I dont suppose you have a referral code for Vivid. I feel this bank answers all my questions. Currently with N26 but I want a separate account for my saving and keep my money separately.
This is all great advice Jenna! When I first arrived in Germany, i set up an account at Sparkasse and the experience was… interesting to say the least 😅 and since then I’ve been with ING DiBa and pretty happy! I am going to have to check out some of the other banks. It’s crazy that a bank even has a waiting list 🤯
So crazy, right?! At least there are lots of alternatives nowadays 🥰 I had the same… interesting… experience with Deutsche Bank too 😫 and have since tested about 5 other banks! I’m set with VIVID now and super happy, but always trying out new banks for the sake of being on top of it all for other foreigners 😄
I was only able to open a Commerzbank account because I used to live in Turkey, speak fluent Turkish and the banker was Turkish :) Not a soul speaks English but their live chat function DOES have an English option so that was very helpful my first few months!
Ohhh this is great! Thanks so much for sending me this updated information, I’m really glad that some of the more traditional banks are becoming more foreigner-friendly finally!! 🤩🤩
I really didn't know about the difficulties you Expats meet when coming over to Germany. As a German resident you choose your trusted bank and open up an account and that's it. Having to identify those basic needs as possible obstacles of your life in Germany didn't occur to me at all. So on behalf of all the future Expats thank you for the work you put into this video, Jenna! Aside from one tiny little detail though: the camera work. Have you shaved your hair off on top of your head and set your camera to stop at your eyebrows because you felt a little selfconcious about that 😈😂?
Ahaha my pleasure 💛 And didn’t you catch my warning ⚠️ message at the beginning of the video?! 😂 I filmed on my iPhone for the first time in a long time and it cut off half my head 🫣 … by the end of the filming I didn’t have enough energy in me to re-film everything over again 😂 … at least you can see my eyes! Or maybe I did shave the top of my head 😉
@@lifeingermany_ Oops, my bad. I guess I just got distracted by the HUGE tissue box in the background.🤦. As a former collegue of mine always used to say: "Wer die Augen benutzt, ist klar im Vorteil"!🤓👀😂
I've used N26 for my time in Germany, super easy to open and worked perfectly. I know of many expats that used it as well. What a shame they have a wait list
So glad you’ve had a great experience! 🙃 N26 really is so simple (and the English app is a lifesaver). I know they’ve had their ups and downs, but glad they’re still a reputable bank for many! ✊
I have three Wise accounts and I know for sure that the American account runs through a bank on the East Coast because when I opened it up and set up money to transfer, it came up with a real bank name that is not Wise. They also tell you that the when you open it. So it's an affiliate bank they work with.
True! I believe almost all online banks do this nowadays as well. My bank, VIVID, and other banks like Nuri also run through the Solaris Bank. It’s tricky!
I am Ukrainian. I wanted to open an account in Vivid Bank. Everything went smoothly till the manager asked me to make a photo of my passport and then told me that we do not open accounts for Ukrainians🙄 When I asked him about the reason he just said I don't know why🤷!
Ugh, I’m so sorry! Yes it’s probably because the Ukrainian passport is not in the new list of approved documents. 😫 Along with many other countries now too. Are you living in Germany now? And registered? It might be easier to try opening a bank with Commerzbank in person now! Here’s a list of other bank alternatives if it can help you: lifeingermany.com/bank-accounts/ 🙃
I have a Nuri Account and they filed for bankruptcy last week. But I really enjoyed my experience there so I'm not sorry for leaving the blood sucking Sparkasse
Is it a bad idea to close the bank account within 10-15 days of opening it? I just want to shift from Sparkasse to Commerzbank. Will it affect me in the future anyhow?
This was my biggest question too! They responded that “since you can obtain an IBAN #, as long as the institute/company/landlord is okay with the bank type, then there should be no issues”. I think this should be correct. The biggest issue is always whether or not you have a German IBAN #.
