German credit card recommendations

I need a German credit card - a free one... like in the US.

I have a Citibank card for all my US shopping (on EBay). What I really need a German card for is to do a monthly deposit to my offshore 'savings' account. They will allow only a direct debit from my German bank account or from a German credit card. Right now it costs me 12€ each month to do this stupid wire transfer. I'm not making that much money doing that!!!

So, does anyone recommend a German card with either a very low or no yearly fee?

the Miles and More Visa is always a good idea since it gives you airmiles for the star alliance network. Pick up the entry forms at most banks or online at Miles and More. Nice thing is that you can get excellent service in english. making payments online from any german bank is free (or cheap, according to your plan).

You can get a Citibank card here. If you have an account with Citibank in the US and Germany, you can send wire transfers back & forth between countries at no charge.

I have a VISA with Cosmos Direkt based in Saarbrücken.

0 charges if you make a minimum turnover on the card.

"Focus Money" (spit!) turned them up as one of the cheapest "no frislls" cards.

Service is fine too.

I have an American Express card.
It's free for the 1st year, and earns you Miles&More points, as well as having their own points schemes, cheaper insurance etc loadsa benefits!
Then you swap after a year to summat else free..

Well, I have to say I really miss that about the States. I have never ever in my 20 years of having a credit card, had to pay the yearly fee.

I'm going to keep looking around.

Isn't that blue card from American Express free for the first year?

@Showem, yes, that's what I meant by "It's free for the 1st year"

Ah, sorry, read over and missed your post. Ooops.

Statement: UrbanAngel said it first and best.

what is the min turnover pls?
do you have to be a shopaholic?

f.

I THINK it is about €3000 a year for to to be free... otherwise €20.

A few flights a year and some fairly average use in departments stores, the odd hotel and restaurant bill and I get it free. And I'm quite tight with money.

Citibank has an absolutely free visa with a particular account. You should have no problem getting it if you have the minimum balance (2500 Euros). Your rental deposit and stocks and bonds with citibank count as part of this minimum deposit. See this thread for more info:
Comparing Banks in Germany

Hi there,
Have a look at this (it´s all German, I´m afraid.. )
https://www.happydigits.de/servlet/hdekwp34...ion=kreditkarte
You get a Mastercard for free if you register for the Happy Digits collecting thing. No obligations, no minimum turnover, nothing. I have got one myself - haven´t had any problems so far. Give it a try
Susie

> happydigits

I can't believe for how little most people sell their soul. Are you aware that their sole purpose is collecting customer data and selling it to whoever wants it? Would you also let a complete stranger into your house and let them look into every drawer, go through your dirty laundry and underware and every room in exchange for 20 bucks?

@Showem
Actually, my Am Ex card is gold. Not sure if that makes a difference to your blue card suggestion. Hmm, anyway..

I'll let you do it for €15 if you don't make a mess.

Actually, best marketing idea since Coke pulled the "New Coke" back to not exactly "Original Coke" scam (less phosphoric acid and different sugar).

Back in the states it will save you a bundle when you go shopping with a Kroger, Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Giant, etc...card. Wish they had those kind of discounts here, but then again, food is primarily cheaper here anyway.

I need a credit card to replace the US one - tired of using the American billing address, paying it off in US funds, etc. Lufthansa has one for a 50 euro annual fee. Are there any that don't cost anything? Any that can help me get free airplane tickets?

Thread merged by admin

haven't come across one that isn't completely free. some are fee, or have a reduced fee, if you spend over a certain amount annually. The only credit card i know of where you can earn miles is the Lufthansa Miles & More VISA card.

I recently made a mistake of signing up for a credit card at the airport. Not being able to speak much german let alone read, I signed up for the card. It turned out that I signed up for the entire balance to be automatically deducted from my bank account. Being a man who likes to slowly pay of his credit card (bad habit) this is not the card for me.

If you would like to pay your card in full every month, check out Royal Bank of Scotland.

@americanjon

I found this to be normal (Default) for Germany. As opposed to the US
system where they you only have to pay the Min. every month.

Depending on how you look at it, this can be a good/bad thing...
(If you ain't got the $$$, don't max out the card)

agreed DK. i have definitely changed my spending habits since being in germany. either i go overboard and then east toast for a month or i plan carefully what i use my credit card for and accept the consequences of me buying too much with Mr.Visa.

yes, very few German banks/credit card issuers allow you to pay in installments. usually you have to settle in full after about 6 weeks (ie bill at end of month and settlement 2 weeks after).

Barclaycard is different (card issued by the German subsidiary of British bank Barclays Bank) . They offer the same flexibility as most UK banks, allowing you to either settle in full or in installments.

My Visa from Citibank allows you to pay a specified % of the balance.
I just assumed they all did, but clearly not.
Citibank are good, I've never had any bother with them.

Only paying % of the credit card bill is a VERY expensive way to borrow money. If you want to make a large purchase, get a bank loan.

