4 ms·

Here in Germany bank accounts are pretty expensive. In the UK you are legally only allowed 1 current account afaik

cm2187 4y ago
For the UK it is the first time I hear that. I am pretty sure it's not the case.
alibarber 4y ago
In the UK - that's simply untrue. Many accounts will stipulate in the T&Cs that you use the account to deposit your salary and 1 or 2 utility payments from, or they might levy a charge or remove benefits (free overdraft, fee free card usage abroad etc) - this is pretty easy to game though. It is fairly common for people to have more than one current account.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  That's just what Nationwide told me when I was in the UK. I guess it is a common myth. If I google it, it sounds like it is
  - alibarber 4y ago
    It does sound like you were mis-informed, and sadly that seems to be common with banks all over. The only account that is legally restricted that I can think of is the ISA which offers good tax incentives for saving but with a limit to how much can be contributed in a year, and I think you can only open with one provider in a given tax year.
NoboruWataya 4y ago
What about N26? The UK also has a couple of options like Starling and Monzo. I know some of these "challenger" banks have their own issues but as secondary/ backup accounts they work well. They are cheap and easy to set up.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  N26 is free, I think DKB might also still be (though they arbitrarily with a minor update decided to block every rooted android user, so I wouldn’t trust them). Most others require a certain influx of money every month to be free IIRC.
gwd 4y ago
> In the UK you are legally only allowed 1 current account afaik If that's anything like the truth, absolutely nobody here knows about it. In an effort to get customers, banks will often give you "introductory" rates which are better than the market, but only for a fixed amount of time (6 months or a year). I know people who have accounts at basically every major bank.
dean177 4y ago
I don’t know where you got that from but in the UK you can have as many current (or savings or whatever) accounts a you like
- Symbiote 4y ago
  Some banks try and entice people with nice offers (£100 cash, free overdraft for months etc). To get the offer, you need to start paying your salary into the account and use it for bill payments. Without the deal, there's no restrictions.
kahnclusions 4y ago
I live in the UK and have multiple current accounts.
cyxxon 4y ago
I am in Germany, and I have several free bank accounts (I have DKB, ING, and Revolut, but I could easily also get e.g. N26 or comdirect). A quick Google search for "freies girokonto" results in a comparison between the 31 best offers here: https://www.biallo.de/girokonto/ratgeber/kostenloses-girokonto/ https://www.biallo.de/girokonto/ratgeber/kostenloses-girokon... (no affiliation), so I have no idea what you mean by that.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  The online banks are very risky though, but that is true they are often free. The physical banks are almost always not, unless you want the extremely basic account for people with no address registration
  - xioxox 4y ago
    What do you mean by risky here? DKB is owned by the Bayerische Landesbank (mostly owned by the state of Bavaria). Their online security measures seem at least as good as my Sparkasse account, too. I use a physical TAN machine to authenticate transactions for both.
    - bowsamic 4y ago
      There is basically no customer support if anything goes wrong

For the UK it is the first time I hear that. I am pretty sure it's not the case.

In the UK - that's simply untrue. Many accounts will stipulate in the T&Cs that you use the account to deposit your salary and 1 or 2 utility payments from, or they might levy a charge or remove benefits (free overdraft, fee free card usage abroad etc) - this is pretty easy to game though. It is fairly common for people to have more than one current account.

bowsamic 4y ago
That's just what Nationwide told me when I was in the UK. I guess it is a common myth. If I google it, it sounds like it is
- alibarber 4y ago
  It does sound like you were mis-informed, and sadly that seems to be common with banks all over. The only account that is legally restricted that I can think of is the ISA which offers good tax incentives for saving but with a limit to how much can be contributed in a year, and I think you can only open with one provider in a given tax year.

NoboruWataya 4y ago

What about N26? The UK also has a couple of options like Starling and Monzo. I know some of these "challenger" banks have their own issues but as secondary/ backup accounts they work well. They are cheap and easy to set up.

Semaphor 4y ago
N26 is free, I think DKB might also still be (though they arbitrarily with a minor update decided to block every rooted android user, so I wouldn’t trust them). Most others require a certain influx of money every month to be free IIRC.

gwd 4y ago

> In the UK you are legally only allowed 1 current account afaik If that's anything like the truth, absolutely nobody here knows about it. In an effort to get customers, banks will often give you "introductory" rates which are better than the market, but only for a fixed amount of time (6 months or a year). I know people who have accounts at basically every major bank.

dean177 4y ago

I don’t know where you got that from but in the UK you can have as many current (or savings or whatever) accounts a you like

Symbiote 4y ago
Some banks try and entice people with nice offers (£100 cash, free overdraft for months etc). To get the offer, you need to start paying your salary into the account and use it for bill payments. Without the deal, there's no restrictions.

kahnclusions 4y ago

I live in the UK and have multiple current accounts.

cyxxon 4y ago

I am in Germany, and I have several free bank accounts (I have DKB, ING, and Revolut, but I could easily also get e.g. N26 or comdirect). A quick Google search for "freies girokonto" results in a comparison between the 31 best offers here: https://www.biallo.de/girokonto/ratgeber/kostenloses-girokonto/ https://www.biallo.de/girokonto/ratgeber/kostenloses-girokon... (no affiliation), so I have no idea what you mean by that.

bowsamic 4y ago
The online banks are very risky though, but that is true they are often free. The physical banks are almost always not, unless you want the extremely basic account for people with no address registration
- xioxox 4y ago
  What do you mean by risky here? DKB is owned by the Bayerische Landesbank (mostly owned by the state of Bavaria). Their online security measures seem at least as good as my Sparkasse account, too. I use a physical TAN machine to authenticate transactions for both.
  - bowsamic 4y ago
    There is basically no customer support if anything goes wrong