How to Open a Bank Account in Austria (2026)

Which Are the Best Banks in Austria?

Based on English-language support, ease of account opening, and overall value, here are our top recommendations. Once you have an account, explore your credit card options.

What Is the Step-by-Step Process to Open an Account?

1. 1. Register your address

   Before visiting any bank, make sure you have your Meldezettel. Without it, most traditional banks will not open an account for you. Register at your local Magistrat or Gemeindeamt within three days of moving in.

2. 2. Choose your bank

   Decide between a traditional bank (Erste Bank, Raiffeisen, Bank Austria) for branch access and full services, or a neobank (N26) for a fast, app-based experience. Consider whether you need in-person service in German or prefer English-language digital banking.

3. 3. Book an appointment or apply online

   Traditional banks usually require an in-person appointment at a branch. Neobanks let you apply entirely online with video identification. Some branches of Erste Bank offer English-speaking staff in major cities.

4. 4. Bring your documents

   Present all required documents at your appointment. The bank will make copies and verify your identity. For online banks, you will go through a video-KYC process where you show your documents on camera.

5. 5. Sign the contract

   Review the account terms, fee schedule (Entgeltinformation), and sign the contract. Pay close attention to monthly account fees (Kontoführungsgebühr), card fees, and transaction limits.

6. 6. Receive your cards and access

   Your Bankomatkarte (debit card) and online banking credentials will either be handed to you or mailed to your registered address within 5 to 10 business days. PIN codes are always sent separately from cards for security.

What Do You Need to Open a Bank Account in Austria?

Austrian banks regulated by the FMA require a set of standard documents when opening an account. While the exact requirements can vary slightly between banks, you will generally need the following:

• Valid passport or EU national ID card

  Your primary identification document. Non-EU citizens must present a passport.

• Meldezettel (registration confirmation)

  Proof of your registered address in Austria. You get this from the local Meldeservice (registration office) within three days of moving into your accommodation. See our Vienna registration guide for details. Your Meldezettel is one of the most important documents.

• Residence permit or visa (non-EU citizens)

  Your Aufenthaltstitel, Rot-Weiss-Rot Karte, student visa, or other valid residence document. EU citizens can check our EU citizens guide for details.

• Proof of employment or enrollment

  Some banks ask for an employment contract (Dienstvertrag) or university enrollment confirmation (Studienbestätigung). This is not always mandatory but can speed up the process.

• Austrian tax identification number

  Your Steuernummer or Sozialversicherungsnummer. If you do not have one yet, some banks can open an account without it initially, but you will need to provide it later. See our income tax guide for more on tax numbers.

How Do You Open a Bank Account as an Expat?

Our ranking from FMA guidance and reader reports, October 2026; individual banks decide case by case.

Which ID you hold decides which accounts you can open. An EU/EFTA passport or ID card works at every bank and by VideoIdent. A non-EU passport plus Meldezettel works at all Austrian banks, but VideoIdent may reject some issuing countries, so plan a branch visit. A Verfahrenskarte opens only the Basiskonto, which every Austrian bank must offer.

The documents you need depend on your citizenship. EU citizens have a simpler process, while non-EU citizens need additional paperwork. If you have not registered your address yet, some banks can still help.

Which Account Fits Your Situation as a Newcomer?

Our assessment from provider conditions and FMA guidance, October 2026.

On day one without a Meldezettel, open N26 Standard on your passport for €0. If your employer or FinanzOnline needs an AT IBAN right away, Trade Republic issues a personal AT deposit IBAN after an app ID of about 10 minutes. Once registered, move your salary to easybank easy gratis, which is €0 from €400 monthly salary or pension inflow. Private transfers do not count.

Expect a thin KSV1870 file when you arrive. KSV1870 and the German SCHUFA do not exchange data, and Austrian banks see your history abroad only if you show it. The practical path runs in three steps: a debit or prepaid card with no check (Trade Republic, N26, Revolut, Wise), then a standalone credit card with an internal check such as free.at, then a credit card from your own bank once you have a Meldezettel and payslips. Your own KSV1870 report is free as a data-access request under Art. 15 GDPR; the paid InfoPass products are not needed.

Do You Need an Austrian IBAN, and What Is EPS?

IBAN country and deposit guarantee per account, from provider conditions checked September 2026. Fees as shown elsewhere on this page; verify on the provider site before opening.

A local AT-IBAN matters more than EU rules imply. Austrian employers, the Finanzamt, social-security bodies like OeGK and SVS, and some landlords occasionally reject a non-Austrian IBAN. This happens even though EU SEPA rules require them to accept any euro-area IBAN.

