Banking in Germany

For me, banking and bill-paying in Germany fluctuates between love and hate. In the U.S., I paid all of my bills with a check or online. Accounts paid online were always attached to my credit card — and I paid each vendor on their site. Sometimes this is a hassle since each payment requires setting up online accounts, IDs, and passwords.

In Germany, you pay everything directly from your bank account to theirs. No credit card middleman required. No unique account for each bill to be paid. That's where the love comes from.

Some of my monthly bills are automatically deducted from my account. For others, I have templates set up in the bill-paying tab of the bank’s site. When I get the energy bill, for example, I simply log on to my bank account, pull up the energy template, and input the payment for that month. To execute the transaction and provide security, there are special "TAN" codes, which the bank sends you in the mail and you input at the end of the transaction.

Giving out your bank's code and account number is standard practice. Many companies have this information printed on the bottom of their letterhead. And, this method of payment doesn't stop at the business level. Let's say you lend money to a friend. They can then simply wire money back into your account.

All this is great, but, with so many account codes flying around, what happens when someone inputs the wrong number? Usually, if money is sent to the wrong account number, it is rejected by the recipient's bank and returned to your account. But, as is the case that we're now dealing with, sometimes that money just disappears. And, once the money has been removed from your account, it's difficult to track down. Especially when the recipient never received it.

Our bank had to send a formal inquiry to the other bank. Apparently, banks are supposed to have a lost-funds account, where money with incorrect account numbers is sent. We now have to wait a couple of weeks for the other bank to respond. That's where the hate comes in.