What banks are in Germany and the US?
I am a semi-finalist to become an exchange student in Germany. I must pay for my living expenses while I'm there. Is there any banks that we have here and that are in Germany? or will I have to get money transferred to me? If so what would you suggest?
Other - Germany - 4 Answers
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1 :
American banks if they are present in Germany at all are only there for companies and not open to private persons. You will have to open a German bank account at a German bank once you are over here. Do NOT use money transfer such as western union it is a lot more expensive than transfer by bank from an account in the US to an account in Germany. Be aware the bank to bank transfer charges can differ quite a lot depending what bank you have in the US and the one you chose in Germany. Best bet would be to ask the bank you currently use in the US if they have a preferred partner bank in Germany to avoid costs. ATM charges to get money from a foreign bank account can be as much as 5% of the amount as fee in some cases even more depends again on the two banks involved it is the absolute worst way to handle it even worse than using western union every month for a money transfer. Citibank is no longer present in Germany it was sold to the french Crédit Mutuel in 2008. GM Money bank is present but only in very few places.
2 :
For a small bank fee, you can withdraw funds from your U.S. bank account from most German ATMs. Are you a semi-finalist for Congress Bundestag? I was a CBYXer ten years ago :) Happily, international banking has barely changed since I was an exchange student. What my mom did was set up a debit account in my name, branched off from her main account. She would deposit my monthly spending allowance into the account, and I would go to the ATM in Germany once a month to take out my money for the whole month - I would take out large amounts because the bank charge is a flat fee. You're charged every time you use the ATM, so the fewer times you withdraw, the better. At the time, I wasn't permitted to have a credit card, but your parents may want you to have one as well, for emergencies. You should look into Bank of America's relationship with Deutsche Bank. I've heard they have an agreement where BoA customers don't pay a fee for using DB ATMs. I know in England, this is the case with Barclays. Personally, I wouldn't recommend opening a German bank account. It can be a real PITA, and in some cases, international banks make it REALLY DIFFICULT to open an account (getting one in England was like pulling teeth). It's also a really poor idea to open an account as a branch of your host parent's account (which is sometimes the only way to do it). You should not, under any circumstances, give your host family access to your money. It's really easy to use your U.S. debit account living abroad, so I just don't see the point in setting up a resident bank account. Good luck! I hope you get it! EDIT: whoever is scamming this page and putting a bunch of thumbs down on totally LEGITIMATE and CORRECT answers, I've reported this question for abuse. Bad form.
3 :
Off the top of my head there are Citibank and GE Money Bank both operating in Germany with brach offices open for private customers. Maybe one of them allows free money transfer between the US and Europe. but you should check beforehand. I'm not quite sure, but I guess a former friend of mine, who was Indonesian, had a Citibank account solely because he could withdraw money from his account worldwide, at no extra charge. As I said, better check this. If no bank offers this, there are lots of German Banks that offer free accounts to students.
4 :
The Deutsche Bank and Bank of Amerika are partner institutes. So, should you wish to open a bank account here without paying extra fees and you already have a bank account at Bank of America it would be advisable to take out an account at Deutsche Bank.
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