Consorsbank review

The current account charges €4 a month. The site median is €0, and Consorsbank ranks 444 out of 500 on monthly fees, so you pay where many listed accounts charge nothing. Compare a free account first if fees decide it.

Deposits are covered by EU DGS up to EUR 100,000, the German deposit guarantee scheme, and the bank is supervised in Germany by BaFin. Because Consorsbank is a branch of a regulated bank rather than an e-money wallet, the scheme applies to eligible cash deposits.

The savings account pays a headline rate of 3.6%, and the rate is variable, so it can move with the market. The site median headline rate is 3%. A variable rate means the figure shown today is not the figure you keep next month.

Yes. The account is easy access, and Balance available at any time in any amount, so there is no term to wait out. That suits people who want cash reachable without committing to a fixed account. The trade off is that the balance earns the variable 3.6% rather than a rate locked in advance.

Currency conversion costs 2.1% on the current account, against a site median of 0.5%. On currency conversion fee Consorsbank ranks 237 out of 312, so holiday spending and non-euro purchases add up fast. Frequent travellers are better served by an account priced around conversion.

ATM withdrawals are free, with an allowance of €0, and free ATM use is listed among the account features. That is unusual for a current account that charges a monthly fee. Card and cash problems go through email, phone and help centre.

Support runs through email, phone and help centre, so you can call, email or use the help centre. A phone line matters for a bank where most current account issues are urgent, while written channels suit balance queries and paperwork.

It is a bank branch. The legal entity is BNP Paribas S.A. Niederlassung Deutschland, and BaFin supervises it in Germany, so deposits sit inside a bank structure with EU DGS up to EUR 100,000 behind them. For larger savings balances that footing is the safer of the two models.