How Do Loans Work in Germany? Personal Loans and Mortgages (2026)
German lenders publish a repraesentatives Beispiel under the Preisangabenverordnung carrying the Zwei-Drittel-Zins, the effective rate at least two thirds of accepted applicants receive: compare on that, never on a marketing "ab" rate. On EUR 10,000 over 48 months the July 2026 survey ran from 5.29% at Commerzbank to 12.99% as the regional Sparkassen average. Mortgage rates sat in a 3.6 to 4.2% corridor in August 2026. Germany has no statutory rate cap at all: an offer is judged against the prevailing market rate under BGB section 138.
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What Types of Loans Are Available?
German consumer credit splits into the Ratenkredit, a fixed-instalment personal loan for general use, revolving credit drawn on a card, and the Baufinanzierung, the property mortgage. Alongside the banks sit comparison portals: Check24 compares around 30 partner banks, Smava brokers offers and runs Kredit2Day as its own lending arm, Verivox quotes partner-bank offers, and Auxmoney funds loans from private investors. On all four the credit contract is with a partner bank, not with the portal.
What Do Loans Cost?
| Lender | Effective rateeffective rate fromThe lender's advertised floor for the effective yearly rate. Your personal rate is set after SCHUFA scoring and is usually higher. | Nominal ratenominal rate fromThe advertised floor for the bare interest rate, before fees. Compare loans on the effective rate, not this. | Amount (EUR) | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commerzbank | 5.29% | 5.17% | not published | not published |
| Bank of Scotland | 6.49% | n/a | not published | not published |
| Targobank | 6.95% | n/a | not published | not published |
| DKB | 7.09% | n/a | not published | not published |
| ING | 7.22% | n/a | 5,000-75,000 | 12-120 months |
| Santander | 7.27% | n/a | not published | not published |
Two-thirds representative rates published under the Preisangabenverordnung, status 1 July 2026, on a reference profile of EUR 10,000 over 48 months. Your own rate is set after SCHUFA scoring. Germany publishes no statutory rate cap: under BGB section 138 a rate counts as unconscionable once it reaches 2 times the market effective rate, or sits 12 percentage points above it.
On the survey reference profile of EUR 10,000 over 48 months, representative rates ran from 5.29% at Commerzbank, cut from 5.99% in January 2026, to 12.99% as the average of the regional Sparkassen, each of which prices independently. Marketing rates are a different number: Santander advertises from 3.99% against a 7.27% representative rate, and Smava advertises from 1.29% against a typical brokered band of 4 to 7%. Germany sets no ceiling to check an offer against, so BGB section 138 compares it with the market instead: a rate is unconscionable at 2 times the market effective rate or 12 percentage points above it. The full tables are on the loan price research page.
Who Can Get a Loan?
Lenders want proof of income and recent bank statements, then set your rate after a SCHUFA-based credit decision. That is why no published figure is a promise: the two-thirds rate is what two thirds of accepted applicants get, not what you will get. ING is the only row in the July 2026 survey that publishes its limits, at EUR 5,000 to EUR 75,000 over 12 to 120 months. Auxmoney serves borrowers whose SCHUFA score is too weak for the direct banks, at credit grades B- to B, and third-party sources put its credit-dependent band at roughly 4.9 to 12.9%.
How Do German Mortgages Work?
A German mortgage is quoted as a Sollzins (nominal rate) and an Effektivzins (effective rate) held for a Zinsbindung, the agreed fixed period, most often ten years. ING publishes the fullest representative example: EUR 300,000 on a 15-year fix with 3% initial repayment at 85% loan to value, 4.27% Sollzins and 4.38% effective, status 17 August 2026. Interhyp, Dr. Klein, Baufi24 and Huettig & Rompf are brokers rather than lenders, comparing several hundred partner banks each. Bauzinsen track the Pfandbrief market and move weekly, so a quote is a snapshot: the detail is on the mortgages page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a personal loan as a new arrival in Germany?
Every German lender prices a Ratenkredit after a SCHUFA credit decision, so a thin or empty SCHUFA file is the usual reason a new arrival is refused or quoted a high rate. Auxmoney is the marketplace built for weaker files, lending at credit grades B- to B, but it is priced on application and publishes no representative example.
Is there a legal maximum interest rate in Germany?
No. Germany publishes no statutory interest-rate cap. Under BGB section 138 a court can find a rate unconscionable once it reaches 2 times the prevailing market effective rate, or sits 12 percentage points above it. Both thresholds are measured against the market rate of the day, so there is no fixed ceiling to hold an offer against.
Which rate should I compare lenders on?
The Zwei-Drittel-Zins in each lender's representative example, published under the Preisangabenverordnung. It is the effective rate at least two thirds of accepted applicants receive. On EUR 10,000 over 48 months in the July 2026 FM-index survey it ran from 5.29% at Commerzbank to 12.99% as the regional Sparkassen average.
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