this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2026
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No.
Well, it really depends. Both aren't one single big bank, but a lot of semi-connected local banks. They are huge disparities in what e.g. Sparkasse München and Sparkasse Hinterpfaffenhofen can offer. The bigger ones mostly have proper online services, but might require a letter for some stuff.
Regarding savings accounts - from what I've seen, most of the products they offered weren't really competitive, and mostly relied on you not shopping around. Volksbanken, as a co-op, allow you to buy shares in the bank, which can have a pretty good return, but there is a relatively low limit on how many shares a single person can own, so no one can have outsized voting power.
So, bit of a mixed bag, really.
Hm, that's a harsh price then.
Even ignoring having to figure out how to send letters, I noticed they seem to have fees for having an account, and the lowest I noticed with a visa debit card was over 10€/month, while the lowest with EC was technically 3€/ but charged for transactions, so the lowest sane one was 7€/.
So if I can't move my account entirely and would use those as a second account, which it looks like I'd have to, I'd basically pay a significant monthly subscription fee for mobile payment.
Yeah, it's a lot to enable mobile payment. Personally, I just bought myself a nice wallet. Much less hassle.
Also, conditions will vary depending on which Sparkasse/Volksbank you look at (they're all independent and might have very different fee and offer structures), but they'll likely all have more fees than most large private banks.
The thing is, they have some good projects like these independent mobile payment apps, and are great for giving out loans to smaller, regional businesses, but as banks for private users, they definetely aren't the best available.