How to Open a Business Bank Account in Germany in 2026

For a business bank account, Germany gives your company a euro IBAN, SEPA payments across Europe and deposits protected up to €100,000 per bank. A GmbH needs one before it is even registered, because its founders pay in at least €12,500 of share capital first. Clients, suppliers and the tax office pay into it.

Getting one is the hard part for foreign owners. German banks must identify every managing director and beneficial owner under the Money Laundering Act, by video or in a branch. Savings banks only serve their own region, some banks want a German seat, and a file with foreign owners often waits weeks for an answer.

This is where we come in. We work with regulated partners who open euro and multi-currency accounts for German and foreign companies in days to about a week, remotely, with no minimum balance. We handle the file: the register extract, the Transparenzregister entry, your KYC pack and the source of funds. You send us your details, and we get it done.

Our top-rated, licensed banking providers open euro and multi-currency accounts for German GmbHs, UGs and foreign companies in days to about a week, with no branch visit.

Germany Business Account for Non-Residents

A Germany business account for non-residents is possible, but German banks make it slow. They must identify every managing director and beneficial owner, many run their process in German, and regional banks only serve local companies. A foreign owner with a complete file usually gets an account. A foreign owner with gaps gets weeks of questions.

German Banks Want a Local Link

Most German banks build their business accounts around companies that sit and trade near them. The 337 Sparkassen follow the regional principle: the savings banks association DSGV says each one's business area generally matches the area of the town or district that owns it. Berliner Volksbank asks for proof of a company seat in Germany before it opens a business account. Deutsche Bank lets you apply online, but its application and the related documents are currently offered only in German. That local focus is the first filter a foreign owner meets.

Managing Directors Must Be Identified

The Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz, GwG) makes the bank identify the company, every person who acts for it and every beneficial owner before the account opens. Section 12 GwG says a person's identity is checked against a valid official photo ID, such as a passport or national identity card. In practice, every managing director of a GmbH must show the bank their passport or ID card, either in a branch or by video. Deutsche Bank runs this through a VideoIdent provider and accepts only a passport or national ID card, nothing else.

Corporate Bank Account in Germany for Foreigners

A corporate bank account in Germany for foreigners raises a practical problem first: the video check itself. BaFin's Circular 3/2017 on video identification allows only ID documents with security features that can be checked on camera and a machine-readable zone. Some foreign passports and older documents fail that test, and the director then has to visit a branch in Germany. Deutsche Bank's video link also expires after 14 days, so a director who travels or waits too long starts again.

Strict Checks on Owners and Money

German banks look closely at who owns the company and where the money came from. Section 20 GwG requires every GmbH and UG to report its beneficial owners to the Transparenzregister, and Section 12 GwG makes the bank obtain proof of that registration or an extract when it opens the account. A holding company above the GmbH means every layer needs documents. Money from abroad needs a written source of funds with evidence.

High Risk Sectors Get Extra Scrutiny

Businesses that handle crypto, gaming, payments, cash or trade with high risk countries get enhanced checks at every German bank, because the GwG requires stronger due diligence where risk is higher. Many such files are refused without a detailed reason. One of our partners accepts gambling, betting, casino and crypto businesses, so these sectors still have a route. German law gives no help here: the Basiskonto right to a basic account under Section 31 of the Payment Accounts Act (ZKG) applies only to consumers, not to companies. A business has no legal claim to an account at any German bank.

A Refusal Follows You

A refusal costs more than time. Each new application asks whether another bank has turned you down, and an honest yes leads to more questions. Banks can also close business accounts later when a review finds gaps. The fix is to apply once, with a complete file, to a provider that takes your type of company.

What to Do After a Refusal

Do not send the same file to the next bank. Find out which part failed, such as identification, ownership, source of funds or sector, and fix it with documents. Then apply to a provider whose rules fit your company. We review refused files, close the gaps and place them with our partners, who open accounts for foreign-owned German companies in days.

Read more: Business bank account for non-residents and why banks reject business account applications.

Best Business Account in Germany at Local Banks

The best business account in Germany at a local bank depends on where you live and how much you pay out. Monthly fees at the big banks run from about €13 to €55, and every payment adds a charge. German residents with a simple GmbH do well here. Foreign owners meet language, regional and seat rules first.

The headline prices are low, and for a German-resident founder the cheapest choice may well be a local one. For a foreign owner, the real price is the language, the seat and regional rules, and the time spent in review. Each Sparkasse and Volksbank sets its own prices, so the Berlin figures are examples, not national rates.

