Opening a Bank Account for Business and Private Purposes

Are you worried about obtaining a German bank account? Any IBAN number is sufficient for opening an account for a company or for running a business here in Germany! It is regardless where the bank is located! The only difference between a Belgium and a German bank would be that sending money from Belgium might need a day or two more to enter the target account.

Do you already have a bank relationship anywhere in Europe? When expecting difficulities or in urgent need, connect with that bank to open an account for your company or business. Inside Europe we have SEPA. The main difference will be that you must always provide the IBAN and BIC for an account outside of Germany and that transactions will take a bit longer than inside Germany.

Below is a brief description of the banks providing business accounts for clients based in Berlin. My description is to be understood as polite though straightforward. My intention is to provide you with a very first idea on what to expect from the bank you wish to chose.

Opening an account with a Sparkasse or Volksbank is a serious possibilty when you live in that bank's area and / or your business has strong local ties. Even when they starting to offer their services in English, they are still very much focused on local / regional and not so much international business.

Do not expect to get any credit line upfront without recent banking history and / or before having an account for several months reflecting that you really have turnover. Please discuss this in detail as well as your special wishes with your banker! This is outside of our influence.

HRC in the table below relates to citizens of so-called "high risk countries". To keep it short and sweet, it all relates to money laundry precautions banks have to observe. If you belong to one of those high risk countries and don't live in Germany, it will be problematic to open an account for your business. If you have a citizenship affiliated with high risk and live in Germany, then you are generally free to take any bank. To help you identify which bank will have an issue with you as a high risk citizen living abroad we use the following markers:

• "?" means that we have no concrete knowledge, go ahead, try and let us know of your success,
• "yes" means that the bank will have an issue with this and not open an account for you,
• "no" means that the bank takes no offense and will generally open an account for you.

N.B. Though you might get an account number quickly, using any corporate funds in the account is limited until the company is entered into the Commercial Registry!

CAVEAT for online identification:

• Have your official ID passport at hand as a PDF or jpg,
• be in a quiet and bright environment for an audio / video interview which will only last a few minutes,
• have your company documents (application to register and articles of association) as a PDF at hand, you will be applying for a company in formation ("in Gründung, i.Gr.")

 

