DKB changes the conditions … and what can we do?
First of all, a big thank you for the many received comments and e-mails. We could not publish all of them, because it is not beneficial for our readers to write 8 times on the page that there will be a change of conditions on the 1st of June 2016. OK?
1. The most important details
Nothing will change for 99.99 % of all cash withdrawals!
In the future, the DKB won’t refund the foreign fees of cash withdrawals anymore. Our instructions are therefore void.
What will remain though: no fees for cash withdrawals by the DKB.
This will now also apply to the Giro-card (debit card). The previous minimum fee of Euros 10 is cancelled. But here too: foreign fees won’t be refunded.
1.1 Recommendation for action
Make sure to continue to use the DKB Visa Card for withdrawing cash within Germany and abroad. The DKB will still not charge you for this.
Pay attention that the ATM does not charge any additional fees (direct customer fee). There are some banks that do that! In this case simply use another ATM.
In Thailand and the USA, where a direct customer fee is common, this is more difficult … however, this has inspired me – encouraged by an idea of Johannes S. of our Facebook Mastermind group – to publish an idea that may trigger a small revolution!
Please necessarily watch the second part of the video clip (in German language):
2. May we start this revolution?
Summary of the video: Who pays cashless with the DKB Visa Card in a foreign currency abroad (e.g. USD), is virtually punished with the foreign transaction fee of 1.75 %.
It would be smart to withdraw cash (from the first of June possibly at a “No-Surcharge”-ATM), because there is no such foreign transaction fee for cash withdrawals and then pay with cash instead.
What is the benefit of the DKB? None, but costs!
The DKB pays for the cash withdrawal and it would earn from a card payment abroad also without charging the foreign transaction fee, because the payee pays the fees for the card payment.
Actually, it should be the other way around!
What if the DKB would reward the payments using the Visa Card abroad by abolishing the foreign transaction fee or at least reducing the fee significantly?
Then, most of us would not have to withdraw so much cash and it would not matter us as much that the foreign fees are no longer refunded (apart from the fact that the refunds were an extremely good exceptional condition in recent years!).
Who supports this proposal?
I am asking you to vote through the comments box. 🙂 Further ideas for the optimization of the conditions are also very welcome.
I will forward the results in a summary to the DKB. Let’s see, if we can make a difference!
Frequently read articles about the DKB:
- DKB Visa Card on journeys abroad
- 3 Secrets for new customers of the DKB
- DKB: 10 (partially) unbelievable facts!
I almost forgot – the overview of the bank with the new interest rates for deposits (Visa-Sparen (Visa Savings)):
Hey Gregor,
What I’m really not comfortable is with the “Entgelt des Geldautomatenbetreibers” for withdrawals “Inland”.. in Germany. I couldn’t care less about withdrawing money with the Girokard. Currently I use my VISA to withdraw money from Sparkasse or Volksbank ATMs in my region… What if from 1st June they both start charging this chargers? DKB just turned to a really bad bank choice..
The DKB basically does the same as other great direct banks. We should not forget that the conditions have been changed by Visa. Anyway, the DKB works on some great features for the clients. And of course, there is always the option of changing the bank if one is not content with the DKB as a bank
Hello Susanne,
If the conditions are related to Visa, I assume even Ing-Diba is affected with its Visa Card?
I agree with James partially, because in the past, one would not pay attention to “additional fees” for ATMs in Germany, but now, we have to choose the right ATM to avoid being charged within German :/
Hello Marcus,
changing conditions at Visa do not neccessarily affect all the Visa cards that are issued by different banks in the same way, it really can differ depending on which bank you are with.
ING-DiBa has not had recent changes of their Visa conditions (you can always check there current conditions down below on their website under “Rechtliches”, “Preise und Leistungen” (meaning: Legal, Prices + Services).
The current conditions for their Visa card are:
Payments or ATM cast withdrawals
– in Germany and countries with the EURO currency: free
– in countries with other currencies: 1,75% foreign transaction fee + a potential fee from the company that runs the respective ATM
Hi,
just back from travelling in Northeastern USA.
I have paid no ATM fees when withdrawing cash at TD Bank (Toronto-Dominion Bank based in Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TD_Bank,_N.A.).
