Best German Bank for English Speakers [2023 Guide]

To help you with a smooth start in Germany, we have dug through the German banking jungle and identified the best German bank for English speakers and expats.

When moving to Germany, opening a German bank account is crucial to participate in everyday life. You will require a personal German bank account to receive your salary, pay your rent, register for electricity and internet for your apartment, and to get your liability insurance amongst others.

Quick comparison of the best German bank for English speakers

In this guide, we will compare the best bank in Germany for expats:

1. N26 – the established mobile fintech bank with full English service.
2. Commerzbank – the traditional yet modern bank with the broadest offer and English service.
3. Tomorrow Bank – the sustainable mobile bank that plants trees for your spending and has full English service.
4. Vivid Money – the mobile bank with free investing and crypto options with full English service.
5. Bonus – Revolut – the best alternative for ‘exotic’ nationalities. Not a German bank, based in Lithuania but all services are in English.

Are you wondering, why only four banks are listed? Simply because these are the only German banks that offer their services in English as well. All other German banks will only provide you with their services and customer support in German.

Read More: Are you also looking for a business bank account? Check out our guide on the Best Banks For Freelancers in Germany

6 Criteria to Choose the Best Bank in Germany

All the German banks listed above are good and well-rated, however, depending on your banking habits and where you are from, one or two of them will be better suited to your needs and will be the best bank in Germany for you. So let’s identify your banking habits by answering some questions to the five following criteria.

1. Online Banking vs. Branch Office in Germany

Take a moment to reflect on how you are using your banking service in your current country of residence. 

Do you do all of your banking online or via an app, or do you prefer to talk to your personal bank advisor at a local branch office? In the past years, online banks have definitely disrupted the German banking system and due to their English customer support, they are a great choice for foreigners.

Especially with online banks, it is very easy and fast to open a free bank account in Germany nowadays.

2. Girocard vs. Credit Card in Germany

There are four different types of banking cards in the German market. Let me give you a brief overview.

Credit Cards

Most of the German credit cards function differently than in, let’s say the U.S.. They are so-called charge credit cards with which you cannot pay your debt on your credit card in monthly installments. 

In Germany, your credit cards, mainly Visa and Mastercard, have a spending limit per month. Once a month (not necessarily at the end of the month), your credit card’s expenses get detracted from the balance on your checking bank account. 

Should your checking bank account not have enough funds, your balance will go into overdraft. The interest on overdraft is quite high in Germany.

There are, however, some independent (not tied to your checking account or bank) credit card providers, who offer revolving credit cards. With these cards, you can choose to pay your negative balance back with installments, of course for a costly interest rate.

Related Guide: Best Free Credit Card in Germany

Prepaid Credit Cards

For prepaid credit cards to work, you will need to put money on them first. Overdraft and hence a credit option is not possible. These cards are great if you want to stick to a budget or allowance.

Related Guide: Best Prepaid Credit Card in Germany

Debit cards

There are two types of debit cards in use in Germany. The most popular debit card is the direct banking card, known as girocard, EC Card, or Maestro Card. 

The girocard links directly to your checking bank account. Each payment that you do will directly be detracted from your checking account immediately. However, the girocard is not a Mastercard and can’t be used for online purchases.  

The second most popular debit cards are Visa or Mastercard debit cards. Most online banks offer these which enable Apple & Google pay, as well as online and offline payments. However, your neighborhood bookshop or hairdresser may not accept them.

3. Bank Account Fees in Germany

You have quite a variety of free bank accounts in Germany to chose from. Mostly the new online banks offer a free basic bank account, while most traditional branch banks charge a monthly fee.

4. Securities Account in Germany

Do you only care for a simple checking bank account to receive your salary and pay for your living expenses, or do you want a bank that also offers you a securities service, where you can trade with stocks or cryptocurrencies and manage your money investments? In Germany, this is called a Depot. 

If you choose an online bank in Germany that does not offer a securities account, you can always open one with a separate online broker.

