Switching Banks After You've Settled In? Germany's Kontowechselservice Does the Heavy Lifting

The Official Rule

A common pattern among newcomer families: open whatever bank account can be set up fastest right after arrival, often a Neobank or Direktbank, then once you’re properly settled into a neighborhood, decide you’d actually prefer a local Sparkasse or an established bank with a physical branch nearby. The genuinely good news is that switching later isn’t something you have to choreograph manually, coordinating salary transfers, rent payments, and every subscription yourself.

Germany’s Zahlungskontengesetz (ZKG), specifically §§ 20-21, legally obligates both your old and new bank to help you switch if you ask. Once you’ve opened your new account and requested the switching assistance, your new bank is required to contact your old bank within 2 business days to begin the process, and your old bank then has 5 business days to provide the necessary account information.

From there, your new bank takes over the actual mechanics of the move. It transfers all your existing standing orders and direct debit mandates to your new account, and, importantly, it actively contacts everyone who regularly pays into or draws from your old account, your employer for salary payments, your landlord for rent, subscription services, and informs them of your new account details. This is specifically designed so you’re not left manually chasing down every payer and payee yourself one by one.

Neither bank is allowed to charge you for this switching assistance. § 27 ZKG makes the standing-order and direct-debit transfer process a free, legally mandated service, not something either institution can bill you for.

If something does go wrong, you’re not simply left holding the cost. If a standing order genuinely fails to transfer properly as part of this process, and that failure causes you to miss an important payment and rack up reminder or late fees as a result, § 25 ZKG makes both banks jointly and severally liable for the resulting cost. This is a real legal protection, not just a best-effort service with no accountability if it breaks down.

What Real People Say

Families who’ve used the Kontowechselservice describe it as genuinely working as advertised, the anxiety beforehand is usually about the sheer number of things tied to a bank account, salary, rent, insurance, subscriptions, and the relief afterward comes from realizing the new bank actually handles notifying most of those parties directly rather than leaving it as a personal checklist to work through.

The liability protection under § 25 ZKG is less widely known, and it comes up specifically for people who’ve had a standing order slip through the cracks during a switch, knowing in advance that the banks share responsibility for that kind of failure, rather than the customer simply absorbing a late fee, is a detail people describe wishing they’d known before assuming the risk was entirely their own.

Step by Step

1. Open your new account first, wherever you’ve decided to switch to.
2. Ask your new bank specifically to initiate the Kontowechselservice, this triggers the legally mandated process.
3. Expect your new bank to contact your old bank within 2 business days, and your old bank to respond within 5.
4. Let your new bank handle transferring standing orders and notifying your payers and payees, rather than doing this manually yourself.
5. If a standing order fails to transfer and costs you a late fee, know that both banks are jointly liable under § 25 ZKG, rather than assuming you have to absorb that cost alone.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general legal framework for switching bank accounts in Germany under the Zahlungskontengesetz, current as of mid-2026. It is not financial or legal advice. For your specific situation, confirm current procedures directly with your old and new bank.