AGB, Fees and Bank Customer Rights in Germany

A German bank serves private customers not only under the advertised Girokonto tariff, but under a whole set of documents: AGB, special terms for the account and cards, the Preis- und Leistungsverzeichnis, rules for online banking, and SEPA payments. These documents show how much the account costs, how the bank changes its terms, when you can reverse a disputed debit, and what to do if a service is refused.

Three things matter to customers in Germany: do not automatically approve changes to the terms, check account statements regularly, and react quickly to disputed transactions. In banking disputes, deadlines often matter more than lengthy correspondence with a branch.

What to check before opening or switching a Girokonto

The terms offered by different German banks vary considerably, but the basic consumer rights relating to payment accounts, SEPA payments, and a Basiskonto are defined by German and European regulation. So do not compare the monthly fee alone.

Question	What to look for in the bank’s documents
Monthly fee	Kontoführungsgebühr, conditions for a free account, minimum incoming payments, and age restrictions.
Cards and cash	The cost of a Girocard, credit or debit card, and cash withdrawals in Germany and abroad.
Transfers	The cost of regular and instant SEPA transfers, limits, cut-off times, and confirmation rules.
Direct debits	How the bank displays mandates and how quickly a debit can be reversed.
Overdraft facility	The overdraft interest rate, activation requirements, and whether the limit can be disabled.
Paper services	Fees for paper statements, letters, certificates, and transactions at a branch.
Changes to terms	How the bank asks for consent to new AGB and tariffs.

Before opening a Girokonto, request an Entgeltinformation. This short document lists the main paid services associated with a payment account. Existing customers may find the Entgeltaufstellung useful: this annual summary shows how much was actually spent on account maintenance, cards, cash withdrawals, interest, and individual transactions.

If you need the account for everyday life, check not just the price but also practical limits: the convenience of the app, a German IBAN, support for SEPA-Echtzeitüberweisung, transfer limits, ways to block a card, and how quickly customer support reacts to fraud.

AGB and fee increases

A bank’s AGB are its general contractual terms. Special rules for the Girokonto, cards, online banking, mobile app, overdraft facility, and payment services usually apply alongside them. Disputed fees most often arise not from a single line in the contract, but from the combination of the AGB and the Preis- und Leistungsverzeichnis.

Following rulings on bank AGB, a customer’s silence can no longer be treated as universal consent to fee increases or material deterioration of terms. In practice, banks usually ask for active confirmation through online banking, an app, by letter, or at a branch. If you receive such a request, do not click consent before checking three points:

Which services are becoming more expensive: the account, card, cash withdrawals, transfers, overdraft, foreign transactions, or paper documents.
The date from which the new tariff applies.
What happens if you refuse: whether the old terms remain, another tariff is offered, or the bank may terminate the contract.

If the bank is already charging a higher fee and you do not remember giving separate consent, ask for written proof: the date of consent, the confirmation channel, and the version of the tariff. Without this information, it is difficult to assess whether you have a chance of recovering the overpayment.

For an ordinary payment account, the bank may consider information from SCHUFA, especially if you request an overdraft facility, credit card, or a high limit. But a negative credit history by itself does not cancel a consumer’s right to a Basiskonto if the requirements of the Zahlungskontengesetz are met.

SEPA transfers, instant payments, and payee verification

A regular euro SEPA transfer within Germany and the SEPA area is generally executed no later than the next banking business day after the payment instruction is accepted. A paper instruction may take longer. Formats and deadlines are covered in more detail in the article on bank transfers in Germany.

In 2026, two issues are particularly important for banks in the euro area: SEPA-Echtzeitüberweisung and payee verification. An instant transfer must be available around the clock and cost no more than a comparable regular SEPA transfer. Before sending it, the bank must also warn you if the payee’s name does not match the IBAN or if a match cannot be verified.

Do not treat such a warning as a formality. If the system indicates a mismatch, stop the transfer and verify the details through an independent channel: an official invoice, contract, supplier account, or a telephone number found outside the suspicious email.

SEPA-Echtzeitüberweisung is convenient, but leaves almost no time to correct an error after it is sent. For large sums, it is sensible to make a small test payment first or verify the recipient’s details again.

Direct debits and reversing disputed charges

SEPA-Basislastschrift is the usual method for recurring payments in Germany. It is used for rent, insurance, internet, mobile service, taxes, membership fees, and subscriptions. The basis for the debit is a mandate—permission for the payee to take money from your account.

Consumers have two key deadlines:

if a debit was made under a valid mandate, you can usually request a reversal within 8 weeks of the debit date;
if there was no mandate or the transaction was incorrect or unauthorised, you must make the claim no later than 13 months after the debit.

Check your account statement at least once a month. It is often easier to reverse a direct debit through online banking than to dispute it with the payee, but a reversal does not cancel the underlying contract with the service provider. If the payment was in fact due, the provider may invoice you again and add return-debit costs.

