How to select free business bank account in Germany
The best options for having a free business bank account in Germany
The best free business bank account in Germany
In order to find the perfect bank for your business in Germany, you need to find the offer that fits the size of your operation and how you structured your business. Some banks in Germany don't even offer business bank accounts. Generally speaking the offers are designed for main groups of entrepreneurs:
Self-employed persons and freelancers with low revenues and a small number of transactions
In fact, traditional banks in Germany do not traditionally cater to the self-employed and many individuals running a business open a secondary personal account and operate from it. However, there are new options available for freelancers, such as Holvi and NetBank. Even without it, you can still work with a normal current account. To open such an account, you only need a proof of your identity in most cases. Only once your business starts bringing high revenue, you will be asked to open a secondary business account.
Registered businesspeople (eingetragene Kaufmann – e.K.), Partnerships (Personengesellschaften), corporations (GmbH, UG or AG)
These entities must provide a series of additional documents in order to open a bank account. For registered businesspeople, this will be most commonly a certificate of incorporation and extract from the commercial register. For partnerships, you need to bring documents proving the identity of all your partners, along with the articles of association (Gesellschaftsvertrag). Founders of GmbH, UG or AG must submit proofs of identity, the list of shareholders (Gesellschafterliste) and articles of association (Gesellschaftervertrag) and certificates of incorporation (Gründungsurkunden). The exact documents will depend on the bank of your choice.
