Free DKB better than fee-based premium accounts?
Many cannot imagine that a free current account can be superior to a fee-based current account.
DKB current account = PremiumKonto (premium account)
(apart from one exception ► see comparison)
 Deutsche Kreditbank |
 Deutsche Bank |
|
| Basic fee per month | free of charge! | Euros 11.90 |
| Application | ► online | ► online |
| Account management and cards | ||
| Transactions (transfers, standing orders, etc.) |
free or included in the basic fee | |
| Girocard (former EC-card) |
free or included in the basic fee | |
| Credit card | yes, Visa Card black | yes, Mastercard gold |
| Overdraft facility / Credit line | ||
| initial credit line (immediately after application) |
often Euros 500 (without proof of salary) |
|
| maximum credit line | 3-times the incoming salary transfer | |
| Can the line be increased by deposits? | yes (millions are possible) |
no |
| Credit card payment | ||
| fee for payments in Euros | free of charge | |
| fee for payments in foreign currencies | free of charge | |
| This is a big difference to almost all other credit cards. Usually, a foreign transaction fee in the amount of 1 -3 per cent applies! | ||
| Cash supply | ||
| Domestic | free of charge, wherever the card is accepted | free of charge at the Cashgroup |
| Abroad | free of charge, wherever the card is accepted | depending on the card 1-2.5 % but at least Euros 5.75 free of charge at partner banks |
| Foreign transaction fee | free of charge | 1.75 % of the amount, at least € 1.50 |
| Daily limit | Euros 1,000 | individually adjustable |
| Monthly limit | Euros 30,000 | |
| Minimum withdrawal amount | Euros 50 | – |
| Service and extras for smart bank customers | ||
| telephone customer service | yes Mon–Sun around the clock |
|
| Emergency card within 48 hours worldwide | yes (free of charge) |
no |
| Emergency cash | yes (3 % counter fee through Western Union) |
yes free of charge when complying with certain conditions |
| Online-vault (for important documents) | yes (free of charge) |
|
| Partner cards | yes (as a joint account or up to 2 authorized persons) |
yes (unlimited number of partner cards possible!) |
| Various insurances | no | yes (note details in the contract!) |
| Card application | ||
| Place of residence | Germany, Austria, Switzerland + German expats | Germany (application at a German bank abroad = other conditions) |
| Apply for the credit card: |  www.dkb.de |
www.deutsche-bank.de |
| Please give me feedback through the comments feature about what current account you decided for, also the reason why. This way, we can even better dive into the smart use (tips and tricks) in future articles. A heartly thanks for choosing DeutschesKonto.ORG for your research! |
||
A matter of course: The Deutsche Bank BestKonto is a very good current account!
The statement of this article is that you can get almost all top services at a lean direct bank too – but free of charge!
Personal experience of the author
Some of my acquaintances have a “premium current account”. They are even very proud of it. Their card is called “Gold” or the like. For this, they want to pay considerably higher account management fees than the average.
They have the feeling of getting better conditions and a better service.
Are you attracted by such a premium account?
https://www.deutsche-bank.de/pk/konto-und-karte/konten-im-ueberblick/bestkonto.html
Is this impartial?
No!
This is clearly shown by the comparison with the premium current account of Germany’s best bank. The best and most expensive current account of the Deutsche Bank is on a par in many points with the free DKB, only in a few points better, but also in some crucial points worse!
Do you have subjectively a better service or better conditions?
Maybe.
This always depends on what experiences you have already made with other banks.
I was a customer of the Deutsche Bank twice in my life for about 1.5 to 2 years and I can assure you from experiences during this time as well as through the contact for preparing this article:
The fee-based Deutsche Bank is not better than the free DKB in the overall view.
Premium-services have to generally fulfill two important things:
- a “rich” customer should feel more comfortable, because he/she can distance himself/herself from other customers by being able to “afford” a (higher) fee,
- grant the bank more earnings.
In order to give customers that feeling, one invests a lot in marketing (more than into the actual services). Above all, the customer buys a feeling.
Compared to other own products, he/she also receives better conditions. However, in the comparison to other providers, this is hardly an added value.
Do you want to pay permanently more for a short-time feeling?
No, will be the rational answer of the mayority of readers. This is meaninful!
But I must admit, I have decided differently in my life too. Marketing is the strength of all premium products and therefore, I became a customers of American Express for a duration of about 1.5 years with a platinum package some years ago.
That was horrible!
My time at the Deutsche Bank wasn’t crowned by a lot of fun either.
One of the few advantages of the Deutsche Bank: When you withdraw money at the Bank of America (cooperating partner), you save the customer fee in the amount of USD 5, which is otherwise usual in the USA. In exchange, you pay double the fee at other US-banks (direct customer fee + fees of the Deutsche Bank) when withdrawing cash.
This is the reason for my conclusion:
Premium accounts are for people with too much money and too little time for its use!
Moreover, you get a free account with premium conditions at the DKB!
The bank is average only at the customer service. You currently cannot expect much since the big rush that started in the year 2016.
The telephone customer service is congested at many times, so it is meaningful to ask by e-mail for a callback. But I have also held the line for about a quarter of an hour at the Deutsche Bank when doing my research for this article and the quality of the information was poor and not correct in every point.
It is meaningful to take a detailled look at the price and service listings before the account opening. It is a little more difficult at the Deutsche Bank, because it is longer and less comprehensive due to the high number of account models.
Are you willing to pay fees for a current account?
Currently, I am not willing to pay a monthly fee for a current account.
This is not because I am generally not willing to pay an according price for a good service. I do that in other areas.
But currently – and this already since the year 2004 (since I am a customer at the DKB) – you get the equivalent or even better conditions free of charge.
Are you thinking about opening a new current account?
If yes, then my advice for you is: Open the free DKB-account with free Visa Card and the many other great and free possibilities and test it in contrast to your current bank.
I would be glad to read your feedback, especially about what you particularly like about the DKB, through the comments feature at the end of this page.
The fee-notes are especially directed to the Sparkasse-customers, so that they “stick to it”. I have never paid a fee for withdrawing since 2004; the DKB has assumed all the costs in a completely automized procedure.
These are my 5 favourite points:
- you can withdraw cash free of charge at every ATM without having to think about which group it belongs to in order to avoid fees
- no foreign transaction fee (which is otherwise very common)
- being able to use the safety and the service of the emergency card and emergency cash free of charge
- no monthly account management fees on your bank statement 🙂
- easy online account opening
Once I lost my card abroad. The DKB helped me marvelously with the emergency service.
Ideas and instructions for the DKB:
- DKB: Variants of the legitimating
- DKB Loan: How to apply successfully
- Loans for self-employed persons and freelancers in Germany
Subsequent video to the article:
• https://www.dkb.de/privatkunden/dkb_cash/index.html
• https://www.deutsche-bank.de/pk/konto-und-karte/konten-im-ueberblick/aktivkonto.html
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