Thank you Stefan for this information! I am in Canada for research and make the same experience: ATMS at TD Bank was without surcharge – another banks want 2.50 until 3.00 CAD. Thank you for your support 🙂
Hi Gregor, props to your site, I found it very valuable and found useful advice here on using German VISA cards in the USA, thank you for that!
Cool 🙂 Thank you!
I have just come back from a short trip to Italy and have been charged 10 euros for each cash withdrawal with my DKB Giro-card (debit). I was under the impression that this fee had been outlawed. None of the cash machines charged a fee.
I am very disappointed, especially with the state of DKB’s online portal, which makes it very difficult to decipher what each transaction is for.
I was hoping for a modern, user-friendly joint account that would be clear and transparent. My experience with DKB has been a million miles from this.
It is not a good idea to use the Giro Card for cash withdrawals. These are only free of charge with the DKB Visa Card. Maybe you would like to look around on our web portal to see, how you can use DKB free of charge and in useful ways. In the German language part of this web portal we also have a video course re. that.
are withdrawals in EU countries without the € currency (e.g Sweden, Poland …) also free or will the 1,75% fee apply to those countries as well?
In the price list of DKB it states under points 1.1.3 and 1.1.4, that payments within the area of application of the EU price regulation (i.e. in the whole European Union) are free of charge, if they are made in EUR, SEK or LEU. Other than that a 1.75% foreign transaction fee applies.
In practice this means: In Sweden and Romania payments with the Visa and the Giro Card are free of charge. In Poland, the UK and other EU countries with their own currency the 1.75% apply.
That should be changing soon: After my German post here, I’ve had once more a more intensive discussion with DKB – therefore I am currently in a hopeful mood. 🙂
Hello Gregor, thanks for your reply! I looked up the document that you mentioned and I realised that I mixed up withdrawals conditions with payments conditions.
So to sum it up, and please correct me if I am wrong:
– withdrawals = always free (as long as the foreign bank doesn’t arbitrarily charge you a fee);
– payments = free in EUR/SEK/LEU.
Hello Kenny,
yes, that’s correct. 🙂
Hi Gregor,
firstly, the website you run is just superb and with tons of helpful information! 🙂
Secondly, I was recently in South East Asia and used my DKB Visa Card for ATM withdrawals.
I was charged certain fees for the ATM withdrawals since I could not find banks that did not charge.
I tried to get reimbursement from DKB like they did it in the past, but they confirmed that given the updated terms and conditions from 1 June and 1 December 2016, reimbursement of ATM fee from foreign banks is not possible anymore.
Do you know if this is the case since I have seen in your website some recent articles that most likely DKB decided to keep its ATM fee reimbursement policy (I hope I am not wrong).
Thank you.
Hi John,
Many thanks for this great appreciation of our work 🙂
That reimbursement is not done anymore since June 1, 2016. Background is the EU statute, due to which the banks earn about 80% on the use of credit cards. This also had an effect on all those cashback programs. But all in all, the DKB conditions are excellent, aren’t they?
Thank you for your quick response and clarification, Gregor! Much appreciated.
Indeed, as a DKB account holder , I have been fully satisfied with their services so far ?
Hi,
Recently I keep seeing some new mails and even when I log into my account (the information with the alien characters :)).
I am not very sure what it means as when I use a translator it seems to mention that now I need to keep feeding 700 Euro into my DKB account to keep the privileges of account as now.
My question is do I have to every month deposit 700 Euro or does it mean if I have at least 700 Euro in the account I can keep the advantages as now?
Thanks.
Cheers!
It can also be 2,100 Euro per quarter (3 x 700 Euro calculated for 3 months). Of course, you do not need to keep the money of the account. You can do something else with the money as early as the next day. DKB simply wants to offer a better service to those people who use the account more intensively than to those who simply leave the account empty and unused. As you know, empty and unused accounts cost a bank money – even though DKB does not charge you a fee for the account management – regardless of how you use the account!
Many thanks for the detailed analysis of the DKB Cash and its features.
I think maintaining the status of “Aktiv Kunde” is necessary to enjoy all the benefits of the refund of the 1.75% foreign transaction fee. And also there is a minimum €50 withdrawal amount in case foreign (non Euro ATMs). If the withdrawal amount is lower than €50 then DKB might impose extra charges.
Yes that’s correct.