Comment by AdamN
2 years ago
I loved Wise when I first moved to Berlin from Seattle. After a few months though I just got used to Deutsche Bank and although their site is about a decade (or more!) behind Chase, I've discovered that being with a real bank is better in most ways. I just wish there was a modern, full service bank in Berlin - I would switch to that if it existed.
DKB is pretty decent, and you can withdraw money without fees on all ATMs as long as you withdraw >= 100€ in one go. Berlin is absolutely ridiculous with ATM fees.
Finanztip.de should be your go-to resource in Germany for questions like that. It's a non-profit, funded by a Fintech guy who decided to start it after his large exit. All articles are written by journalists. It's a real gem.
Not sure about the whole world, but in Germany and the EU, the limit is 50EUR for withdrawing money from DKB.
There are, of course, also disadvantages, like the fact that the new online banking apps are utter shit and offer maybe half of the functionality the old apps offered, but still they sunsetted them.
Advantages are that the have a really good exchange rate when paying with the card in foreign currency. Like really good and they don't charge the 2% tax per transaction that other banks charge.
DeutscheBank has free ATM withdrawals as long as it's from Cash Group (Commerzbank, etc...) which are pretty much everywhere.
> I've discovered that being with a real bank is better in most ways
Same in India. I tried using a neobank but quickly closed the account. They don't have the services traditional banks do and everything was slower than it is in my current bank. My current bank will pick up any paper and signature they need from home or deliver any documents to home the same day.
I get better Forex rate than wise or any startup. The target audience for these neobank are college students or new working people.
For reference, I use ICICI which is the third largest bank in India.
Commerzbank is suprisingly good. Modern app, English app, responsive phone support. Big balance sheet.
Also, no monthly fees if you get credit of >700€ per month
Berliner Sparkasse?