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Which of Germany's 48 Credit Cards Is Right for You? (2026)

By Jules de Bruin, Market ResearcherUpdated August 17 2026 | Found helpful by 7 others

The short answer

Of the 48 real credit cards sold in Germany, 15 are free in year one and every year after, 35 can be opened without a German IBAN, and 19 are recorded as answering in English. This table lists credit products only: the 13 Debitkarten and prepaid cards that German banks and fintechs sell under a Kreditkarte badge are filtered out. Annual fees, the effective annual rate and the cost of spending abroad vary more than on any other product on this site, so filter to your situation first, then rank by what you actually pay.

All cards

grouped by provider
Rank by

Hanseatic Bank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 0 to 58.80 a year

Get a Hanseatic Bank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Hanseatic Bank GenialCardBest here

revolving credit

Free16.05% effectiveNo FX feeVisa
Hanseatic Bank GoldCard

revolving credit

EUR 58.80/yr16.05% effectiveNo FX feeVisa
awa7 Visa

revolving credit

Free21.96% effectiveNo FX feeVisa
Deutschland-Kreditkarte Classic

revolving credit

Free21.04% effectiveNo FX feeVisa

Advanzia Bank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

Free

Get a Advanzia Bank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Advanzia Gebührenfrei Mastercard GoldBest here

revolving credit

Free20.9% effectiveNo FX feeMastercard

TF Bank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

Free

Get a TF Bank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
TF Bank Mastercard GoldBest here

revolving credit

Free22.9% effectiveNo FX feeMastercard

easybank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 0 to 99 a year

Get a easybank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
easybank Visa (formerly Barclays Visa)Best here

revolving credit

Free21.21% effectiveNo FX feeVisa
easybank Platinum Double (ex-Barclays Platinum Double)

revolving credit

EUR 99.00/yrn/aNo FX feeVisa + Mastercard (double pack)
Eurowings Kreditkarte Classic

revolving credit

EUR 29.00/yrn/aAbove 1%Visa
Eurowings Kreditkarte Premium

revolving credit

EUR 99.00/yrn/aNo FX feeVisa

Bank Norwegian

No German IBAN needed

Price band

Free

Get a Bank Norwegian card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Bank Norwegian VisaBest here

revolving credit

Free24.4% effectiveNo FX feeVisa

American Express

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 0 to 850 a year

Get a American Express card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
American Express Platinum Card

charge card

EUR 720.00/yrn/aAbove 1%American Express
American Express Gold Card

charge card

EUR 240.00/yrn/aAbove 1%American Express
American Express Blue CardBest here

charge card

Freen/aAbove 1%American Express
PAYBACK American Express

charge card

Freen/aAbove 1%American Express
American Express Business Gold Card

business credit

EUR 175.00/yrn/aAbove 1%American Express
American Express Business Platinum Card

business credit

EUR 850.00/yrn/aAbove 1%American Express

Deutsche Bank for Miles & More

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 0 to 138 a year

Get a Deutsche Bank for Miles & More card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Miles & More Credit Card MyflexBest here

revolving credit

Free15.65% effectiveAbove 1%Mastercard
Miles & More Credit Card Blue

delayed debit

EUR 66.00/yr9.8% effectiveAbove 1%Mastercard
Miles & More Credit Card Gold (incl. Frequent Traveller / Senator variants)

delayed debit

EUR 138.00/yr9.8% effectiveAbove 1%Mastercard

Open Bank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

Free

Get a Open Bank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Amazon VisaBest here

revolving credit

Free20.13% effectiveAbove 1%Visa

Commerzbank

Needs a German IBAN

Price band

EUR 0 to 154.80 a year

Get a Commerzbank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Commerzbank ClassicKreditkarte

charge card

EUR 39.90/yr12.2% effectiveAbove 1%Visa or Mastercard
Commerzbank GoldKreditkarte

charge card

EUR 99.90/yr10.2% effectiveAbove 1%Visa or Mastercard
Commerzbank PremiumKreditkarte (Visa + Mastercard duo)

charge card

EUR 154.80/yr10.2% effectiveAbove 1%Visa + Mastercard (duo)
Commerzbank Young Visa (StartKonto)Best here

charge card

Free12.2% effectiveAbove 1%Visa

Targobank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 0 to 59 a year

Get a Targobank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Targobank Online-Classic-KarteBest here

revolving credit

Free15.87% effectiveAbove 1%Visa
Targobank Gold-Karte

revolving credit

EUR 59.00/yr15.87% effectiveAbove 1%Visa

Pliant

No German IBAN needed

Price band

Free

Get a Pliant card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Pliant Visa (Business)Best here