Hi from Frankfurt, I've never heard of most banks. I always thought you have to be registered in Germany to open a bank account. I would never go to an online bank. Where are you supposed to have trust? Far too risky. In addition, you don't really need a credit card here, the EC card is completely sufficient. Of all the banks, I only know Commerzbank. But what about Dresdner Bank, all the savings banks and Postbank? And remember, only cash is real. A little hint Use the bank that the employer also uses, so the salary is faster on your own account.
😄😄😄Online bank isn't risky - at least not riskier than using online banking (Einlagensicherung). Commerzbank bought Dresdner Bank ages ago. Nowadays you don't have your money faster, while using the same bank as the sender. It has to be at your account within one day after sending. I know that a lot of people still call there Girocards ec-Karte but nevertheless they don't exist anymore.
@@Andreas_Cologne "It has to be at your account within one day after sending" That would be preferrable but does not work with many banks. e.g. Raiffeisen is very slow. I thought he debit card was the Maestro card. At least that was printed on the front. Ok funny, not on the Bank Austria card. Whatever... Online banks are perfectly ok. As long as they are banks. e.g. paypal is not a bank. Cash is NOT the best, its cumbersome, dirty, can easily be stolen, and i hate cash. I only need it for the Austrian Post. They are really stuck in the last century.
Personally, when we moved there I put the bare minimum in our online bank, just enough to pay our bills, and we kept all of our money in our American bank. It's not easy to just open a bank account when you first arrive, but you need one for many bills
@@wolfgangpreier9160 Ich antworte Mal auf deutsch, da es schneller geht und ich davon ausgehe, dass es deine Muttersprache ist: Es ist gesetzlich festgelegt, dass die Überweisungen im Euroraum nur einen Tag dauern dürfen. Ich habe von EC-Karten und Girocards "gesprochen", aber gut, dann gehe ich Mal auf die von dir Genannten ein: Maestro ist eine Debitkarte des berühmten Kreditkartenanbieters MasterCard. Debitkarten werden aber auch z.B. von Visa angeboten und im Prinzip sind alle Girocards (ugs. immer noch gerne als EC-Karten bezeichnet, s.o.) Debitkarten. Im Gegensatz zu "echten" Kreditkarten ("Kredit" steckt ja schon im Namen), werden alle Zahlungen und Bargeldabhebungen "sofort" abgebucht, sodass man keinen Kredit bis zur nächsten Abrechnung bekommt. Meines Erachtens gibt es nur einen großen Nachteil bei Debitkarten: Sie werden oft nicht akzeptiert, wenn man damit eine Kaution (wie es z.B. bei Leihwagen üblich ist) hinterlegen will. Wenn sie doch akzeptiert werden, wird der Kautionsbetrag sofort vom Konto abgebucht. Das kann natürlich sehr ärgerlich sein, wenn man z.B. einen Camper o.ä. für ein paar Wochen bucht. (Die DKB hat kürzlich auf Debitkarte umgestellt. Sie bietet die "echte" Visakarte zwar weiterhin an, aber diese ist nun nicht mehr kostenlos. Ärgerlich!)
@@wolfgangpreier9160 PayPal hat eine luxemburgische Banklizenz, gehört aber (soweit ich weiß) keinem Einlagensicherungsfond an. Dass Cash das Beste ich, habe ich nicht gesagt und ist auch nicht meine Meinung. Ich habe neulich einen Geldschein verloren. Der ist weg. Ich verstehe aber, dass viele der Meinung sind, dass man mit Karten schnell den Überblick verliert. Streng genommen müsste das aber wegen Onlinebanking nicht mehr sein. (Noch eine kleine Anmerkung: Du magst (!) kein Bargeld - Hass ist etwas viel Schlimmeres.)
![Top 4 Bank Accounts for Foreigners in Germany [2024 Update]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GjRG1IBV5hU/mqdefault.jpg)
I dont suppose you have a referral code for Vivid. I feel this bank answers all my questions. Currently with N26 but I want a separate account for my saving and keep my money separately.
