Did anyone of you open an account with one the biggest german banks?

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Thanks DublinTexas, I have a german friend who can help me navigate that website. Can the account be opened by correspondance? Do you know if there is a depositors guarantee for non-nationals?
 
Thanks again, looks promising. Thats the 1st time I've ever heard anyone saying to 'bing' something, had to read that a few times before the penny dropped :)
 
Very well!

The whole process is simple.

Ring Deutsche Bank and arrange a meeting. I went to their branch on "Unter den Linden", which is one of the main streets in Berlin. It's the street behind the Brandenburg Gate.

When you arrive in the branch go to the counter and say you are there for your meeting. I didn't do this (I just sort of sat in the waiting area waiting to be called) which apparently is wrong. "It is very important you follow the rules when opening an account", etc. :)

I was brought upstairs to a room where they asked me some basic questions (e.g. what's your address) and opened my account for me. It was a very painless situation. All I needed was my passport.

Couple of important points:

1. The interest on their accounts is quite low. I think I am only getting 0.35% on the "on demand" account I opened. I am ok with this as my concern is wealth protection rather than wealth creation...

2. You cannot transfer the money back into an Irish bank account. This is really important to know. You can only transfer it into a German current account. The good news is you can also open a German current account at the same time. (I didn't bother as I am emigrating to Germany in 2011 -- I have to get out of this ridiculous country).

3. The account isn't opened immediately. They will e-mail me when the account is fully open. Should be tomorrow. I then have to transfer 5k into the account (this is a rule when opening the account). When they have received the money they will then arrange internet banking for me. This will just entitle me to view my balance or (not applicable in my case) transfer money into a German current account.

Any questions I would be happy to answer them.

Hi UFC,

Did you ask them when opening your account if the german state guarantees non-residential accounts and to what value? (I guess it may not have been applicable to you since you are planning on moving over there anyway)
 
Hi UFC,

Did you ask them when opening your account if the german state guarantees non-residential accounts and to what value? (I guess it may not have been applicable to you since you are planning on moving over there anyway)

I never thought of asking... I just assumed I was covered.
 
You cannot transfer the money back into an Irish bank account. This is really important to know. You can only transfer it into a German current account. The good news is you can also open a German current account at the same time. (I didn't bother as I am emigrating to Germany in 2011 -- I have to get out of this ridiculous country).

I disagree with that. My forms for opening the account with DB show that you can transfer 12K Euro/day abroad but you need to keep 100K Euro minimum in your account. :confused:

DKB is one of the banks I menitoned 6 posts above

Sorry! :eek:

If it's a private bank than most likley as of 01.01.2011 this year you are covered up to 100,000 € (50,000€ before that). This is operated by a federal law and mandatory.

Most likely or is this going to happen for sure sorry? We are only a week away from 1st January 2011... :confused:

Furthermore, where do you read that? :confused:

DB wrote me via email that they are covered up to 50K Eur per depositor. They didn't mention anything about the 30% you mentioned in your same post. So I've just written them an email asking for more information on that part. I'll keep everyone updated. Thank you! :)

Contacted Deutsche Bank in Dublin who gave me a contact in Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt and this was her reply:

Thank you for your recent e-mail and your interest in opening a private account with us.
In this connection I kindly ask you to get in touch with me on the phone at 0049-69-910 22534 in order to discuss the details concerning the handling of the prospective account.
Please note that we require a minimum investment amount of EUR 50,000.
I would be pleased to call you back to avoid costs for you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Annegret Heun

Deutsche Bank Privat- und Geschäftskunden AG
Roßmarkt 18, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel. +49(69)910-22534
Fax +49(69)910-22487
Email [email protected]

Savvy Row, Shepherd and myself were written that we needed 100K Eur to open a savings account! So which version is right? :confused:

Any questions I would be happy to answer them.

Hi UFC, did they inform you as well that you need 100K Eur to open an account or less? :confused:

Btw Merry Christmas everyone! :)
 
I disagree with that. My forms for opening the account with DB show that you can transfer 12K Euro/day abroad but you need to keep 100K Euro minimum in your account. :confused:

My opinion is based on what DB told me. So I don't know, maybe the girl was wrong!

Hi UFC, did they inform you as well that you need 100K Eur to open an account or less? :confused:

I opened it with 0 cash. I have to transfer in 5k over the next few days though.


Btw Merry Christmas everyone! :)

And you too!
 
They pay 0.5% interest on the account, 1.65% on the visa card. The visa card is a prepaid card linked to your account (but you have to transfer money onto it).

Hi again DublinTexas, quick query pls: do you think that the visa card account would be protected by the german deposit protection scheme for 100K Eur from 1st January 2011? Thank you so much for any opinion on this! :)
 
Hi again DublinTexas, quick query pls: do you think that the visa card account would be protected by the german deposit protection scheme for 100K Eur from 1st January 2011? Thank you so much for any opinion on this! :)

All deposits including that on the visa card are covered as long as they are in € or in a currency of a EU member state. This does not cover certain investments but deposits on the DKB account are covered.
 
Thank you very much DublinTexas! :)

I'll let you and AAM know if I get an answer on the 30% from DB
 
Just go to Germany and open an account. :)

It's a fantastic country and you'll have a nice little holiday.
 
Yes, but what's the minimum amount before flying there? Furthermore, banks like Kommerzbank told me "Nein" to opening an account as non-resident... :(
 
Yes, but what's the minimum amount before flying there? Furthermore, banks like Kommerzbank told me "Nein" to opening an account as non-resident... :(

DB in Unter den Linden have a minimum amount of 5k.
 
What do all of you new Deutche Bank customers make of David McWilliams latest article?
[broken link removed]
 
Spreadsheet - Williams deposit flight article is already posted in this forum, please discuss in the below thread:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=148929

I appreciate that and you have rightly pointed it out, but I feel the article has two important themes.

One is the overall deposit flight which you have noted in the above thread.

The other is, according to David's dinner mates, the Germans have lost faith in their banks or the Euro and are getting their money out of Germany. This could raise questions for anyone who has set up accounts in Germany and have been providing advice to each other in this thread.
 
The other is, according to David's dinner mates, the Germans have lost faith in their banks or the Euro and are getting their money out of Germany. This could raise questions for anyone who has set up accounts in Germany and have been providing advice to each other in this thread.

When talking about in flows of cash it is worth noting that up until last quarter, David's old employer UBS was experience net out flows of several billion per quarter for about 2 years. Last quarter it did see a net in flow of a little over 1 billion, but this was seen as Swiss cash coming back, not a foreign in flow!

The other major Swiss player CS (CreditSuisse) did in deed see big in flows over the same period, but this is simply seen as UBS money moving across the road, again not a big foreign in flow!

Another point to bear in mind is that as a result of having to settle a big tax fraud case with the IRS, Swiss banks have for the last two years or so changed their business approach - to open an account at a Swiss bank in Switzerland you must have a Swiss residency permit, otherwise you will be referred to the Swiss branch office in your home country. In practice this means that most small customers are gone and the main business within Switzerland results from high net wealth clients, financial institutions and governments, not the odd German depositing 50K!

On top of this, the German tax authorities have been very active in tracking down German tax dodgers, to the point that they have even bought CDs containing client banking details from Swiss bank employees! This data they have happily shared with other EU governments and of course used it to go after German citizens.

The figures for UBS and CS will be out in early Feb., together with the SNB (Swiss National Bank) report and I will give you an update on it then.

Jim (in Switzerland for 20+ years)
 
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