The best bank accounts for expats - 2021

Comdirect has announced to charge money for their popular bank account. Starting immediately for new customers and starting May for existing customers, 4.90€ maintainance fee are charged per month if the conditions are not met and 1,90€ monthly fee is charged for the Visa credit card.

Switching banks account is easy and fast, but which one should you get?

I would recommend either DKB or ING and vivid on top, but here are 4 popular bank accounts, especially for expats.

Vivid (Bonus offer: get 40€ in cashback!)

Vivid is a smartphone bank with an English interface. It’s not a fully-fledged bank, but it offers a Metal Visa debit card and significant signup bonuses. No credit check is done, so your Schufa will stay clean.

You’ll get access to Super Deals for 1 month, allowing you to get 40€ of cashback on top. Even if you decide for a different bank account as your daily driver, up to 40€ in cashback and a sleek metal visa card is worth it.

Monthly fee: 0€ Cash withdrawal up to 200€ free per month English app and service: yes Fees for spending abroad: Depends on currency

Sign up now*

N26

The neobank is also interesting for expats, as the app is completely in English. The Debit Mastercard allows 3-5 free withdrawals per month, shopping in a foreign currency is free.

Monthly fee: 0€ (if you have more than 50.000€ in your account, charges may apply) Cash withdrawal 3-5 free per month at any Mastercard ATM English app and service: yes Fees for spending abroad: 0, ATM 1.7%

Sign up now

DKB

One of the classic cheap German banks. 0€ monthly fee, 0€ for withdrawal and 0% for spending abroad - the DKB is hard to beat. You can use any ATM with a Visa logo to get your cash, so no need to hunt around for the right ATM. After one year of trial, you’ll need to get at least 700€/month paid into your account to keep it free, and you’ll be rewarded on top of that with a generous overdraft.

Their app and website might not be the best, but their pricing is.

You’ll also get an “ec Karte” for all these annoying German restaurants that insist on not accepting credit cards.

Monthly fee: 0€ Cash withdrawal 0€ Fees for spending abroad: 0€

Sign up now*

ING

Also a cheap bank, ING offers similar pricing to DKB with no monthly fee, as long as you get at least 700€ paid into it or you are under 27 years old.

Payments and withdrawals in a currency other than euro are priced at 1.99%, though.

You’ll also get an “ec Karte” for all these annoying German restaurants that insist on not accepting credit cards.

ING supports Google Pay and Android Pay and also has some cash machines allowing you to deposit cash into your account, in Stuttgart for example at the Königsbau at Schlossplatz.

Monthly fee: 0€ Cash withdrawal 0€ Fees for spending abroad: 1.99%

Sign up now*

* If you sign up through our links, we might get a commission for recommending the bank account. This will not cost you any money and your prices will not change. Our recommendations are picked independently of the comissions paid.