Checking Accounts: Now How Much You Can Save By Switching Banks Pennies

There are many free banks – and yet many Germans continue to pay for account management, transfers and credit cards. In all, some 80 million bank customers could have more than six billion euros in their pockets if they opt for a free account.

Fee usury? It doesn’t have to be! Many online banks (such as DKB, ING, N26, Hypovereinsbank, Meine Bank or Consorsbank) are still completely free.

The consumer portal “Bialo” took a closer look at the costs and calculated in a study specifically for BILD: on average, bank customers pay only 90 euros per month for an online account, with five transfers per month, There is one Girocard and one standard credit. card. More precisely: 87.89 euros. And: Biallo has one on your website Observation All money houses that offer free accounts.

Overdraft and overdraft interest were not recorded, and other charges such as partner cards, cash deposits and withdrawals, booking items and more were not taken into account.

The most expensive way to manage your money: Savings Bank! They charge the highest fees, much higher than Volks- und Riefenbanken (VR-Banken) or national providers.

According to Biallo, bank fees range between 0 and a good 200 euros if the customer withdraws money four times a year even in non-EU countries. Then DKB Bank costs 0 Euros and ING Bank between 12 and 32 Euros (how much depends on the withdrawal fee). The limit is between 40 and 64 euros at Commerzbank, between 52 and 78 euros in Postbank and between 122 and 146 euros at Deutsche Bank.

Three regional banks are even more expensive: Sparksse Mühlheim (167 to 187 euros), Bahnhaus Hafner (16 to 197 euros) and Volksbank Bad Lier (179 to 199 euros / all amounts rounded, note).

“You should also consider that while most direct banks with their free accounts keep prices stable, the costs for other banks tend to increase from year to year,” the Biallo study says.

Not only this: standing orders, cash deposits and withdrawals, use of self-service machines: today there is almost nothing for which banks and savings banks do not charge. Depending on the provider, this increases the annual prices significantly.

Strange: There is a clear regional disparity in what customers pay for their bank.

On average, you pay the most in the urban states of Hamburg (112 Euro), Bremen (107 Euro) and Schleswig-Holstein (104 Euro). In comparison, prices are about 50 percent cheaper for bank customers (with the same account model and without cash withdrawals) in Brandenburg (74 euros), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (76 euros) or Saarland (77 euros) – practical. essentially the same service.

20 most expensive banks

Average values ​​are meaningful only to a limited extent. It’s more exciting to take a look at the 20 regional banks and savings banks that charge their customers the most. And these are compared to money houses that charge nothing or almost nothing for the same service.

Top 20 Savings and Credit Unions with the Lowest Fees