Related Guide: Best Online Broker In Germany

5. Cash Withdrawals

Cash is king in Germany. Germans love their cash, and you will encounter many restaurants and cafes that only accept cash. 2018 was the first year in which card payments overtook cash payments for the first time. 

The Covid-19 crisis increased the willingness to pay contactless, but cash remains a necessity in your wallet. Take a look at this BBC article to understand the money culture of Germany better.

Therefore the availability of withdrawing cash should be a factor to consider when choosing your bank.

How often do you withdraw cash?

Do you rather have a limited amount of ATM withdrawals that you can do from any ATM vs. having an unlimited amount of withdrawals from specific ATMs?

These questions are especially important in Germany, where most often or not, you can only withdraw cash for free at ATMs that belong to your bank or its partner banks. 

Since the availability of ATMs in Germany is lower than you might be used to from your home country, this is essential knowledge. 

For example, the Old Town of Dusseldorf, where we currently live, is world-renowned for being the longest bar in the world. It is basically six blocks of pure party. 

However, the only bank that has secured ATMs in the heart of the Old Town is Sparkasse (a very traditional public bank). 

I have my bank account at Commerzbank, so I would pay a 5 euro fee for withdrawing money at the Sparkasse ATMs. To avoid the extra charge, I would have to walk to the beginning of the Old Town to find the ATM of Commerzbank or a partner bank of the Cash Group.

To increase the possibility of withdrawing cash in Germany, most German supermarkets like Edeka, Rewe, Lidl, Aldi, Penny, etc. introduced the cashback option in recent years.

This enables you to get cash from the cashier while paying with your girocard (only Commerzbank offers a girocard in our list of banks) and purchasing items for more than 10 euros. This is a super convenient offer, as it saves you an extra trip to the ATM.

🔥 Tip: Aldi Süd is the only supermarket also offering cashback on Mastercard credit and debit card payments, and Lidl is the only supermarket already offering cashback with a 5 euro purchase.

6. Your Nationality

Your nationality matters, unfortunately, not only with regard to visa regulations but also with regard to which bank will accept you as a customer or not. This is mainly due to anti-money laundering laws in Germany. Every new bank customer needs to verify their identity before being able to activate the bank account. Online banks can only offer this process via the video identification providers such as IDnow.

These providers don’t accept all IDs and passports if they don’t comply with industry-standard security features. We have linked to accepted nationalities for each bank for you to pick the one that is best for you.

What is the Best German Bank for English Speakers?

Here are our top picks for the best bank in Germany for English speakers and foreigners.

💡 Good to know: Your need to verify your identity to open a bank account in Germany. The providers of the convenient online ID verification via a video call don’t support the passports of all nationalities. In that case, Commerzbank is a great option, where you can verify your identity at your local branch personally. If you don’t have you residence permit yet, Revolut could be your only option to start with.

1. N26

N26 was founded in 2013 and has since become the biggest mobile bank in Europe. Its perks are a free checking account, small loan options, and a savings account. N26 has become super popular over the past years. It challenges the status quo of traditional banks and caters to the digitized generations with a clean and easily navigable mobile real-time banking app.

Any expat wishing to transfer money home to a foreign bank account can do so directly with N26, without worrying about fees, since N26 integrated Wise into their banking app. Additionally, N26 also offers the option to request a loan for up to 25.000 euros and overdraft. 

The entire product is available in English, from sign-up to mobile banking to customer service. It is one of the favorite German bank accounts for foreigners and accepts the most nationalities as an online bank.

N26 offers four different bank account types. From the free Standard account to the premium Metal account. Recently, N26 has removed the free physical debit Mastercard from the Standard Account and replaced it with a virtual-only debit Mastercard. Should you still wish to have a physical card, you can order it with a one-time 10 euros fee.

For all the premium N26 accounts, starting with the N26 Smart for 4,90 euros a month, the physical debit Mastercard is included for free.

For in-depth information on N26, take a look at our N26 review.

