Open secondary account abroad
Customer since 2013 – 2017 research on site in the UK – 2020 top recommendation as account abroad (secondary account)
The primary motivation of this article is not getting money abroad in order to remain able to act in the case of an account blocking – for whatever reason –but to build a second line in order to be able to act at technical defects.
The technical failures have become more frequent lately. Sometimes, only some features were affected, sometimes, the website of the bank and/or the app were completely down. Just like recently at our favourite DKB:
Not available at noon on the 6th of May. Not the first time. Is this occasion enough reason to open a secondary account?
Complete failures are especially annoying, if you have or want to act fast.
This is why we recommend the following since the beginnings of our special portal:
Maintain at least one additional account!
Due to the fact that a national failure cannot be excluded, one has to think about a secondary account abroad.
Particularly appropriate: TransferWise current account
As most of our readers have their center of life in Germany or are interested in payment transactions here, my recommendation for a secondary account is the Borderless-account from the specialist for cheap and fast international transfers TransferWise.
At the end of this article, you get two links to the use of TransferWise as a current account in Germany and the comparison to the DKB. We have summarized the most important features of the TransferWise-Borderless account for our new readers:
- free Euro-account
- free credit notes for incoming payments
- low fees for outgoing payments (63 cents for immediate transfers)
- one-time payment of Euros 6 for the Mastercard
- worldwide free cash withdrawals up to Euros 220 per month, beyond subject to a charge
- free online banking and app in German language
- customer service through e-mail or phone in German language
- easy online account opening
The account opening is easy and fast
The whole procedure of account opening is ► illustrated for you here ✅
Questions on the account opening and use are welcome through the comments feature
Tips on the use
The app is easy to operate.
Use as a current account alternative
Of course, you cannot use a foreign account to 100 % as you are used to it from a domestic current account.
However, TransferWise has made an increasing effort year by year in order to become more attractive and comprehensive for German customers, and has included features that are especially desired by Germans.
For example, the possibility of direct debiting. They are still working on standing orders.
Deposits to the account are always free of charge. Transfers are subject to charges. However, there is no monthly charge for the provision of the account. Billing according to use. 🙂
Card to the account
You can get a green Mastercard to the account (since the 6th of May, there is a one-time issuing fee of Euros 6).
I have paid with this card quite often already within Germany and abroad. It also has a contactless feature. I have only withdrawn cash as a test, however, this would be free of charge up to about Euros 220 per month.
Cash: Up to € 220 per month are free of charge!
Wonderful settings possibilities
App and online banking
The Transferwise account and of course, also the card, can be managed online in an outstanding manner and in detail through the app and online banking.
There are providers, where only one or the other option is meaningfully useful.
Other currencies
In the past weeks, the possibility of exchanging money in a matter of seconds and quite favourably into another currencies and exchanging back again became increasingly more interesting for our people.
For example, some of our readers have splitted their money through TransferWise into EUR, CHF, USD, SGD, CAD. According to their personal preferences.
You could even exchange all your Euros into other currencies and then keep paying with the card.
If there is not enough money left in the according currency, then it is automatically exchanged. Therefore, you do not have payment difficulties in the store, just because the balance is held in a different currrency.
German-speaking customer service
I want to particularly emphasize this point, because it is not standard for foreign providers to offer a German-speaking phone customer service. The customer service is a cost factor – however, it created trust and helps to solve problems faster.
Throughout the many years I have had repeatedly contact with the customer service and I would put it this way: Overall, the people fit very well in our community!
A small tour through the app
A bit chaotic, but there are people, who like my kind of videos:
Experiences from our community?
We at DeutschesKonto.ORG accompany TransferWise already since many years and were able to learn a lot from you – our committed people from the community – through the comments feature. Many thanks!
New insights?
Please go ahead and share them with us and others using the comments feature. You already know about the additional advantage we mentioned in our Sunday mail.
A hearty thanks 😀🙏
As mentioned in the first part of this article, here are the related links to the TransferWise usage:
- TransferWise as an alternative current account
- Test: TransferWise transfer in real-time
- Why TransferWise for international transfers?
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