Sure! Here’s my refer a friend link: vivid.money/r/jennaPW8 🙂
I believe it’s a 10€ bonus for you and I right now (they change it up now and again)
@@lifeingermany_ Thank you for the link. I signed up last night and will start using it. Thank you so much for this
This is all great advice Jenna! When I first arrived in Germany, i set up an account at Sparkasse and the experience was… interesting to say the least 😅 and since then I’ve been with ING DiBa and pretty happy! I am going to have to check out some of the other banks. It’s crazy that a bank even has a waiting list 🤯
So crazy, right?! At least there are lots of alternatives nowadays 🥰
I had the same… interesting… experience with Deutsche Bank too 😫 and have since tested about 5 other banks! I’m set with VIVID now and super happy, but always trying out new banks for the sake of being on top of it all for other foreigners 😄
@@lifeingermany_ thank you for being the Guinea pig ❤️
@@LaurenAngela_aufDeutsch haha ♥️ my pleasure! I have fun with it!
I was only able to open a Commerzbank account because I used to live in Turkey, speak fluent Turkish and the banker was Turkish :) Not a soul speaks English but their live chat function DOES have an English option so that was very helpful my first few months!
Ohhh this is great! Thanks so much for sending me this updated information, I’m really glad that some of the more traditional banks are becoming more foreigner-friendly finally!! 🤩🤩
I really didn't know about the difficulties you Expats meet when coming over to Germany.
As a German resident you choose your trusted bank and open up an account and that's it. Having to identify those basic needs as possible obstacles of your life in Germany didn't occur to me at all.
So on behalf of all the future Expats thank you for the work you put into this video, Jenna!
Aside from one tiny little detail though: the camera work. Have you shaved your hair off on top of your head and set your camera to stop at your eyebrows because you felt a little selfconcious about that 😈😂?
Ahaha my pleasure 💛
And didn’t you catch my warning ⚠️ message at the beginning of the video?! 😂 I filmed on my iPhone for the first time in a long time and it cut off half my head 🫣 … by the end of the filming I didn’t have enough energy in me to re-film everything over again 😂 … at least you can see my eyes!
Or maybe I did shave the top of my head 😉
@@lifeingermany_ Oops, my bad. I guess I just got distracted by the HUGE tissue box in the background.🤦. As a former collegue of mine always used to say: "Wer die Augen benutzt, ist klar im Vorteil"!🤓👀😂
@@flamedealership 🤣🤣
I've used N26 for my time in Germany, super easy to open and worked perfectly. I know of many expats that used it as well. What a shame they have a wait list
So glad you’ve had a great experience! 🙃
N26 really is so simple (and the English app is a lifesaver). I know they’ve had their ups and downs, but glad they’re still a reputable bank for many! ✊
I have three Wise accounts and I know for sure that the American account runs through a bank on the East Coast because when I opened it up and set up money to transfer, it came up with a real bank name that is not Wise. They also tell you that the when you open it. So it's an affiliate bank they work with.
True! I believe almost all online banks do this nowadays as well. My bank, VIVID, and other banks like Nuri also run through the Solaris Bank. It’s tricky!
I am Ukrainian. I wanted to open an account in Vivid Bank. Everything went smoothly till the manager asked me to make a photo of my passport and then told me that we do not open accounts for Ukrainians🙄 When I asked him about the reason he just said I don't know why🤷!
Ugh, I’m so sorry! Yes it’s probably because the Ukrainian passport is not in the new list of approved documents. 😫 Along with many other countries now too.
Are you living in Germany now? And registered? It might be easier to try opening a bank with Commerzbank in person now!
Here’s a list of other bank alternatives if it can help you: lifeingermany.com/bank-accounts/ 🙃
And never forget: "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!"
I have a Nuri Account and they filed for bankruptcy last week. But I really enjoyed my experience there so I'm not sorry for leaving the blood sucking Sparkasse
Is it a bad idea to close the bank account within 10-15 days of opening it? I just want to shift from Sparkasse to Commerzbank. Will it affect me in the future anyhow?
As far as I’ve heard, no not at all!
@@lifeingermany_ Okay. Thank you 😊👍🏻
For German bureaucracy, does the Wise account count as a "German" bank account? (For landlords and other issues in Germany?)
This was my biggest question too! They responded that “since you can obtain an IBAN #, as long as the institute/company/landlord is okay with the bank type, then there should be no issues”.
