Money Matters / Banking

When planning your journey to Germany you should take into account that banks are closed on Saturday and Sunday. However, the exchange offices at the airport are open at the weekends or in the evenings. Here you can exchange foreign currency and traveller’s cheques.

During the first days of your stay in Nuertingen or Geislingen you will need a considerable amount of money for extra expenses such as

• the deposit for the room (400 €) in the residence hall
• plus the rent - approx 222 €/month - for the months since the beginning of the lease, i.e. September or March
• social service fee for the enrolment:
  36 € for Geislingen
  76 € for Nuertingen as this amount includes VVS bus and train ticket
• processing fee for a residence permit (not for EU citizens) approx. 100 €
• renting a bike (30 to 50 €/semester plus a deposit of 50 to 70 €)
• if you take out a health insurance policy in Germany, prices range from about 40 € (private health insurance) to 70 € (statutory health insurance) per month depending on the benefits offered by the various insurance companies.

You are allowed to import as much German and foreign currency in which ever form you like, but you should inquire about currency regulations in your own country.

You should make sure that this money is easily available (e.g. cash, credit card or traveller’s cheques – best issued in Euros) during the first days of your stay. Please note that if you use bank cheques, you have access to the money only about 2 weeks after the transfer on your account.  All major credit cards can be used to withdraw money from the ATMs (automated teller machines) but this usually involves additional costs. Credit cards are not widely accepted in stores and restaurants. But you can basically pay everything with an EC card (electronic cash and debit card) that is connected with a bank account in Germany.

We will make an appointment for you during the orientation week to open a bank account. An account will make it much easier to organize monthly payments such as rent. You receive the EC card and can use it for cashless payments or withdrawing money from the cash machine (ATM). The banks we recommend offer a current/checking account (Girokonto) without fees for students.

For regular expenses you might be required to give permission for automatic withdrawal. Rent for the following month is automatically deducted within the first 2 weeks of a month. Make sure your account always has enough money for these regular expenses.

Nowadays, you can easily get online or telephone banking for your account if you ask for it. Every bank account comes with 3 numbers, the account number (Konto-Nummer), the routing number (Bankleitzahl) and an international bank account number (IBAN). You should know these numbers for international money transfers.