A Charge on Every Payment

German business accounts charge per booking on top of the monthly fee. Deutsche Bank charges €0.10 to €0.30 for each electronic SEPA booking in 2026, in and out, and €0.12 to €0.39 from 2027. Berliner Sparkasse charges €0.30 to €0.50, and Postbank €0.12 to €0.28. Paper transfers cost €1.50 to €4.00 each. A company with 300 bookings a month on Deutsche Bank's Basic account pays €90 in booking fees on top of its €14.90 fee.

International Payments Cost Extra

Payments outside SEPA, or in other currencies, carry their own fees on every transfer. Postbank's Geschäfts-Girokonto charges 0.08% of each outgoing foreign payment, at least €6 and at most €40, plus a flat €25 when you pay all the charges. Incoming foreign payments cost 0.05%, at least €5 and at most €30, and a currency conversion fee comes on top. HypoVereinsbank adds a foreign trade fee to every non-SEPA payment and converts at its own daily rates.

Foreign Currency Accounts Are Separate Products

A German business account is a euro account. Deutsche Bank sells a currency account at €14.90 a month for each currency, and Commerzbank charges €9.90 a month for a foreign currency account on its smaller plans. A multi-currency business account holds them all in one place.

Is There a Free Business Bank Account in Germany

A free business bank account in Germany exists only for a limited time. Postbank charges no monthly fee until 30 June 2027, and Commerzbank refunds 12 months of its €15.90 Klassik fee when you open online. After that, the normal price applies, and per-payment fees apply from the first day. Deutsche Bank's €100 welcome bonus needs €10,000 on the account by the end of the following month.

Read more: Best countries for business banking and free business bank accounts.

A Faster and Cheaper Way to Open a Germany Business Account

The faster way to open a Germany business account is through our regulated partners. They are two electronic money institutions licensed in the EU, one authorised by the Central Bank of Cyprus and one licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority. They open accounts in 2 to 3 business days at one partner and about a week at the other, remotely, with no minimum balance and owners abroad accepted.

We prepare the file before the partner sees it: the Handelsregister extract, the articles, the shareholder list, the Transparenzregister entry, the directors' passports, a plain description of the business and a written source of funds. Both partners must safeguard client money by law, and one holds it in segregated accounts at European banks. They are not banks, so there is no deposit guarantee, and they offer no loans, overdrafts, interest or cash handling.

Under Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, a payer or payee may not require your euro account to be in a particular EU member state. One partner issues a dedicated IBAN in the company's own name with SEPA, SEPA Instant and SWIFT. An EU IBAN works for German clients, suppliers and the tax office, and since 9 October 2025 every euro area payment provider checks the payee name before a transfer.

Our partners are faster, accept owners abroad and harder sectors, and are cheaper where German banks charge per currency. One account holds several currencies instead of €9.90 to €14.90 a month for each currency account, and one partner converts at 0.8% to 1% over the interbank rate.

A German bank is cheaper to open, because our partners charge a one-off onboarding fee from €500. It is often cheaper for euro payments and small transfers too: a €10,000 foreign payment costs €8 at Postbank and €35 to €40 at one partner. If you send many small SWIFT payments, ask us for a custom quote. A company that needs a loan or a cash desk keeps a German bank as well.

Germany Business Bank Account for Foreign Companies

Foreign companies gain the most from our partners. A UK or EU company that sells into Germany, or opens a German branch rather than a subsidiary, does not need a German bank to receive euros from German clients. The same applies to online businesses that sell to German customers. Our partners open the account in the parent company's name, one with a dedicated IBAN in that name, and the branch uses it from day one.

How to Open a Business Bank Account in Germany With Us

With us, it takes three steps. You send us your company details in the form. We build the file and submit it. Each director verifies their identity remotely, with no branch visit. We answer the partner's questions and tell you when the account is live.

Documents to Open a Business Bank Account in Germany

The documents to open a business bank account in Germany are set by the GwG. The bank must verify the company from a register extract or founding documents, and every person from an official photo ID. Commerzbank's own list for a GmbH is short: directors' IDs, the register extract, the articles, the shareholder list and the tax number.

Company Documents

For a GmbH or UG, the bank wants a current Handelsregister extract, the articles of association (Gesellschaftsvertrag) and the shareholder list (Gesellschafterliste). It will also ask for proof of your Transparenzregister entry. A foreign company adds its home register extract, its articles and, for a branch, the German branch registration. Foreign documents may need an apostille and a certified translation, so ask early.

Managing Directors and Owners

Every managing director and every beneficial owner holding more than 25% provides a valid passport or national ID card and proof of address. Check that the passport has a machine-readable zone, because video identification needs one. A UBO and ownership chart showing each layer, with percentages, saves a round of questions.