Unauthorised transactions and phishing

If money leaves your account without your consent, act immediately: block the card or online banking, notify the bank about the transaction, and preserve evidence. In a typical case of loss or improper use of a payment instrument, the customer’s liability before notifying the bank may be limited to EUR 50. However, this protection may not apply if the customer acted fraudulently, intentionally breached security rules, or was grossly negligent.

The bank cannot simply say that the transaction technically went through with a PIN, TAN, or app confirmation. The circumstances matter in a dispute: who initiated the payment, what warnings were shown, how the customer stored their data, whether there were signs of phishing, and how quickly they notified the bank.

The most common risk scenarios are:

a call supposedly from the bank’s security department;
an SMS or email linking to a fake online-banking login;
a QR code for “verification” or “unblocking” an account;
a request to disclose a TAN, pushTAN, password, PIN, or code from an app;
an IBAN substituted on an invoice from a seller, landlord, or contractor.

Never give PINs, TANs, passwords, or confirmation codes over the phone or enter them on pages reached from emails, SMS messages, or messengers. If in doubt, end the contact and open your bank app or official website yourself.

Closing an account and Kontowechselhilfe

A customer can close a payment account at any time. If the contract provides for a notice period, it must not exceed one month for a consumer. A separate fee merely for closing an account is generally not permitted, and regular service fees must be calculated pro rata for the actual period.

When terminating an ordinary Girokonto, a bank is generally bound by a longer notice period, often at least two months, where that right is provided in the contract. Stricter grounds for termination apply to a Basiskonto.

Before closing an account, move recurring payments: salary, rent, insurance, subscriptions, tax refunds, Dauerauftrag, and direct debits. Germany has a statutory account-switching service, gesetzliche Kontenwechselhilfe: at the customer’s instruction, the new and old banks must help transfer recurring payments and provide the necessary information to payees and payers.

A practical sequence is:

Open a new account and check that the card, online banking, and incoming transfers work.
Make a list of recurring credits and debits from the last 13 months.
Transfer Dauerauftrag instructions and notify your employer, landlord, insurers, and important services.
Keep a small balance in the old account during the transition.
Close the old account only after the key payments have gone through using the new IBAN.

Basiskonto: when a bank must open an account

A Basiskonto is a basic payment account for consumers who are lawfully resident in the European Union and do not already have a suitable payment account in Germany. It is intended for everyday transactions: receiving money, making transfers, paying by card, and withdrawing cash. It is not a business account or a credit product.

The right to a Basiskonto is important for people without an established credit history, without a permanent address, with a negative SCHUFA record, or who have recently arrived in Germany. A bank may charge a fee, but it must be reasonable. It is not required to provide an overdraft facility or credit card.

If a bank refuses a Basiskonto or offers clearly unsuitable terms, do not limit yourself to an oral conversation at the branch. Request a written refusal and use the official procedure through BaFin. For a Basiskonto, this is often faster than an ordinary complaint to customer support.

Compliance and questions about the source of funds

Banks in Germany must comply with anti-money-laundering rules. Questions about the origin of funds, unusual incoming payments, large cash deposits, or documents relating to a transaction are therefore not an employee’s personal curiosity. They are part of banking controls.

Banks pay particular attention to large cash amounts, frequent transfers from different people, cryptoasset transactions, foreign incoming payments, and payments that do not resemble the customer’s usual behaviour. The limits of banking secrecy and a bank’s duties to the state are described in more detail in the article on banking secrecy in Germany.

What to do in a dispute with a bank

Immediately block the card, online banking, or the specific payment if it concerns fraud.
Submit a written objection to the bank: the date, amount, transaction number, type of dispute, and your demand.
Keep statements, screenshots, SMS messages, emails, push notifications, contracts, and tariffs.
Ask the bank to explain in writing the legal basis for the fee, refusal, or debit.
If there is no response or it does not resolve the issue, contact the Ombudsmann or Schlichtungsstelle of your banking group and, if necessary, file a complaint with BaFin.

Short FAQ

Do I need to read all of a bank’s AGB?

Reading dozens of pages in full is difficult, but at a minimum you should check the tariff, the procedure for changing terms, card rules, online banking, overdraft facility, SEPA transfers, and contract termination.

Can I simply ignore a letter about new fees?

Ignoring it does not always mean consent. But the bank may offer another tariff or eventually terminate the relationship if it does not want to continue providing service under the old terms. It is therefore better to understand the consequences of refusing in writing.

Is a Basiskonto always free?

No. A bank may charge a reasonable fee. If the price seems excessive or the account is effectively unsuitable for ordinary payments, that is a reason to check the terms and, if necessary, contact BaFin.

Is an instant transfer safer than a regular one?

It is faster, but not necessarily safer for the customer. Name-and-IBAN verification reduces the risk of an error, but the money leaves almost immediately. If there is a payee mismatch warning, it is better not to confirm the transfer.

German banking is formalised, but it requires attention to documents. The most reliable strategy is simple: keep your contract and tariffs, read consent requests, check your statement regularly, and do not put off disputed transactions until deadlines expire.