Best Bank Accounts in Austria for Students
Are you an international student in Austria? Many people decide to do their Erasmus exchange or even a full program in one of the beautiful Austrian cities.
When living in Austria, you will need to have an Austrian or European bank account to do all your transactions at the lowest cost and fastest speed. In general, you can choose between a few options.
Revolut and Erste Bank have the best, and free bank accounts for students in Austria. Erste Bank is the biggest financial organization in Austria, and Revolut is a European bank operating in Austria. Whereas students looking for innovative and digital banking could choose Revolut or Bunq.
A student bank account in Austria is known as Girokonto or a checking bank account. This article describes the best banks for students in Austria and how you can open an online banks account in the comfort of your home or office.
Current student bank account in Austria
The Girokonto (current account) is the most popular type of Austrian bank account, especially among young people or students. Such accounts are intended for personal daily use like making utility bills payment, and usually don’t have any monthly fee.
With one of the current bank accounts in Austria, you will receive a local debit bank card for ATMs and offline payments, as well as one of the most popular international bank cards for traveling and online banking payments.
Some banks in Austria have combined these two cards together. You can easily transfer money from your current Austrian bank account within the European Union. International credit transfers can be more complicated, but possible overall.
The banks in Austria usually don’t charge students a monthly fee up to some age, after that, you might be paying a small amount every year.
Banks mentioned in this article offer an Austrian bank account for students plus a bank card for free.
Are you thinking about taking a loan in Austria? Maybe you want to finance your studies? Check out a dedicated article about loans in Austria.
Bunq
Bunq is a digital bank founded in the Netherlands. Aside from corporate banking, retail banking, and investment banking, this bank offers internet banking, everything is online, simple, and fast. You can use the card from Bunq in Austria, all European Union countries and beyond. They operate in 5 languages, so there is no problem if you don’t speak German.
Bunq offers:
- Cheap bank accounts starting from 2,99 EUR per month
- Cheap ATM withdrawals (0,99 EUR)
- Free SEPA transfers
- Great user interface and simple navigation
- Instant transfers/payments
Choose between a cheap account for just 2,99 EUR per month, a free travel account, or a premium for 8,99 EUR. Below is a representation of the various Bunq accounts and their perks.
Source: Bunq benefits
With a premium account, you will get 25 sub-accounts, multiple debit cards, including MasterCard and Maestro, and a travel card at no extra cost, all will be shipped to you. They offer a 1-month free trial, during which you can test the product.
Revolut
Revolut has been my Bank Austria of choice since 2018. It’s the best bank you can find not only in Austria but in Europe. Besides, it’s the fastest-growing digital bank with the widest range of features. For everyone who is traveling abroad, this is the best option.
Revolut is based in the UK; hence, all its services run in English. Besides Austria and the UK, Revolut is available for everyone living in EEA countries, Switzerland, Australia, and from March 2020 in the US as well.
Their Austrian bank account and services are totally free. After you sign up for a bank account, the bank will send you your debit card anywhere you wish to.
If you once go traveling and pay in a different currency, Revolut won’t charge additional fees for it, and it will also convert your money at the best possible rate (for you!).
Honestly, having a debit card and bank account with Revolut has been a massive help for me while living in Austria, but also while traveling all over the world. The main perks you get when getting a Revolut:
- Free multi-currency, international bank account
- Free debit card – you pay only for a delivery
- Credit card is optional
- IBAN for Sepa transfers
- Free money transfers 24/7
- Free multi-currency payments
- Free withdrawals worldwide
- Easy instant top-up
- Instant transfers/payments
- Fantastic mobile banking app with a great user interface and simple navigation
- Customer support via chat 24/7
If a standard free bank account isn’t enough for you, you can check their premium plans. Revolut has two premium tiers. The first is called Premium, and it costs 7.99 EUR per month. The second is called Metal and costs 13.99 EUR. Paying this monthly price will get you a chick metal bank card.
Cash withdrawals in Austria and abroad
Withdrawing money from any ATM is free for up to 200 EUR per month; after that, it costs 2%.
Read our a full review on Revolut
ERSTE Bank
Erste Bank, also known as Sparkasse, is the biggest bank in Austria and in the whole of Europe. It was founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings bank, hence the oldest bank in the country.
Erste Bank has a wide range of different accounts and cards, the student bank account is one of the most popular. You will find branches of Erste Bank in all Austrian cities, small and big.