@UpQuark -- you should be able to change the US billing address of your credit card to your German address. My US credit card sends my bills here. Actually I've switched to electronic billing too, but for 7 years they sent them here. Keep the US card, a long continuous history with one credit card is valuable.

There are some "completely" free - the Karstadt Mastercard (http://www.karstadtquellebank.de/privatkun...rcard/index.php) and the DKB Visa Card (http://www.dkb.de/privat/privat/dkb_cash.p...eferer=20750_f1) to name but two.

I get 4 "free" Gold cards from my bank, but they're not really free insomuch as they are wrapped up in the charges for the current account banking...

You can get a card comparison taking into account your personal requirements here

YL6

@YL6

"Karstadt Mastercard"...

No wonder there going under... Time to drop these cards

Yes, I finally got the Karstadt credit card. It is completely free. They must be desperate for customers - or they're finally just turning to the 'American way'.

I also kept my American credit card and kept the American address - but I changed it to my parent's address and get electronic billing - so they only really get the trash stuff from Citibank in the mail(except, they did throw out my brand new replacement card thinking it was trash), but that problem was resolved quickly. Anyway, you need the American address to buy and ship stuff you buy in the States. My parents hold onto it until I buzz home or if it's small, they send it along.

Whatever you do, avoid the big banks in Germany. They are only good when you have savings, and usually, lots of savings (that's me out then). I am talking Deutscher, Dresdener and Hypo.

The "kartofelbanks" are much better: Raiffeisen, VR, Stadtsparkasse, Etc.

Sin

americanjon: with that Royal Bank of Scotland thing - how long did the processing take? I signed up at the beginning of October but have hear nothing. I don't really want the card anyway anymore!

Is it normal for a credit card company to honour credit transactions on a card that has been cancelled or has expired?

Apparently it's normal for Airplus Corporate Visa. I got a bill today for a card that was cancelled almost 2 years ago. I had to call them up and tell them to completely cancel the card...

If you have provided a "continuous debit authority" (or direct debit) to a Visa merchant, then Visa will continue to honour payment requests from the merchant even if the card is expired or cancelled, and atttempt to claim the money back from the original card holder.

Strange one this - I believe it only applies to Visa and it is a world-wide rule. You must rescind continuous debit authorities if you cancel your card, or advise Visa to no longer accept payment requests, specifyiing the continuous authorities you have signed up to (like of course you remember!). Something to do with protection for the merchant (to hell with the customer!). I believe this only applies to Visa, not to Mastercard...

There must be a lot of occasions where Visa lose out on this, when a customer has done a runner or gone bankrupt.

YL6

You definitely want to be careful with these credit cards here in Germany. When I first arrived a few years ago, I signed up for a credit card offered by my employer. Not understanding much German at the time, I signed up for the option of paying off your balance in full every month as opposed to paying a percentage each month. I maxed the card out to pay another debt thinking I could pay off the balance in installments. A month later, the bill arrives requesting the full amount be paid all at once. The credit card company would not let me have the option of paying in installments and I was unable to pay the full amount all at once. As a result, my credit is ruined here in Germany for the next several years I am in the process of getting a card from the states instead as it is almost a neccesity to have a credit card these days. Oh well, live and learn!

Most "credit cards" here are not credit cards in the well-known sense. They are charge cards. Simply being Visa or Mastercard does not imply any credit, except to the end of the payment month. So far as I know nearly all the bank-issued cards here are charge cards. Only the independents, such as Barclaycard, Citibank on RBOS (ex-Santander) offer true credit over a longer period (usually with surprisingly good rates in comparison to most other country offers...

YL6

My advice would be, if you don't have a German Bank Account...get one. After the Bank has seen you have a constant paycheck and no bad credit due to loans, etc. then you can get a credit card through the Bank and it costs you nothing.
Good Luck!

Although it's probably not a credit card, but a charge card, and it's probably not free, but included in whatever monthly cost you have for your current account...

YL6

for example with sparda bank you get a free mastercard c/c.

cheap and cheerful.

sparda bank rocks!

Maybe, but only if you are in gainful employment. They don't accept self-employed (and if you become self-employed (and tell them) they throw you out rather unceremoniously...)

YL6

there are hardly any chash machines for Cash pool though. There are certainly none conveniently located for me. That means banking with Sparda or Shittibank are out of the reckoning.

Round by me there are loads of Cash Group machines, so i have just opeded an account with Comdirect. They pay me €1 per month to have the account and it includes a free VISA and free Depot and Verrechnungskonto.

I just checked out the link provided by YL6 about the Karstadt MasterCard. It seems to be everything that people are looking for. ie FREE and with Variable monthly payments and you get Digits on payments. So no need to look further really (unless you want airmiless and insurance on purchases and travel insurance and such shit)

If you can read German, you should try this:
http://focus.msn.de/finanzen/banken/kreditkarten

If you want to save money always ask a Yorkshireman - we're Scotsmen with the generosity beaten out of us

YL6

Useful thread this, just came accross it as I am about to apply for DKB myself.

Anyone got experience with this card&company?