Almost everything in Germany runs through a current account: rent, wages, Jobcenter payments, child benefit. Yet newcomers do not always get one – an online identity check fails, or a bank simply declines. There is a legal right to fall back on, though: the Basiskonto.
The basis is the Payment Accounts Act (Zahlungskontengesetz, ZKG). According to the official service description on the FIM portal, approved by the Federal Finance Ministry, every consumer legally resident in the EU is entitled – explicitly including people with no fixed address, asylum seekers and people with a Duldung (tolerated stay). The condition is that you do not already hold a usable account in Germany. The consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentralen) take the view that people who fled Ukraine are entitled too; we did not find the § 24 residence status named explicitly in the sources we checked.
What the bank has to accept
Proof of identity means a passport or ID card. Without a valid passport, the Verbraucherzentrale says you can show a Ukrainian identity document together with a German official paper such as an Anlaufbescheinigung, Fiktionsbescheinigung or Meldebescheinigung. Asylum seekers use their arrival certificate, people with a Duldung their Duldungsbescheinigung. The application is made in writing on the statutory form, which the bank must supply, online included. A poor Schufa credit score is not a reason to refuse.
The account must allow cash deposits and withdrawals, transfers, standing orders, direct debits and card payments. No overdraft is required. If the bank offers online banking on its other current accounts, it must offer it here as well.
The bank has ten business days from receiving your application. It may refuse only in cases the law lists: you already have a usable account, you were convicted of an intentional offence against that bank in the past three years, or it cannot meet its identification duties. That last point is the usual sticking point – where nationality is unclear or papers are missing, banks hesitate.
Free is not guaranteed
A bank may charge an “appropriate” fee (§ 41 ZKG); the law sets no cap. The consumer centres argue a Basiskonto should not cost more than the same bank’s standard private account. Their yardstick is €6.45 a month, the average from a Federal Court of Justice case (XI ZR 119/19, 30 June 2020) in which a Deutsche Bank clause charging €8.99 plus extras was struck down. If you pay much more, you may be able to reclaim fees – that is the consumer groups’ assessment, not statute.
The bank can terminate only for narrow reasons: offences against the bank, false information at opening, or at least €100 in unpaid account fees over three months. Debt or a weak credit rating does not count.
Refused, or no reply?
You can ask the financial regulator BaFin to review the case, free of charge, using the statutory form or an online complaint form. BaFin can order the bank to open the account. The consumer centres consider this the most effective and cheapest route; an arbitration body or a court action are alternatives. Practical tip: get a dated receipt for your application or send it by registered post so the ten-day clock can be proved.
Our assessment: applying in writing on the form beats a verbal request at the counter, because the deadline starts running and the bank has to give reasons. Trouble is most likely at online-only banks relying on video identification; a local branch bank or Sparkasse is often the easier route. The consumer-centre pages date from 2024 and 2025, so in a complicated case it is worth getting advice from a Verbraucherzentrale or a migration counselling service.
Sources: official Basiskonto service description (FIM portal, approved by the Federal Finance Ministry), Verbraucherzentrale NRW, Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband
