Instructions for handling German banks and credit cards
If you open a self-insurance account at a domestic German bank, you can only withdraw a maximum of 500 euros per month. Even if you don’t withdraw a penny this month, you can only withdraw 500 next month. You must bring your passport with you to withdraw money.
Banks generally have two kinds of accounts. One is the Spar account, which can only deposit and withdraw funds, but cannot transfer funds. One is a Giro account, which is a transfer account. There is no limit on the amount of deposits and withdrawals (but there is a maximum withdrawal amount every month). Many things in Germany need to be transferred. Such as rent, shopping, utility bills, etc. If you do not have a transfer account and use cash to transfer, you will have to pay an additional transfer fee of 3 euros each time. Therefore, it is almost necessary to open a transfer account so that you can transfer money for free (can cross banks and locations).
Go to the bank to open a new Giro account (opening an account is usually free). Generally, you can get an EC card (electronic cash card) for free. You can directly swipe the card for consumption (stores with EC logo). You can withdraw money from most cash machines in Europe (those with the EC mark), or you can ask for a Master or Visa credit card (there is no difference between these two credit cards, except that you can overdraft, and if you do not repay it in time, the interest will be very high, so be careful), These credit cards have more services, so the fees are also higher, generally a fixed fee service fee of 5-20 euros per year. In fact, some Giro accounts also charge monthly service fees. Fortunately, most banks have discounts for students (including foreign students in language schools) and do not charge service fees. Be sure to ask clearly when opening a transfer account or credit card! For example, Postbank only provides services to people under the age of 26 (or with a monthly payment of more than 1,000). Euro) has a free offer. If you are a German university student over 26 years old, you also need to pay a monthly service fee of 5.9 euros for the transfer account! Its VISA credit card has an annual service fee of 5 euros for those under 26 years old, otherwise it is 20 euros. Other banks have similar conditions.
If you don’t make a request, some banks will only give you an ATM card, which means that you can only withdraw money from the ATMs in the bank branches, not even the ordinary ATMs on the street, and the scope of use is much smaller. , please note that at least one EC card is required. So everyone should carefully inquire about any possibilities when going through the procedures.
As far as I know, opening transfer accounts and credit cards at Dresden and Deutsche Bank are free for students (including language schools).
After completing the account opening procedures, the bank will directly mail you the credit card you applied for within one week, and the password will be mailed to you within two weeks. Therefore, if you do not receive the credit card in time, you must go to the bank immediately. Apply for cancellation and see if the address is wrong (if the mailbox of a German house has the name of the owner, be sure to write the name of the German owner: c/o XXX to avoid misdirection and loss). If you do not cancel in time and an accident occurs, such as the card being used fraudulently, the bank will not be responsible. I was delayed for more than half a month because of the wrong address. Fortunately, the card was not used fraudulently.
If you open an account at a bank in City A, you can go directly to the bank in City B to enjoy the same services for free, such as deposits, withdrawals, billing, etc. If you move or move to another city, you only need to register with the bank. Just a new contact address. German banks will send information and bills to your home in a timely manner, so you must change your mailing address in time to ensure effective contact.
Try not to open an account at a less well-known small bank, because there are few branches and it will be very inconvenient to handle procedures and transfer money in the future. The largest ones are Deutsche Bank and Dresden Bank (the two have merged some projects and are the largest banking institutions in Germany). Sparkasse bank also has many stores. There is also Postbank, which is actually a banking service launched by Deutsche Post. Any post office in Germany can handle relevant procedures and services, which is also very convenient.
When withdrawing money from an ATM, try to use one of the bank's ATMs, otherwise the handling fee will be very high (2 Euros or more).
Once I was in a hurry and withdrew 25 euros from an ATM at a nearby bank. The bill showed a handling fee of 2 euros. Most cards have withdrawal restrictions (they vary, depending on the terms of the contract), such as no more than 500 euros a day, no more than 1,500 or 2,000 euros a week, etc. This is not only for safety, but also to reduce the amount of deposits in bank ATMs. For example, in order to buy a computer, I withdrew 1,000 euros at a time from an ATM, and a handling fee of 10 euros was deducted from my final bill. Therefore, you must understand the withdrawal restrictions and terms of your card. Try to withdraw large amounts over several days, with no more than 500 euros each time.
Personally, I think that credit cards issued in China are not very useful in Germany, and they have to pay very high handling fees. I recently canceled them when I returned to my country. Applying for a credit card in Germany is very convenient and there are no fees. As long as you open a transfer account, you can ask the bank to give you a credit card.
Each account will be deducted a social fund tax Kapitalertragsteuer of 15-30 euros at the end of the year. Students can be exempted from paying, but the bank defaults to voluntary payment. You must go to the bank to fill out the exemption application - Freistellungsauftrag fuer Kapitalertraege. This tax will be exempted in the future. It is recommended to open an account or fill out this application on a regular basis to avoid having money deducted at the end of the year, apply again, and then go to the Finance Bureau to get the money back.
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