: »

Wow this takes me back into the mists of time: That was a time when the thing to have was a German bank account and the easiest to get was Postbank for U.K. Girobank customers. I had one and everyone I knew had one. Although Girobank in the U.K. is no more Postbank is still the best option. Also good in Scandinavian countries especially Finland. Used to be good in Netherlands but is now no more or at least eroded.
https://www.deutscheskonto.org/en/postbank/

Thanks, again really helpful to have a link :T

blueorchid_2

this should help )
http://www.settle-in-berlin.com/german-bank-account/

wookie6

blueorchid wrote: »

this should help )
http://www.settle-in-berlin.com/german-bank-account/

Thanks blueorchid, really good article. I think DKB is certainly the way to go as I had also read good things about DKB so this helped to re-affirm this.