Local American-friendly banks

I in need of a decent/good American friendly bank. I just arrived and speak a very small amount of German. I really need a bank that doesnt have insane fees and speaks more English that I do German. LOL Please if any one has any information it would be greatly appreciated. I live in Vogleweh (Kaiserslautern).

Thank you
Amber

Try Nations Bank/Bank of America. Don't know if they have a branch off base, but it wouldn't hurt to look/ask.
If you can't find a local branch, you can sign-up online for online banking. They are partners with a few big German banks
so you can easily access cash from almost any ATM when you need to - Link

No, BoA does NOT have any off-base branches; they don't do business in Germany.

Go to Citibank. No fees, good service, easy, no-fee transfer of money between US and German accounts (so open up a Citi account in the US as well).

woof.

Deutsche Bank. They have partnered with Bank of America.

And with Barclay's Bank in the UK too. In fact IIRC there was some controversy over the use of the Barclays imperial eagle logo on Deutsche Bank literature, for obvious reasons. Anyway, we can use our Deutsche Bank cash card in Barclays cash machines in the UK, and do all our transfers online, no probs.
Oh, and when we opened our account at the Berlin branch the person we saw there spoke perfect English, and all we needed to open the account was passports and a utilities bill from our UK address.

I speak terrible German. How would I find the nearest Deutche Bank. I have a few accounts with B of A and really like them. I am in K-Town. Thanks for the replies so far. It really helps

Walk along your local high street and if you see a business that looks like a bank with DEUTSCHE BANK above the door, you've found it.
probably in the same area in your local town as all the other banks are.

Or I imagine have a look on their web site and drop your postcode (PLZ) into the search box to find the nearest branch.

Here's a list of banks in Kaiserslautern.

This one seems to be closest to you: https://secure.deutsche-bank.de/pbc/ifcfind...locationId=3483

They do business in Germany, but not for private customers. (They have commercial banking operations in Frankfurt in addition to their military operation in Wiesbaden.)

Citibank Deutschland is being sold to Credit Mutuel, so I'd be hesitant on relying on the US-Germany Citibank relationship.

to the OP--do a search, as this topic comes up about once a week.

I find banking in Germany more than a little annoying...

that in this day and age, german banks and american banks don't "talk" to each other is unbelievable.

we have to transfer money to our US bank account each month (because we still own a house that we can't seem to sell) and it's an expensive and stupid transferring process. so we actually paypal from one to the other. *shakeshead*

@pancake

If your xfering funds via the internet, then have a look at XEtrade instead. The service is free and fast. Unlike Paypal, XET are a genuine, registered and insured finance
company so if for whatever reason something happens your covered, with paypal your just screwed.

oooh, thank you for the info. i didn't know. what's worse, i've been in dispute with paypal for the last year and nothing is happening on their side... but i feel like i'm dependent on them... so i'll check it out right away!

This thread is pretty old, but I'll add what I know anyway, in case others in the future have the same question.

Deutsche Bank has a reciprocal arrangement with the US version of Bank of American (BOA). You can make deposits and withdrawals there free of charge, and use their ATM machines with no foreign ATM fee. I don't know if they charge to convert the currency. I also have not yet had to go into the bank to perform any transactions, so I don't know if they speak English. But, I would be surprised if there wasn't someone there at all times who does speak English.

The BOA banks that are on the US bases are not technically the same as the real BOA's. BOA is simply the bank which is holding their operating charter right now. They can not take deposits for or withdrawals from US BOA accounts. You would need to open a new account on base to bank with them.

You will probably need both a German and American bank account to live in GErmany. The German one is for paying rent, utilities, etc. The US account can be for all you other banking needs, online purchases, etc.