	English?	Description:	(Dis)advantages:	HRC:	Private	Freelancer	Corporate
Baltic International Bank	Yes, also Russian and Latvian	Latvian online bank for private and business customers, based on the principles of "environmental social governance"	Opening fee 450 € maintenance fee - 300 € per month, for corporate customers	?	apply here	apply here	apply here
Bank of China	Depending on the individual banker, some speak better German and some speak better English – as all bankers are Chinese, they all speak Mandarine	Public bank of China, interested in serving Chinese in Germany or abroad or Germans with interest in China, no online opening. Sort of like a remote opening, I can personally submit the originals of the founding documents to a banker and your notarized ID to them in their office, they will then personally call you on the phone with further questions on your banking needs.	If you are neither Chinese nor have commercial interests in China best go to a different bank	No	Obtain the application form here !	Obtain the application form here !	Obtain the application form here !
Berliner Sparkasse	Only oral communication, limited to three persons in the call center which is manned with bankers	Local, public bank, free ATMs at any Sparkasse, be it in or outside Berlin. They are only interested in local business with a very strong relationship to Berlin – the registered address of your company is only of secondary importance	Small businesses are exclusively served via a call center, only three people speak English, no contracts/forms available in English; personal banker speaking English for clients with prospective turnover above 150 k€; with a German nominee director it is possible to get a corporate account; their mindset is still very paperbound and analog unless essential. You experience German bureaucracy at its finest here.	Yes	apply here	apply here	n/a
Bilderlings	Yes, also in Russian, German, and Spanish	A UK fintech, understands itself as an alternative for a classic bank, provides all standard bank services	Fee for review of documents for opening a corporate bank account: €800 urgent document review for opening €2,000 active account maintenance (per month) interest will be paid for holding money on accounts	No	open here	open here	open here
	Yes, and also German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese	here to break free from the status quo and challenge what banking is and can do, together we built a fully mobile bank & gave you the power over your money. At the end of the day, it's about making life easy so you can save time, save money and save CO2	reaching to private persons and freelancers interested in a sustainable bank on eye level	?	open here	open here	n/a
Credit BLU	Yes, also Arabic, Mandarin, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish	BLU is modern payment platform that allows speedy opening of unlimited number of corporate and/or personal payment accounts in any worldwide currency	Opening fee: € 495, unique IBAN fee: € 1,995, maintenance fee € 39 per month	?	open here	open here	open here
CIM Banque	Yes	CIM Bank is a Swiss Private Bank based in Geneva, Wollerau and Lugano. They offer their clientele tailored services along with a deep understanding of each client's needs.	Service is provided per video conferencing, initial funding requires a deposit of 10.000 CHF/EUR/USD	?	open here	open here	open here
Commerzbank	They have no real setup for providing their services also in English. In doubt, you will need to call your way through to an English speaking banker. From past experience, I learned that they will still expect the director to personally show up to introduce the business and sign the contracts.	Yes & No	Commerzbank is known as one of the high street banks in Germany	?	call them	n/a	call them
Deutsche Bank	Yes	International bank, offers foreign currency accounts, free ATM withdrawals at any Deutsche Bank or member of their big cash pool, be it in or outside Berlin	Due to regulatory restrictions, foreign private individuals are only interesting for salary accounts, foreign companies as shareholders of a German company are almost inconceivable, foreign private individuals as founders are possibly conceivable and if so then only for classic, traditional business models (i.e. not for precious metals, weapons, software, trading with PC hardware, financial investments, real estate, medical tourism, crypto...). If you should be interesting, then you have to present your business model in great detail. I have a loose contact at Deutsche Bank; they will require that you personally introduce yourself and your business in front of a banker in Berlin.	Yes	info here	n/a	n/a
Eihbank	Yes, and German next to Persian	Banking services only for corporations: trade and project finance, international documentary credit transactions, confirmation and discounting of letter of credit business to foreign exchange and money market operations	Evidently best for German - Iranian business	?	n/a	call them	call them
	Yes	Fidor Bank AG, headquartered in Munich, received its full banking license in 2009 and has since offered various financial products in the private and business customer segment. The goal of the founders was to establish the digital lifestyle and the Internet as a transaction medium in the area of financial services. This new way of banking has already been recognized with a variety of awards, such as "Fairest Product Offer" by Focus Money in 2018. Furthermore, there is a cooperation between Fidor Bank and Bitcoin.de, which enables customers to express trade cryptocurrencies on www.bitcoin.de.	They have many credits for founders and new customers.	Yes	open here	open here	open here
	Yes	Not a bank, but more, the fastest and easiest online business banking for SMEs, freelancers, and the self-employed in Europe	This is another brand from Solarisbank	No	n/a	open here	open here
	Yes	Think of Holvi as your business’ financial home. With a business account and Holvi Business Mastercard®, invoicing and bookkeeping tools all in one place, Holvi eliminates the time-consuming distractions of financial admin, helping you to find balance as an entrepreneur. More time for actual work means you can clock off earlier, if you want. That’s work life simplified.	Holvi focuses on startups and freelancers with modules for invoicing and bookkeeping	No	n/a	open here	open here
	Yes, but only for business accounts	##	Operating in Germany, Hypovereinsbank mainly focuses on private clients, business and corporate banking. They belong to the "high street banks" in Germany	?	open here	open here	open here
Isbank	Yes, German, Turkish	A subsidiary of Türkiye Is Bankasi A.S., sees itself as the top bank in Turkey, has the first Turkish bank to establish subsidiaries abroad – a German branch began operating in Hamburg in 1932	Predestined bank for Turks and Turkish speaking person, branches and ATMs usually found around Turkish communities in Germany	No	open here	open here	open here
KBC	Yes	An international bank based in Belgium	After you have submitted the originals of the founding documents and your notarized ID to them, they will personally call you on the phone with further questions on your banking needs	?	open here	open here	open here
	Yes, also German	German bank for Startups	Save taxes, time, and money with the only bank account that calculates your taxes in real-time	yes	n/a	open here	n/a
KT Bank	Yes, German, and Turkish	A subsidiary of KuveytTürk	Individuals 100% online, corporate customers exclusively in one of their branches	No	open account	open account	only in a branch
Mercurius Bank	Yes, also Russian, and Czech	International online bank from Czech Republic	International online bank from the Czech Republic	No	open account	open account	open account
N26	Yes, also German	Mobile bank, spend and set money aside in real-time	Open your account in minutes right from your smartphone, and start spending before your physical card arrives, they won't allow you to simultaneously have a corporate and private account. It's anyhow not a wise setup to have business and private funds at one and the same bank!	?	open account	open account	n/a
	Yes and German, Italian, Spanish	Their ambition is very clear: building the best business banking service by using technology and design, with a fair and transparent pricing!	Their ambition is very clear: building the best business banking service by using technology and design, with fair and transparent pricing! They also are very founder-friendly by automatically informing your notary when you have capitalized on your company. They provide bookkeeping tools	yes and no	n/a
Revolut	Yes, and many other European languages	Check out an online business bank from UK !	No personal banker per phone or email available, all communication goes through the app or secondarily their website	Yes	open account	open account	open account
Varengold Bank	Yes	he high-performance bank for companies focused on international trade	Contact them first online, then you will send you the link to proceed with opening a bank account	No	n/a	open account	open account
Viva Wallet	Yes and German	An international fintech offering not only IBAN accounts but also many online and offline payment solutions	Very interesting for your business when you want bank payments as well as online payments from one hand	?	open account	open account	open account
	Yes	Vivid Money is a new fintech from Solaris Bank AG that provides control over customers' finances. Whether it's managing family spending, currency exchange, customizable pockets with individual IBANs, or growing money with cashback rewards, the app offers something to meet customers' banking needs. They want to provide comfortable trading cryptocurrency and a strong cashback scheme.	Very interesting for your business when you want bank payments as well as online payments from one hand	Yes	open account	open account	n/a
Wise	Yes	until recently, known as Transferwise, an online bank service provider, multi-currency is standard	Known for its quick transfers and good conversion rates, they seemingly welcome everyone as a customer. They do not support a company in founding – only registered ones. I provide the possibility to open a UG	No	open account	open account	open account