N26 benefits:

✅ EVERYTHING in English
✅ Free Standard checking account with no required monthly input
✅ Free virtual debit Mastercard
✅ Up to 3 free ATM cash withdrawals per month in Germany at any ATM with NFC technology
✅ No exchange fees on card payments for any currency
✅ Free integration with Wise
✅ Full real-time control via the app
✅ 2 free sub-accounts called spaces
✅ Apple & Google Pay
✅ Open free checking account in 8 minutes online
✅ Available for around 142 nationalities

N26 drawbacks:

⛔️ No branch offices 
⛔️ No real credit card
⛔️ One-time 10 euros fee for a physical debit Mastercard
⛔️ No securities account option 
⛔️ 1,7% fees on cash withdrawals in foreign currencies
⛔️ A joint account is only possible with a premium account with what N26 calls Spaces

Open your free N26 checking account now and immediately start banking online.

2. Commerzbank

Commerzbank was founded in 1870 and is the second-largest bank in Germany. For the third year in a row, it was voted the best branch bank in 2020. It is a private bank and part of the Cash Group (Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, HypoVereinsbank & Postbank). 

In the past years, Commerzbank has invested heavily to keep up with current trends and to also appeal to foreigners. It is the most digitized branch bank and offers at least parts of its website in English. More importantly, Commerzbank provides online banking, a mobile app, and customer support in English. 

They offer a lot more banking options, such as a securities account, loans, investments, pick-up of foreign currencies, and a personal consultant, if you wish. Since you can verify your identity in person in a local branch, Commerzbank practically accepts every nationality.

The only drawback is the online account opening process. Although they pride themselves on offering the fastest online sign-up in Germany, it is only available in German. We have written an in-depth step-by-step guide on how to open a Commerzbank account online to help you out.

Related Guide: How To Open A Commerzbank Account Online [Step-By-Step English Guide]

Commerzbank has improved its conditions to stay competitive with the new Fintech banks. As long as you activate paperless banking and have an incoming payment of at least 700 euros per month, your basic checking account and virtual debit card will be free.

Commerzbank benefits:

✅ 450 branches in Germany
✅ Free checking account (with a minimum of 700 euros monthly input)
✅ Free virtual Mastercard debit card
✅ Free girocard
✅ Free unlimited cash withdrawals at more than 7.000 Cash Group ATMs in Germany with the girocard
✅ Easy to use clean mobile banking app
✅ Securities account option & consulting
✅ Apple & Google Pay
✅ Open free checking account in 8 minutes online
✅ Available for all nationalities
✅ Free joint account (Gemeinschaftskonto)

Commerzbank drawbacks:

⛔️ No English online sign-up 
⛔️ Checking account fees of 9,90 euros with less than 700 euros monthly input
⛔️ Physical Mastercard credit card costs 39,90 euros a year
⛔️ 1,75% foreign currency fees for payments in other currencies with credit card
⛔️ 1,95% fees / minimum 5,98 euros on cash withdrawals in foreign currencies with credit card + 1,75% foreign currency fees

To help you with the account opening process, we have written an in-depth step-by-step guide on how to open a Commerzbank account online: How To Open A Commerzbank Account Online [Step-By-Step English Guide]

3. Tomorrow Bank

Tomorrow Bank is an ethical mobile bank that uses customer and investor money for sustainable projects and protecting the rainforest. It was founded in 2017 in Hamburg and also provides its bank accounts via its partner Solarisbank.

Tomorrow offers three different types of checking accounts starting at 3 euros per month. It includes a free Visa debit card and climate contribution. Of course, it comes with a consumer-friendly real-time banking app, and everything is 100% in English.

Tomorrow benefits:

✅ EVERYTHING in English
✅ Free Visa debit card
✅ No exchange fees on card payments for any currency
✅ Full real-time control via the app
✅ Apple & Google Pay
✅ 1 free sub-account called pocket
✅ No SCHUFA credit check
✅ Open checking account in 8 minutes online
✅ Available for around 80 nationalities

Tomorrow drawbacks:

⛔️ No branch offices 
⛔️ Monthly fee starts at 3 euros
⛔️ 2 euros per ATM cash withdrawal with the cheapest account
⛔️ No real credit card
⛔️ No girocard
⛔️ No securities account option 
⛔️ Not available for US citizens
⛔️ A joint account is only possible with a premium account

Open your Tomorrow checking account now and immediately start banking online.