Refusing a valid euro IBAN is unlawful IBAN discrimination. You can report it to the FMA (Financial Market Authority). Practically, an AT-IBAN avoids friction. Newcomers who need to receive a salary or pay rent should prefer an account that issues one.

EPS (eps-Überweisung) is the dominant Austrian online-banking payment rail. Many smaller merchants and government or public portals prefer EPS over card payments, and SOFORT is also common. A plain foreign neobank without EPS may leave you needing a card or SOFORT fallback for EPS-only Austrian checkouts.

The one place a foreign IBAN reliably needs a workaround is FinanzOnline. Its standard bank-details field takes only an AT IBAN. A DE, LT or BE IBAN goes in under your profile, then general master data, then foreign bank details. Everyone else who pays or collects in euro must accept it: refusing is unlawful IBAN discrimination under Art. 9 of Regulation (EU) 260/2012.

How Do Austrian Bank Fees Compare?

Sources: bank price sheets (Entgeltinformation), re-checked September 2026, and the AK Bankenrechner. Raiffeisen is not listed because there is no group-wide price: each independent institution publishes its own tariff.

On a reference profile of a salaried employee with €2,200 net a month, 40 bookings and 4 withdrawals, the annual cost ladder in August 2026 runs: easybank easy gratis €0, bank99 smartkonto99 €23.88, BAWAG Online Konto €34.80, Erste s Kompakt €46.68, Bank Austria ErfolgsKonto €58.96 and Volksbank Wien Komfort €139.08. That is a spread of €139 a year for a product that does the same thing.

Two promotions are worth timing. Bank Austria gives new customers the opening quarter plus four more free, worth €58.96, and the offer runs to 31 December 2026; the standard fee then starts without a personal reminder. Volksbank Wien runs a comparable first-year waiver worth €139.08. Note also that Erste raised s Kompakt by €0.14 a month in mid-2026 through the Konditionenaushang rather than a letter, which is the normal Austrian route for an inflation-linked increase.

What Are the ATM Withdrawal Fees in Austria?

Sources: provider price sheets, September 2026. Where a cell says "per price sheet", the figure exists only in that institution's own Konditionenaushang, often on paper in the branch, and could not be confirmed online. Do not assume a number that nobody publishes.

Withdrawing at your own bank's ATM is free everywhere in Austria. The cost is at other banks' machines, and the honest answer is that most Austrian branch banks do not publish that number online: the typical charge at a foreign ATM is around €1.75 per withdrawal, but the binding figure sits in the institution's own price sheet. The direct banks are the transparent ones. easybank gives 12 free transactions a quarter, then €1; bank99 gives one free withdrawal a month, then €0.80, and charges €4.79 per counter deposit beyond two a year.

What Does an Austrian Overdraft Cost?

The overdraft is the hidden price difference that no account-fee comparison shows. The spread runs from 6.80% at DADAT to 12.50% at easybank easy gratis and BAWAG KontoBox Small, a factor of 1.84. On a permanently overdrawn €1,000 that is €68 against €125 a year, which swamps the difference in monthly fees between the same two accounts. The free account is the expensive one the moment you go into the red.

Two structural points. First, transparency is poor: Bank Austria, the Raiffeisen institutions, Volksbank and the Hypo banks do not publish a clean overdraft rate online, so you have to ask in the branch. Second, a limit is granted on creditworthiness, typically two to three net monthly salaries, and always involves a KSV1870 check. Going beyond the agreed limit is a separate, more expensive rate again. The neobanks sidestep the question entirely: Revolut, bunq, Wise and Trade Republic have no overdraft at all, because there is no credit product attached to the account.

Which Is Better: easybank or DADAT, bank99 or easybank?

Both accounts are €0 when a condition holds, and the condition decides. easybank asks for only €400 a month, but it must come from an employer or pension payer. DADAT asks for €1,000, and in return charges 6.80% on an overdraft instead of 12.50%: on a permanent €1,000 in the red that is €68 against €125 a year.

The question is whether a salary arrives every month. With €400 or more from an employer, easybank costs nothing. Without it, for example between jobs or on a pension paid elsewhere, bank99 is €35 a year cheaper and needs no monitoring. bank99 is also the only one of the two where you can pay cash in at a Post counter.

What Are Common Mistakes When Opening a Bank Account?

