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What Are the Best Credit Cards for New Arrivals in Germany? (2026)

By Jules de Bruin, Market ResearcherUpdated 18 August 2026 | Found helpful by 6 others

The verdict for new arrivals

Get the Hanseatic Bank GenialCard at no annual fee. On day one you have no German IBAN and no Meldebescheinigung, so the question is not which card is best but which issuer will take the application. The cards above settle by direct debit from any SEPA account and ask for no German payslip. Meanwhile a Debitkarte on a fintech account opens in minutes, and a girocard is taken in the Baeckerei and the Arztpraxis that refuse international credit cards.

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Which credit card is the best for new arrivals?

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Sorted by effective apr, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.

#1 by effective apr16.05%

★ Newcomer pick

Hanseatic Bank GenialCard

1.0

Needs German address registration and a SCHUFA check, none of which exists in week one

Get the Hanseatic Bank card

Cards(4)

  • Our pick here. Hanseatic Bank GenialCardFree

    Repayment rate you set in the app

    Effective APR16.05%
    Cost abroadNo FX fee
    NetworkVisa
    German IBANNot required
    • No annual fee
    • German-only support
    Open the Hanseatic Bank GenialCard ↗
  • awa7 VisaFree

    The same card under an eco brand

    Effective APR21.96%
    Cost abroadNo FX fee
    NetworkVisa
    German IBANNot required
    • No annual fee
    • German-only support
    Open the awa7 Visa ↗
  • Show 2 more products
    • Deutschland-Kreditkarte ClassicFree

      A Finanztip-listed GenialCard twin

      Effective APR21.04%
      Cost abroadNo FX fee
      NetworkVisa
      German IBANNot required
      • No annual fee
      • German-only support
      Open the Deutschland-Kreditkarte Classic ↗
    • Hanseatic Bank GoldCardEUR 58.80/yr

      Insured, free in year one

      Effective APR16.05%
      Cost abroadNo FX fee
      NetworkVisa
      German IBANNot required
      • No fee on non-euro spending
      • Free in year one, then EUR 58.80
      Open the Hanseatic Bank GoldCard ↗

Fees as of August 2026, verify on the issuer's price list.

Annual fee Free

Key information

Effective APR
16.05%
More details
Cost abroad
No FX fee
German IBAN

German IBAN

Whether the product needs a bank account with a German (DE) IBAN. Foreign-IBAN accounts are legal to use, but some German employers and billers still refuse them.

Not required
Network

Network

The card scheme that moves the payment: Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. It decides where the card is accepted, not who issues it.

Visa

Best for new arrivals who want the safest yes.

Hanseatic BankHanseatic Bank GenialCard · Free · 16.05% APRFree
#2 by effective apr20.9%

Also great

Advanzia Gebührenfrei Mastercard Gold

1.0

Needs German address registration and a SCHUFA check, none of which exists in week one

Get the Advanzia Gebührenfrei Mastercard Gold
Annual feeBest
Free
Effective APR
20.9%
Cost abroad
No FX fee
German IBAN

German IBAN

Whether the product needs a bank account with a German (DE) IBAN. Foreign-IBAN accounts are legal to use, but some German employers and billers still refuse them.

Not required
More details
Network

Network

The card scheme that moves the payment: Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. It decides where the card is accepted, not who issues it.

Mastercard

Fees as of August 2026, verify on the issuer's price list.

Key information

Annual fee
No annual fee
Abroad
No fee on non-euro spending
Cash
Free cash withdrawals

Best for new arrivals who need a different issuer.

Advanzia BankAdvanzia Gebührenfrei Mastercard Gold · Free · 20.9% APRFree
#3 by effective apr22.9%

Best value

TF Bank Mastercard Gold

1.0

Needs German address registration and a SCHUFA check, none of which exists in week one

Get the TF Bank card
Annual feeBest
Free
Effective APR
22.9%
Cost abroad
No FX fee
German IBAN

German IBAN

Whether the product needs a bank account with a German (DE) IBAN. Foreign-IBAN accounts are legal to use, but some German employers and billers still refuse them.

Not required
More details
Network

Network

The card scheme that moves the payment: Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. It decides where the card is accepted, not who issues it.

Mastercard

Fees as of August 2026, verify on the issuer's price list.

Key information

Annual fee
No annual fee
Abroad
No fee on non-euro spending
Cash
Free cash withdrawals

Best for new arrivals who need a different issuer.

TF BankTF Bank Mastercard Gold · Free · 22.9% APRFree
This ranking differs from the general one. The general page picks Hanseatic Bank GenialCard. The reason is the weighting, not new information: Eligibility moves from 15% to 50% and Annual fee moves from 30% to 15%.

Compare two providers

Already down to two? Each comparison declares a winner on every criterion that decides the purchase.