Tax Numbers and the Business Plan

The tax office issues the Steuernummer after you register the company for tax. The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) issues the VAT ID, the USt-IdNr, as a separate number. Banks also want to know what the company does, who its customers and suppliers are, where payments come from and go to, and the monthly volumes you expect.

This is the checklist we work from:

• Handelsregister extract: current, showing the managing directors.
• Articles and shareholder list: as filed with the register.
• Transparenzregister proof: the entry or an extract for each beneficial owner.
• Director and UBO IDs: passport or ID card with a machine-readable zone, plus proof of address.
• Tax numbers: Steuernummer and USt-IdNr, once issued.
• Source of funds: a written note with bank statements, contracts or a sale agreement.
• Business description: activity, customers, countries and expected monthly volumes.

Read more: Documents needed to open a business bank account and how to set up a company as a non-resident.

Business Bank Account in Germany Costs

A business bank account in Germany costs €12.95 to €54.90 a month at the big local banks, plus €0.10 to €0.50 per booking and separate fees for currencies and foreign payments. Our partners charge a one-off onboarding fee from €500 and about €30 to €50 a month on published plans, with several currencies in one account. The table sets the two side by side.

The markup sits in the fees around the account, not in the monthly price. Deutsche Bank's Basic account costs €14.90, but 300 SEPA bookings add €90, so the real bill is €104.90 a month. From 1 January 2027 the same use costs €16.90 plus €117. Holding US dollars and pounds at Deutsche Bank adds two currency accounts at €14.90 each, or €357.60 a year. At one of our partners, the same currencies sit in one account, and converting €500,000 a year at 0.8% to 1% over the interbank rate costs €4,000 to €5,000. German banks convert at their own daily rates plus a fee, so ask for the margin before you compare.

For a German-resident founder with a small GmbH that pays only in euros, a local bank is cheaper: opening is free against our partners' onboarding fee from €500, and Postbank's free period until mid-2027 is hard to beat. Small SWIFT payments are also cheaper at a bank, at €8 on €10,000 at Postbank against €35 to €40 at one partner, so ask us for a custom quote if you send many. For a foreign-owned company that holds and converts several currencies, our partners usually cost less. All figures are planning ranges from the banks' own published prices, and we confirm your price in writing before you apply.

Read more: International business bank account and business bank account vs EMI account.

How Long Opening a Business Account in Germany Takes

Opening a business account in Germany takes a few days at a local bank when the company is German, the directors live nearby and the file is complete. With foreign owners, it often takes weeks. With our partners, the account opens in 2 to 3 business days at one partner and about a week at the other once the documents are ready, wherever the owners live.

The stages before the account are the same on both routes. The difference is the review: a German bank works through a foreign file slowly and in German, while our partners review a file we built for them.

What Slows It Down

The usual delays are a passport that fails the video check, beneficial owners missing from the Transparenzregister, a foreign holding company with no documents, documents without an apostille or translation, and a source of funds with no evidence. Deutsche Bank says plainly that missing information delays the opening.

How to Speed It Up

File the Transparenzregister entry as soon as the company is registered. Collect every document in one round, apply online once, and answer the provider's questions the same day. Apply to one provider that takes your owners' countries, rather than three banks at once.

Read more: Easiest country to open a business bank account and a business bank account for a newly formed company.

What Happens After the Account Is Open

After the account opens, fund it, add your users and share the IBAN with clients, suppliers and the tax office. Then keep the company in good order, because banks and partners review every client again over time. The first months set the pattern the provider checks your later payments against. One partner charges a dormancy fee of €99 plus 0.5% of the balance after six months without activity, so keep the account in use.

German companies pay corporate income tax of 15% plus a 5.5% solidarity surcharge on that tax, and trade tax set by each town. Section 23 of the Corporate Income Tax Act cuts the rate by one point a year from 2028, to 14% in 2028 and 10% from 2032. File the tax returns on time and charge VAT where it applies.

Update the Transparenzregister when owners change, and tell your provider about new owners, directors or activities before the payments change. Unannounced changes in volumes, countries or sector trigger reviews. If you later need a second account in another country, the same clean file makes it quick.

Read more: Netherlands business bank account and Spain business bank account.

Why the Company Comes Before the Account

A bank cannot open an operating account for a company that does not exist yet. A GmbH is formed by a notarial deed, which the GmbH Act now also allows by video with a German notary. The founders then pay in the share capital: at least €12,500 of the €25,000 minimum for a GmbH, or the full amount for a UG, which can start from €1. Only then does the notary file the registration. Plan the order with us: deed, capital, register entry, Transparenzregister, then the account with our partners. Comparing a German GmbH with a Cyprus company is worth doing first if you have not chosen yet.