I think this should be correct. The biggest issue is always whether or not you have a German IBAN #.
@@lifeingermany_ Oh wow, yeah, I'm super curious.
Nuri filed for insolvency on Tuesday, August 9th, 2022 :(
Hi from Frankfurt, I've never heard of most banks.
I always thought you have to be registered in Germany to open a bank account. I would never go to an online bank. Where are you supposed to have trust? Far too risky. In addition, you don't really need a credit card here, the EC card is completely sufficient. Of all the banks, I only know Commerzbank. But what about Dresdner Bank, all the savings banks and Postbank?
And remember, only cash is real.
A little hint
Use the bank that the employer also uses, so the salary is faster on your own account.
😄😄😄Online bank isn't risky - at least not riskier than using online banking (Einlagensicherung).
Commerzbank bought Dresdner Bank ages ago.
Nowadays you don't have your money faster, while using the same bank as the sender. It has to be at your account within one day after sending.
I know that a lot of people still call there Girocards ec-Karte but nevertheless they don't exist anymore.
@@Andreas_Cologne "It has to be at your account within one day after sending" That would be preferrable but does not work with many banks. e.g. Raiffeisen is very slow.
I thought he debit card was the Maestro card.
At least that was printed on the front.
Ok funny, not on the Bank Austria card. Whatever...
Online banks are perfectly ok.
As long as they are banks. e.g. paypal is not a bank.
Cash is NOT the best, its cumbersome, dirty, can easily be stolen, and i hate cash.
I only need it for the Austrian Post. They are really stuck in the last century.
Personally, when we moved there I put the bare minimum in our online bank, just enough to pay our bills, and we kept all of our money in our American bank. It's not easy to just open a bank account when you first arrive, but you need one for many bills
@@wolfgangpreier9160
Ich antworte Mal auf deutsch, da es schneller geht und ich davon ausgehe, dass es deine Muttersprache ist:
Es ist gesetzlich festgelegt, dass die Überweisungen im Euroraum nur einen Tag dauern dürfen.
Ich habe von EC-Karten und Girocards "gesprochen", aber gut, dann gehe ich Mal auf die von dir Genannten ein:
Maestro ist eine Debitkarte des berühmten Kreditkartenanbieters MasterCard. Debitkarten werden aber auch z.B. von Visa angeboten und im Prinzip sind alle Girocards (ugs. immer noch gerne als EC-Karten bezeichnet, s.o.) Debitkarten. Im Gegensatz zu "echten" Kreditkarten ("Kredit" steckt ja schon im Namen), werden alle Zahlungen und Bargeldabhebungen "sofort" abgebucht, sodass man keinen Kredit bis zur nächsten Abrechnung bekommt.
Meines Erachtens gibt es nur einen großen Nachteil bei Debitkarten: Sie werden oft nicht akzeptiert, wenn man damit eine Kaution (wie es z.B. bei Leihwagen üblich ist) hinterlegen will. Wenn sie doch akzeptiert werden, wird der Kautionsbetrag sofort vom Konto abgebucht. Das kann natürlich sehr ärgerlich sein, wenn man z.B. einen Camper o.ä. für ein paar Wochen bucht.
(Die DKB hat kürzlich auf Debitkarte umgestellt. Sie bietet die "echte" Visakarte zwar weiterhin an, aber diese ist nun nicht mehr kostenlos. Ärgerlich!)
@@wolfgangpreier9160
PayPal hat eine luxemburgische Banklizenz, gehört aber (soweit ich weiß) keinem Einlagensicherungsfond an.
Dass Cash das Beste ich, habe ich nicht gesagt und ist auch nicht meine Meinung. Ich habe neulich einen Geldschein verloren. Der ist weg.
Ich verstehe aber, dass viele der Meinung sind, dass man mit Karten schnell den Überblick verliert. Streng genommen müsste das aber wegen Onlinebanking nicht mehr sein.
(Noch eine kleine Anmerkung: Du magst (!) kein Bargeld - Hass ist etwas viel Schlimmeres.)
Du hast dir ein Bienchen verdient!