4. Vivid Money

Vivid Money is the second newest player on this list, as it was only founded in 2019 in Berlin. Yet, Vivid has successfully disrupted the traditional & mobile banking industry in terms of day-to-day banking, investing, and crypto handling. Its reviews in Google & Apple Store, as well as on Trustpilot are really good. Vivid provides its accounts via its partner Solarisbank.

Vivid Money offers a free checking account along with a free metal Visa debit card, commission-free investing in stocks, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies, as well as high cashback rates on purchases. Everything is available in English with great customer service.

Vivid benefits:

✅ EVERYTHING in English
✅ Free checking account with no required monthly input
✅ Free metal Visa debit card
✅ No exchange fees on card payments for up to 40 currencies
✅ Full real-time control via the app
✅ Apple & Google Pay
✅ Up to 15 free sub-accounts called pockets with separate IBAN
✅ No SCHUFA credit check
✅ Open free checking account in 8 minutes via app only
✅ Up to 20 euros cashback per month
✅ Commission-free investment options for stocks & ETFs
✅ Commission-free investing in 50 crypto coins
✅ Available for around 48 nationalities
✅ A joint account is free with a free account through what Vivid calls Pockets

Vivid drawbacks:

⛔️ No branch offices 
⛔️ No real credit card
⛔️ No girocard
⛔️ Sign up currently only possible through the Vivid App
⛔️ Only up to 200 euros free ATM cash withdrawals per month globally if the withdrawal amount is above 50 euros (otherwise 3% fee)

Open your free Vivid checking account now and immediately start banking online.

5. Bonus: Revolut

We list Revolut as a bonus option, since it is not really a German bank; however, it is a great alternative for internationals whose nationality is not accepted by any of the aforementioned German banks. They seem to accept any nationality as long as you are a resident in Germany. 

You verify your identity with your passport and visa and don’t need any other document.

Revolut is a fintech based in the UK, with a license in Lithuania since Brexit. This allows you to have a European bank account with an IBAN based in Lithuania (starting with LI – the IBAN of a German bank account starts with a DE). You can use this bank account in Germany without any additional fees. 

Next to a free bank account, Revolut also offers other convenient features such as foreign currency exchange and crypto and raw material trading, as well as 3 paid premium account models. 

Revolut benefits:

✅ EVERYTHING in English
✅ Free checking account with no required monthly input
✅ Free virtual crebit card
✅ Free currency exchange in 30+ currencies (Monday-Friday up tp 1.000 euros/month) 
✅ Full real-time control via the app
✅ Apple & Google Pay
✅ No SCHUFA credit check
✅ Open free checking account in 8 minutes via app only
✅ Available for all nationalities
✅ No Anmeldung needed

Revolut drawbacks:

⛔️ No German IBAN (Lithuanian IBAN starting with LI)
⛔️ No branch offices 
⛔️ No real credit card
⛔️ No girocard
⛔️ Shipping fee for a physical debit card
⛔️ Only up to 200 euros (or 5 times) free ATM cash withdrawals per month 
⛔️ Currently no joint account option
⛔️ No cash deposit possible

Open your free Revolut checking account now and immediately start banking online.

Conclusion

N26 is the most established and accessible online bank and a favorite amongst expats.

Commerzbank is the best branch bank for English speakers and available to all nationatlities.

Tomorrow is the only sustainable bank with great features for everyday banking.

Vivid is great if you want a mobile option to invest in stocks and crypto.

Revolut is the best alternative for internationals who struggle to open an account with any of the above options.

A lot of Germans hold several bank accounts, so it is totally fine for you to also open two different accounts to bring more structure into your personal finances while living in Germany.