Common Germany Business Bank Account Mistakes

Most problems with a Germany business bank account come from applying to the wrong bank with an incomplete file. These are the mistakes we see most often, with what they cost. Each one is easy to avoid when you check the bank's rules and your documents before the first application.

Applying to a Bank Outside Your Region

Founders often pick a Sparkasse or Volksbank by name or by price, without checking where it works. Sparkassen serve their own business area, and Berliner Volksbank asks for a company seat in Germany. A company registered in Munich that applies to a savings bank in Berlin is turned away by the rules, not by its file, and loses one to two weeks. The identification, the forms and the waiting time are lost, and the capital deposit and register filing can wait with them. Check the bank's area and seat rules first, or apply to a provider with no regional limit.

Reading Only the Monthly Fee

A €14.90 account looks cheap until the payments start. At €0.30 per booking, 300 bookings a month add €90, and Deutsche Bank's 2027 prices take the same use to €133.90 a month. Commerzbank's €15.90 Klassik plan includes only 10 free bookings a month and charges €0.20 for each one after that, so 300 bookings add €58. Add two €14.90 currency accounts at Deutsche Bank, for US dollars and pounds, and the 2026 bill comes to €134.70 a month. Before you choose, count your monthly bookings and foreign payments and price the whole year, not the headline fee.

Paying Foreign Suppliers From a Euro Account

A trading company that pays suppliers in Asia or the US from a German euro account converts every invoice and pays a transfer fee each time. At Postbank, 20 foreign payments a month cost at least €120 in transfer fees, or €620 when the company pays all charges at €25 extra each, and the conversion fee comes on top. A trading company should plan its currencies before it opens the account. Holding US dollars at Deutsche Bank costs €14.90 a month per currency, while one of our partners holds EUR, GBP and USD in one account and converts at 0.8% to 1% over the interbank rate. Transfer fees apply on both routes, so a company that sends many small payments should ask us for a custom quote.

Missing the Transparenzregister Entry

Some founders think the Handelsregister entry is enough. It is not. Section 12 GwG makes the bank obtain proof of the Transparenzregister entry, so a missing or wrong entry stops the review on day one. Fixing it adds days, and a mismatch between the register and your ownership chart triggers more questions. Section 20 GwG puts this duty on the company itself, and its shareholders must give it the information it needs. For a group with a foreign holding company, collect the details for every layer before you file. File it straight after registration and check that the names match your shareholder list.

Using a Passport the Video Check Cannot Read

A director starts the video check with a passport that has no machine-readable zone, or with a driving licence instead of a passport. Deutsche Bank states that it accepts only a valid national ID card or passport, and not a registration certificate, driving licence or company ID. The check fails, and the director must book a branch visit in Germany, which can mean a flight and a week's delay. Check every director's document against the bank's rules before you apply, or use a provider that verifies directors online from any country.

Bottom Line

A business bank account in Germany is easy for a German-resident founder with a simple GmbH, and slow for almost everyone else. German banks must identify every director and owner under the GwG, often in German, regional banks serve only their own area, and every payment and currency adds a fee. Monthly prices of €12.95 to €54.90 are only the start.

For a foreign-owned GmbH, a UG or a foreign company selling into Germany, the faster route is a regulated partner with an EU IBAN that works across SEPA. With a complete file, you can open a Germany business account in days to about a week, without a branch visit, and keep a German bank only if you need its loans or cash services.

Sources

• Deutsche Bank, business accounts and online opening (Geschäftskonten)
• Deutsche Bank, Ihre Kontomodelle im Überblick, price overview 09/26
• Commerzbank, Geschäftskonten for business owners
• Commerzbank, Geschäftskonto für GmbH und UG
• Postbank, Business Girokonten for business customers
• Postbank, Geschäfts-Girokonto Konditionen, April 2026
• HypoVereinsbank, HVB BusinessKonto 4You product profile, September 2026
• Berliner Sparkasse, FirmenKonto prices
• Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV), Sparkassen and the regional principle
• Berliner Volksbank, Geschäftskonto
• GmbH Act (GmbHG), Section 7, registration and capital paid in
• Money Laundering Act (GwG), Section 12, verifying identity
• BaFin, Circular 3/2017 (GW) on video identification
• Corporate Income Tax Act (KStG), Section 23, tax rate
• Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 (SEPA Regulation), EUR-Lex