German Bank Account

DCFC79

airbusA346 wrote: »

I'm not moving to Germany. It to make Euro purchases on the Internet and for when I would be travelling in the EU.

I'm also going to be making a purchase from a German company, who will be refunding me the 19% VAT.

How about a credit card with 0% fees on foreign spending ?

airbusA346

FriendlyFoe wrote: »

Transferwise offer a borderless debit card with a personal German IBAN for the Euro account. Starling Bank are going to be offering Euro accounts along side their sterling accounts soon.

I think I looked at these type of accounts a few weeks ago, but thought it might have been better to try to get an account with a physical bank.

Heng_Leng wrote: »

V Pay is for point of sale purchases (their domestic EC card is usually co-branded with either V Pay or Maestro).

Having a dedicated Euro account would be dictated how often you'll need it.

So does that mean they won't work for Internet purchases? What do you mean by the last sentence?

bhjm wrote: »

if you still need a local bank - I have good expierence with DKB - you can open the account without beeing resident und you`re able to obtain a credit card with 0EUR fee as well.

but as the other suggested, just for refund purposes, just accounts like transferwise or currency fair !

let me know if you need any assistance for germany

I've tried DKB, but because I don't live in Germany, Austria or Switzerland it was a straight No!. They wouldn't tell me that I wouldn't get an account when I was emailing them, they made me go through the application process.


Obviously I can't get a credit card, which most banks accounts seem to offer, I guess this because I don't have a German credit file? If I open an account that comes with a V-Pay card or an EC card does that mean I get a German credit file?

bhjm

i can see - they restricted it to residents or germans living abroad.

what about n26 bank?

german banks are like UK banks - proof of residency is a must

Voyager2002

airbusA346 wrote: »

I'm also going to be making a purchase from a German company, who will be refunding me the 19% VAT.

If you live in the UK or anywhere in the EU you will not get a VAT refund.

DCFC79

bhjm wrote: »

i can see - they restricted it to residents or germans living abroad.

what about n26 bank?

german banks are like UK banks - proof of residency is a must

Just tried N26 and not available in the uk yet but is coming.

airbusA346

Voyager2002 wrote: »

If you live in the UK or anywhere in the EU you will not get a VAT refund.

They've told me they will refund me the VAT.

colsten

airbusA346 wrote: »

They've told me they will refund me the VAT.

May be they will, once we are a third country. Not whilst we are in the EU. That's assuming they aren't tax fraudsters.

eDicky

airbusA346 wrote: »

I think I looked at these type of accounts a few weeks ago, but thought it might have been better to try to get an account with a physical bank.

So does that mean they won't work for Internet purchases? What do you mean by the last sentence?

I've tried DKB, but because I don't live in Germany, Austria or Switzerland it was a straight No!. They wouldn't tell me that I wouldn't get an account when I was emailing them, they made me go through the application process.

Obviously I can't get a credit card, which most banks accounts seem to offer, I guess this because I don't have a German credit file? If I open an account that comes with a V-Pay card or an EC card does that mean I get a German credit file?

The Maestro and V-Pay EC cards issued by banks in northern European countries are for general use, having very low fees applied to merchants and are the only cards commonly accepted, for that reason, outside of tourist areas and department stores etc, in those countries. Most Dutch and German people use no other cards. Your UK bank issued MasterCard or Visa debit cards are unlikely to be accepted in local outlets in those countries, so having such a German bank issued card would be very useful for travel there, if you could get one. But otherwise, for your purpose, you don't need the hassle of opening a German account.

If you want to have a 'real' bank account and euro debit card, open one with KBC Ireland or Fineco Bank UK. Otherwise just use Revolut, TransferWise 'Borderless' etc, or one of several UK 'travel' credit cards, which may perhaps also be used for the (dubious) refund.

Roger1

airbusA346 wrote: »

I've tried DKB, but because I don't live in Germany, Austria or Switzerland it was a straight No!

As a Brit living in the UK, I opened a DKB account and have a DKB Visa credit card.

My UK bank (Nationwide Building Society) was happy to stamp and sign a copy of DKB's form and didn't charge a fee.

bhjm wrote: »

german banks are like UK banks - proof of residency is a must

See above.

There may be hoops to go through, but a German bank account for a UK resident can be done.

As it happens, I've just opened a Fineco multi-currency account. Depending on how it works in practice, the DKB account may now be unnecessary.

airbusA346

Roger1 wrote: »

As a Brit living in the UK, I opened a DKB account and have a DKB Visa credit card.

How long ago did you open the account, because I think they changed the requirements a couple of years ago.