> You can collect Arbeitslosengeld II ("Hartz IV") in cash at the local job center, no bank account required. First off, that's not the default. So statistical

> You can collect Arbeitslosengeld II ("Hartz IV") in cash at the local job center, no bank account required. First off, that's not the default. So statistically this isn't true. Second: The Finanzamt and the GwG would have a different opinion about that, see [1] and [2] (pp. 10 and pp. 11) regarding that. I personally know somebody who did collect it in cash in the past, got sued by the Finanzamt, and lost in front of the court (ironically with a Bargeldstrafe). Also note that even the SGB 2 and 3 make this very clear, without room for interpretation, that you need a bank account [3] (pp. 43). The only theoretical exception would be if the costs for a bank account would require more than 100 bucks that you are legible to get in advance per month [4] (pp. 43a) but that's pretty much impossible to prove without having a bank account in the first place. [1] https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gwg_2017/__10.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gwg_2017/__10.html [2] https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gwg_2017/__11.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gwg_2017/__11.html [3] https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_2/__42.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_2/__42.html [4] https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_2/__43a.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_2/__43a.html