Revolut vs N26C24 Bank vs RevolutC24 Bank issues a German DE IBAN and caps out-of-allowance withdrawals at a flat EUR 2, while Revolut issues a Lithuanian LT IBAN but opens in 0 days without a German tax ID and runs fully in English.N26 vs C24 BankN26 opens in 0 days without a German tax ID and runs the app, contracts and chat in English, where C24 Bank asks for a tax ID and is German-first.DKB vs INGDKB clears its free-account bar at EUR 700 monthly incoming where ING asks for EUR 1,000, and charges EUR 4.50 instead of EUR 4.90 if you miss it.comdirect vs DKBcomdirect is free for the first 6 months and then waives its fee on any one of four conditions, where DKB waives only on EUR 700 monthly incoming or being under 28.Sparkasse vs N26N26 wins on price, language and speed: EUR 0 a month, English throughout and open in 0 days with no Anmeldung, against a Sparkasse's EUR 2.95 to EUR 12.95, German only and 1 day after registration.Volksbank vs SparkasseThese two branch networks are close.Revolut vs WiseRevolut records EUR 100,000 of deposit protection where the Wise account records none, and allows free withdrawals up to EUR 200 or 5 a month against Wise's 2.GenialCard vs Advanzia Gebührenfrei GoldBoth cards cost EUR 0 a year with 0% foreign transaction fees, so the split is elsewhere.TF Bank Mastercard Gold vs GenialCardBoth are EUR 0 a year with 0% foreign transaction fees.
How we ranked this for new arrivals5 criteria, weights published

A reader we describe as new arrivals is not the average reader, so this page does not use the average weights. Eligibility carries 50% here against 15% on the general ranking, and Annual fee carries 15% here against 30% on the general ranking. The weights were fixed on 17 August 2026, before the prices were collected.

Criteria weighting

Fixed 17 August 2026, before pricing was collected
EligibilityIBAN, address and income checks that rule cards out15%50%
Annual feeWhat holding the card costs every year30%15%
Cost abroadFX margin and ATM fees outside the euro area25%15%
English supportApp, contract and helpline language10%15%
RewardsCashback or miles, net of their conditions20%5%
General ranking This pageWeights total 100% on both. A blocker caps any score at 1.0.

What is ruled out, and why

A blocker is not a drawback. It is something that makes the card unobtainable for this reader, however good its terms are otherwise.

Blocked for this reader

easybank Visa (formerly Barclays Visa)Requires proof of German income, which a new arrival has no payslip for yet
easybank Platinum Double (ex-Barclays Platinum Double)Requires proof of German income, which a new arrival has no payslip for yet
American Express Platinum CardRequires proof of German income, which a new arrival has no payslip for yet
American Express Gold CardRequires proof of German income, which a new arrival has no payslip for yet

What you actually need to get a card here

A German bank credit card is normally sold with that bank's own Girokonto, and a Girokonto wants a Meldebescheinigung from the Buergeramt and a Steuer-Identifikationsnummer. Both run on appointments, which is what makes the first month the hard one. Commerzbank, Postbank, HypoVereinsbank, comdirect, 1822direkt and the Sparkassen all sit behind that door.

The cards on this page do not. They collect the monthly bill by direct debit from any SEPA account, so the account it settles from does not have to be German, and their records state no German income requirement. Identity is confirmed by VideoIdent, eID or PostIdent at a Deutsche Post branch, and the card arrives by post.

What none of them skip is the credit bureau. Germany's is SCHUFA, every credit card on this page is decided on it, and an empty file is not the same as a good one: the issuer has nothing to score. Starting limits on the fee-free cards are correspondingly small and grow with repayment history.

Every card we compared

View all 48 cardsThe full market overview: every card from every issuer with its annual fee, APR and cost abroad, filterable and re-rankable.

How we compared these

Five criteria, weighted for this reader and published above, fixed before the fees were collected. Every fee comes from the issuer's own price list, dated in the catalogue. Of the 48 cards, 7 are obtainable by new arrivals.

Sources: the issuers' own German price lists, accessed 18 August 2026. Some links earn a commission at the same rate for every issuer, so no weighting favours a payer.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a German credit card without a German IBAN?

Yes, but not from a bank counter. The issuers ranked here collect the monthly bill by direct debit from any SEPA account, so the settlement account does not have to be German. The cards sold with a Girokonto, at Commerzbank, Postbank, HypoVereinsbank, comdirect, 1822direkt and the Sparkassen, cannot be had without one.

Is Revolut a credit card?

No. The Revolut card in Germany is a Debitkarte: the money leaves your balance the moment you pay and no credit line is granted. Its record notes Revolut runs no SCHUFA credit relationship in Germany, so holding it also builds no credit file. It covers online payments, subscriptions and travel from day one, which is most of what a new arrival needs a card for.

Will a thin SCHUFA file stop the application?

It can, and that is the honest answer. Every credit card ranked here runs a SCHUFA check, and a file opened weeks ago holds nothing for the issuer to score. Nobody can promise approval. A card that costs nothing in year one and nothing after is the cheapest place to find out.

Should I wait until I have a German account?

For the bank-issued cards you have no choice, since they are only sold with that bank's Girokonto. For the cards on this page you do not have to wait, and a few months of German salary and direct debits afterwards is what turns the rest of the market from a maybe into a yes.

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