Student bank account with ERSTE Bank Austria:
- Founded in 1819
- Has 1,087 branches across Austria and other European countries
- Free student account
- Free Debit Mastercard + international student card (ISIC)
- Internet banking with George
- Mobile App on Android & iOS
- Cashless and contactless payments
- Easy online payments
- International ISIC student card with access to 150,000 discounts worldwide
- Pay with your smartphone
| Monthly fee | Zero |
| Debit card | Free Mastercard |
| Online and mobile banking | Free |
| Contactless payments | With a debit card or smartphone |
| Discounts | ISIS student identity card for students discounts around the world |
The student account of Erste Bank is free for any student in Austria up to 27 years old. You can use a debit card to pay for all your international purchases online.
Erste Bank offers convenient online banking George, to the classic banking option you will have access to the contact person there.
So if you have any questions, just write a message and someone will respond on the same day (within working hours).
If you receive a salary, you can open a salary account at the same bank.
DKB
DKB is one of the best banks in Germany, which is also available in Austria. You can open a free bank account with DKB.
DKB was founded in 1990. Today the bank serves more than 3 million customers. It provides perfect service and full customer satisfaction.
What you will get by signing up for a DKB student account:
- Free student accounts with no monthly fee
- Free VISA card plus a free Girocard
- Free worldwide cash withdrawals using a VISA card
- V PAY card from VISA
- Monthly bank statements online
- Apple & Google Play
- DKB banking app
- You can keep an account after leaving Austria
DKB offers internet banking services. You can easily open a bank account online. With DBK you pay zero monthly fees whatsoever.
As a holder of a student bank account, you will get a free VISA card together with a normal DKB debit card (Girocard) for local payments. However, the biggest benefit is free cash withdrawals at any VISA ATM, even abroad.
Even if some ATM tries to charge a transaction fee, DKB will reverse these charges and issue a refund to your account.
Moreover, DKB secures zero foreign currencies transaction charges for customers when a transaction is made is different from EUR currency.
Therefore, DKB is the perfect choice if you are planning to travel while studying in Austria. You can just look for an ATM when you land in the new country and withdraw cash in foreign currency.
Filling out the online application form is easy. However, most students have a challenging time calculating the current net income per month. The picture below shows the correct way for calculating your net income.
Source: Deutscheskonto
Moreover, the bank allows a non resident to maintain a bank account, hence you can still use your student card after leaving Austria.
For this, you need to inform the bank about the change of residence & address and fill out the form about the change of tax residency.
Hence, you can use a DKB account even in your home country or any other place.
Why you should pick a DKB bank account?
| Monthly fee | Zero |
| Debit card (Girocard) | Free Girocard card |
| International Debit Card | Free Visa card |
| Cash withdrawal | Free in any ATM with a Visa card |
| Contactless payments | With a debit card or smartphone |
Withdraw money
With the DKB Visa card, you can withdraw money free of charge at all Visa ATMs worldwide.
Pay without a fee or commission
With the DKB Visa card, you will make payments with zero fees.
Open a bank account online with DKB
You can open a free bank account with DKB just in 5 minutes. For this you will need to:
- Submit online application
- Go through video identification via Video Ident
- Get your bank account in Austria
After this, all your banking documents will be sent to you by mail, and you can enjoy all the benefits of a DKB account.
Compare best bank accounts in Austria
Before signing with a bank, compare all available accounts on Austria’s biggest comparison platform Durchblicker.
It’s the biggest website that helps people to find bank accounts, credit cards, loans, insurance, and even internet deals in Austria.
You can sign up for a suitable student bank account right on the website. Durchblicker is just a convenient tool, with no additional or hidden costs.
Read over 1,400 positive reviews on Trustpilot, where Durchblicker receives a 4,8 rate.
Requirements for a student bank account in Austria
In order to open a free student bank account in Austria you will need to fulfill the following criteria:
- Be younger than 27
- Be enrolled in the Austrian university or university of applied sciences as a regular or exchange student
Students who are older than 27 will pay a small monthly fee for having a student bank account in an Austrian bank.
How to open a bank account online in an Austrian bank?
Opening a bank account online is very easy and fast in Austrian banks. Usually, it takes only 10 min, and the card will be sent by mail to your address in Austria.
To open a bank account in Austria, you will need the following documents:
- Proof of identity (passport or ID card)
- Proof of residency (residency registration – Anmeldung)
- Proof of student or employment status
- Eventually a mobile phone number
- To validate your identity, you need a smartphone or laptop
Verify your ID
If you decide to open a bank account online in Austria, you will need to verify your identity. You can do it by sending the documents or using one of the verification services provided by the bank like PostIdent.
It also can be done by:
- eID – Your personal detailed information and ID card will be sent over the internet
- Photo – You provide a photo and record a video clip of your face to verify your identity
- Video chat – You input personal data and call a Video-Ident agent by using a webcam. They will take your picture and verify your identity.
- Post office – You can visit a post office in person to verify your identity.
After the verification, you will receive your account information, cards, and PIN by mail.
