Opening a bank account in Germany: the Basiskonto door

BaFin — Germany's financial supervisor — states it directly: all consumers lawfully residing in the European Union have in principle a claim to a Basiskonto under the Zahlungskontengesetz, and banks may not arbitrarily reject customers who want to open a Basiskonto, or terminate the account without a valid reason. The one procedural catch BaFin flags: the claim attaches when you expressly apply for the account as a Basiskonto under the ZKG — ask for it by name, in writing.

Source: BaFin — Basiskonto (Verbraucherschutz), read 10 September 2026.

BaFin's page runs the full FAQ: what a Basiskonto offers, where and how to apply, which documents are required, when an application may lawfully be refused, and — critically for new arrivals — that the right also applies to people without a fixed address. If a bank refuses, the ZKG gives you an administrative route: BaFin itself runs a procedure to order the account opened where refusal was unlawful. That escalation path is the German cousin of France's droit au compte.

Source: BaFin — Basiskonto, Verwaltungsverfahren, read 10 September 2026.

The Basiskonto is the floor, not the market: most movers end up on ordinary Girokonten from banks or fintechs that onboard in English. But the floor matters on the bad days — when the paperwork isn't perfect yet, the Basiskonto claim plus BaFin's complaint route is the leverage. The EU layer behind all of this — the Payment Accounts Directive and the ban on nationality-based refusals — is covered in our EU basic-account guide, and the sibling right that protects your new German IBAN from foreign payers' systems is IBAN discrimination.

Source: BaFin — Basiskonto, read 10 September 2026.