• Not comparing fees across banks

  Monthly Kontofuehrungsgebuehr (account management fees) vary from €0 to €15. Switching to a free account can save you €100 or more per year. Use the AK Bankenrechner to compare.

• Ignoring the overdraft rate

  Account fees differ by a few euros a month. Overdraft rates differ by 5.7 percentage points, from 6.80% at DADAT to 12.50% at easybank easy gratis. If you ever run a negative balance, that gap costs more than the monthly fee ever will.

• Not asking about the Kontofuehrungsgebuehr

  Some banks advertise low headline fees but add charges for individual transactions, paper statements, or card replacements. Ask for the full Entgeltinformation (fee schedule) before signing.

• Forgetting about KESt on interest

  Austria applies a flat 25% capital gains tax (Kapitalertragsteuer, or KESt) on savings interest under § 27a Abs. 1 Z 1 EStG. An Austrian bank withholds it automatically. A neobank with a foreign licence such as N26 does not, which leaves the declaration to you on the E1kv annex.

• Not setting up a FinanzOnline link

  Connecting your bank account to FinanzOnline (the Austrian tax portal) makes filing your annual tax return much easier. Most banks support this through their online banking platform.

What Do German Banking Terms Mean?

Austrian bank documents are almost always in German. Here are the key terms you will encounter when opening and managing your account.

Girokonto

Checking account, also called a current account. This is the standard account for salary payments and daily transactions.

Kontofuehrungsgebuehr

Account management fee. The monthly charge your bank applies for maintaining your account.

Bankomatkarte

Debit card. The standard payment card in Austria, used for purchases and ATM withdrawals.

Ueberweisung

Bank transfer. Used for rent payments, bill payments, and sending money within the SEPA zone.

Dauerauftrag

Standing order. A recurring automatic transfer you set up for fixed payments like rent.

Einzugsermaechtigung

Direct debit authorization. Permission you give a company to pull payments from your account, commonly used for utilities and subscriptions.

What Tips Should Residents Know About Austrian Banking?

• • Many Austrian banks charge monthly account fees ranging from €0 to €15. Student accounts and accounts for people under 27 are often free. For a full breakdown, see our cost of living guide.
• • SEPA transfers within Austria and the EU are free, and since 9 October 2025 that includes instant transfers. Non-SEPA transfers still cost: Erste charges €13.50 up to €5,500 plus a €10.50 USD surcharge and an exchange margin on a dollar payment. Interest on savings carries 25% KESt, see our income tax guide.
• • Most Austrian bank websites and apps are primarily in German. Erste Bank and N26 offer the best English-language support.
• • If you need an account before the Meldezettel exists, N26 or Revolut will open one on a passport and a foreign address. For more on registration, see our Vienna registration guide.
• • Know which supervisor holds your complaint. N26 is licensed in Germany, so a dispute runs to BaFin and the German ombudsman, not the Austrian FMA. Revolut Bank UAB runs to the Lithuanian supervisor. Only an Austrian licence puts your case in front of the FMA and the free Bankenschlichtung.
• • Check which guarantee scheme actually covers you. Erste, Bank Austria, BAWAG, bank99 and easybank sit under Austrian schemes at €100,000. N26 sits under the German scheme, Revolut under the Lithuanian one, both also at €100,000. Wise has no deposit guarantee at all: it is an e-money institution, and your balance is safeguarded in segregated accounts instead.

What Is Your Right to a Basic Account?

No bank in Austria may simply refuse you a payment account. The Basiskonto, the payment account with basic features, is a statutory entitlement for every consumer lawfully resident in the EU, including people with no fixed address, asylum seekers holding a Verfahrenskarte and people with tolerated status. The FMA names those documents explicitly. A bank may only refuse if you already hold an Austrian payment account or it suspects abuse, and it must give the refusal in writing.

One limit matters for newcomers: the regime applies to Austrian payment-account providers, so N26, Revolut, bunq and Wise owe you no basic account. If an Austrian bank turns you down, ask for the written reason and take it to the FMA. The same statute also gives you the free switching service: the new bank takes over your standing orders and direct debit mandates, and the whole process runs inside a fixed statutory timetable. In practice, keep the old account open for two to three months, because old card subscriptions and older direct-debit authorisations are the two things that reliably fail to move.

The fee cap is set in § 26 VZKG: at most €83.45 a year for the Basiskonto, and €41.73 a year for socially or economically vulnerable people, according to the Sozialministerium brochure on the basic account. The right itself sits in VZKG §§ 23 ff. The statutory switch deadlines, step by step, are on our commercial banks guide.

Frequently Asked Questions