Although the use of credit cards is becoming more widely accepted in Germany, there are many stores – e.g. grocery stores and restaurants – that still do not accept them.

Personal checks are not accepted. For this reason, it is important to have ready access to cash during your stay in Germany. Although you can have money transferred to Germany through different means (i.e. Western Union, money transfer, personal checks), this can prove to be both costly and time-consuming. Therefore, it is advisable to make sure that your credit card or bank account institute gives you access to automated teller machines in Germany/Europe.

Regardless of the aforementioned, it will make your life much easier if you have a German bank account during your stay in Hamburg. Once you have an address in Hamburg and are officially registered in the city, you may open a bank account, for example with Deutsche Bank or Haspa (Hamburger Sparkasse). You will receive a Euro cheque card (like a debit and ATM card). The accounts are for free for students. You find branches of Deutsche Bank and their cashgroup everywhere in Germany and other countries. Haspa is called Sparkasse in other cities and does not offer as many customer services for students who travel a lot as Deutsche Bank does.

Having a bank account with a German bank offers you several advantages: You can withdraw cash without having to pay international transfer commissions each time. If you are in another German city or abroad, you will be able to get money from any ATM with the Euro cheque card (with no commission fee when you use the ATMs of the Sparkasse or Deutsche Bank cashgroup). You can use the EC card to charge your student card at Bucerius.

In any case, you should have enough cash with you, Traveler Checks or a bank card, for the first few weeks here. You can also ask your family to transfer your money on the German account once it is open. The safest way to make your bulk cash deposit when you arrive in Germany is to use Travelers Checks. Redeeming them at the bank costs a commission of 0.5 % and at least € 7.50 per transaction. The amount can be transferred directly to your account, so that you do not have to carry large amounts of cash with you. The advantage to buying Traveler Checks in Euros and not in your home currency is that you will know exactly how many Euros you will be depositing when you get here. If the check is made out in your home currency, the Euro amount is assessed on the day of your deposit based on the exchange rate that day.

We advise against using a personal check to make your first deposit, as this may take up to four weeks to be processed.