business credit

Freen/aAbove 1%Visa

Consors Finanz

No German IBAN needed

Price band

Free

Get a Consors Finanz card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Consors Finanz MastercardBest here

revolving credit

Freen/aNo FX feeMastercard

BW-Bank for PAYBACK

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 29 a year

Get a BW-Bank for PAYBACK card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
PAYBACK VisaBest here

revolving credit

EUR 29.00/yr13.15% effectiveNo FX feeVisa

1822direkt

Needs a German IBAN

Price band

EUR 29.90 to 72 a year

Get a 1822direkt card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
1822direkt Visa ClassicBest here

charge card

EUR 29.90/yrn/aAbove 1%Visa
1822direkt Visa Gold

charge card

EUR 72.00/yrn/aAbove 1%Visa

HypoVereinsbank

Needs a German IBAN

Price band

EUR 30 a year

Get a HypoVereinsbank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
HypoVereinsbank Visa Card (Classic)Best here

charge card

EUR 30.00/yr10.63% effectiveAbove 1%Visa

Deutsche Bank

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 39 to 200 a year

Get a Deutsche Bank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Deutsche Bank Mastercard StandardBest here

delayed debit

EUR 39.00/yrn/aAbove 1%Mastercard
Deutsche Bank Mastercard Gold

delayed debit

EUR 82.00/yrn/aAbove 1%Mastercard
Deutsche Bank Mastercard Travel

delayed debit

EUR 94.00/yrn/a1% or lessMastercard
Deutsche Bank Mastercard Platin

delayed debit

EUR 200.00/yrn/aAbove 1%Mastercard

Santander

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 70.80 a year

Get a Santander card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Santander BestCard Smart

revolving credit

n/an/aNo FX feeVisa
Santander BestCard PremiumBest here

revolving credit

EUR 70.80/yr16.43% effectiveNo FX feeVisa

DKB

No German IBAN needed

Price band

EUR 72 a year

Get a DKB card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Hilton Honors KreditkarteBest here

revolving credit

EUR 72.00/yrn/aNo FX feeVisa

Postbank

Needs a German IBAN

Price band

EUR 99 a year

Get a Postbank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Postbank Visa Card / Mastercard (standard tier)

delayed debit

n/a11.39% effectiveAbove 1%Visa/Mastercard
Postbank Visa/Mastercard PlatinumBest here

delayed debit

EUR 99.00/yr11.39% effectiveAbove 1%Visa/Mastercard

comdirect

Needs a German IBAN

Get a comdirect card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
comdirect Visa-Karte

charge card

n/an/aAbove 1%Visa

Sparkasse

Needs a German IBAN

Get a Sparkasse card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Sparkassen-Kreditkarte (Basis/Standard/Gold/Platinum - representative)

delayed debit

n/an/aAbove 1%Mastercard/Visa

Volksbank Raiffeisenbank

Needs a German IBAN

Get a Volksbank Raiffeisenbank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
VR Kreditkarte (Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken - representative)

delayed debit

n/an/aAbove 1%Mastercard/Visa

norisbank

Needs a German IBAN

Get a norisbank card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
norisbank Kreditkarte (legacy)

charge card

n/an/aAbove 1%Visa/Mastercard

Commerzbank for ADAC

No German IBAN needed

Get a Commerzbank for ADAC card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
ADAC Kreditkarte (Classic/Gold)

charge card

n/an/aAbove 1%Visa/Mastercard

Moss

No German IBAN needed

Get a Moss card
PlanAnnual feeEffective APRCost abroadNetwork
Moss Corporate Cards

business credit

n/an/aAbove 1%Mastercard

Fees and effective annual rates as of August 2026, read off each issuer's own German price list: neither BaFin nor the Deutsche Bundesbank publishes card pricing. Verify before applying. Cards with an unpublished rate sort last, never first.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often are prices updated?

We verify prices quarterly. Each product carries its own source URL and access date in the catalogue, and this research was read in August 2026.

What does n/a mean?

n/a means the value was not published on the issuer's own price list at the time of research. We do not guess, and we do not round.

Why are there no Debitkarten in this table?

Because this is a credit-card table. Of the 61 German card records in the catalogue, 48 grant a credit line, 12 are Debitkarten and one is prepaid. The debit products from N26, Revolut, Wise, bunq, C24, Trade Republic, ING and Consorsbank are covered on the debit vs credit page and the fintech apps page instead.

Does the no-SCHUFA filter do anything here?

No, and that is the honest answer: every credit card in this table runs a SCHUFA query when you apply, so the filter reads zero. The records with no credit check are all debit or prepaid products, which this table excludes.

Does the table include business cards?

Yes, the catalogue includes a small number of business and co-brand cards.

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