Open the business account of the Postbank?

In the past 2 years, a hand full of start-ups, which offer a Smartphone-based (partially free) business account with Mastercard, arrived at the market. We took a look at all of them!

Moreover, we also peeked into the business account of the Sparkasse and Volksbank, as well as of the Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. Finally, we decided to open a business account at the Postbank.

After a comprehensive research and test, we have decided for the business account of the ► Postbank.

Why?

Because we are fans of the Postbank? No. Up to the present day, we are not. However, the Postbank offers a lot more, than the (current) start-ups and is pricely a lot cheaper than the established competition banks.

Moreover, there is a central Unternehmerservice (entrepreneur service) with people, who really know about businesses and legal forms. This was one of the biggest shortfalls of the other banks.

What we particularly value at the Postbank:

• Comparably a simple account opening
  also for legal forms, such as GmbH or UG
• Cards for employees
  we have only applied for Girocards
• Access to the online-banking for employees
  interesting for entrepreneurs, who work with instead of in the company!
• 5 × per month fee-free cash deposits
  at thousands of Post office counters
• Postage free envelopes for orders to the bank, transaction forms etc.
• Business account hotline
  available Monday to Friday from 8 am to 9 pm
• Very good Smartphone-banking
• If desired, card payment terminals

Are you a lonely rider?

If you are a one-man or one-woman show and want to remain as such or if you operate a sideline business alone, then you probably do not need the whole scope of business customer services as offered by the Postbank. Then you can also use a Smartphone business account, as offered by ► Penta. We will soon report about Penta in a separate article.

Exception: cash deposits. If you have a business with cash transactions, it is really of advantage to be able to deposit close to your business site. This is not offered by Smartphone business accounts.

Our own business account at the Postbank

Being a frequent reader, you know that it is our way to present banks, account and cards that we successfully use ourselves. The business account of the Postbank is no exception to this rule. In March, we have opened the account for ourselves for our Achiever-Business #1 and were able to gather good experiences in the past months.

The account opening was made with a legal entity, a GmbH.

The authorized person for the account is the managing director of the company and me, as the business-angel, although I do not have any other official function in the business. We both have one Girocard each. Further authorizations and Girocards can be set up for more employees at any time.

Useful: There are gradations for employees. For example, one can arrange to issue only deposit cards for employees. So employees can take the daily revenues to the next Post office counter without having more access to the business account.

Choosing possibility at standing orders

Transfers and standing orders to employees can be coded by oneself as a salary payment within the online banking (so that the employee automatically gets a good overdraft facility at his/her bank).

This supposed matter of course was completely new to my experiences business customer counselor at the Volksbank and I had to set it up manually through a technician of the Volksbank with a little persuasiveness each time anew.

When you deal with the business customer hotline of the Postbank, you have the feeling that you are immediately understood as an entrepreneur. The staff is especially trained in business. They’ve got a knack and one saves a lot of time and nerves compared to other banks, where you get upset. I have a right to write that, because I have business account experiences with my companies at many different banks since more than 11 years!

We hardly use everything that the Postbank offers as a service support for companies. Our Achiever-Business is still small and the transactions comprehensible. However, we have already set up the correct structure for supplements with the Postbank business account.

Currently, we use in particular:

• the business account as a business current account
• the Post office counters – in the supermarket close to our home – for a fee-free deposit of cash from time to time
• the Girocard for business purchases
• the online banking in order to check, whether payments have arrived, and to print the bank statements for our tax accounting
• initially, the hotline for questions about the account opening and setup.

Moreover, the Postbank has a pretty good banking-app … however, I personally use the banking-apps rather seldomly. Why should I, when I am using the PC so often?

To whom can the Postbank business account be recommended?

• Entrepreneurs, who work with legal entities (UG, GmbH)

  In general, many other banks have shortfalls in the professional counseling of business customers. Of course, because the staff members of a bank have only rarely made experiences as founders or with GmbHs or UGs.

• Self-employed persons with cash transactions and cost-conscience

  In a price comparison with the Sparkasse and the Volksbank in our town, the Postbank was considerably cheaper than the competition regarding account management, the booking fees, as well as the fees for cash transactions.

• If you would like to have a conversation partner in a branch office

  Of course, you can open the business account online and receive great support through the business customer hotline, if necessary. However, if something should require a personal conversation, you can visit a financial centre of the Postbank at any time.

  In many branch offices, the branch office manager is the contact person for business customers. This was the comfortable case for us in Memmingen, because we wanted to gather experiences with the Postbank branch office to complement the picture.

• Who wants to have more professionality as a business customer

  In contrast to what I have experienced with other banks, the Postbank has focused well on entrepreneus with its central business account area. This professionality cannot be expected in every branch office, neither at the Post office counters. But the telephone service is super!

Video to the article:

If I should open a business account on the name of a GmbH with cash transactions and several employees, then I would choose the Postbank again!

The business account at the Postbank can also be an outstanding solution for other entrepreneurial constellations, as one can learn from the following report of one of our frequent readers:

Experience report from our community

by Metin S.

Do you want to supplement this article with your experiences?

You can find the comments feature at the end of the article for this purpose. Many thanks for the smart exchange with each other.

There is still one thing missing: Accepting card payments!

We did not take the terminal for receiving card payments from the Postbank. Since years, I have made good experiences with ► www.sumup.de – and what has been proven good, will remain. Don’t change a running system. 😉

The card payments through Sumup are credited automatically to the Postbank business account within 1-2 days. An oustanding cooperation. Thanks!