BBVA Deutschland review

The monthly fee is €0, which means there is no annual cost to keeping the card in a wallet. The figures that move with use are currency conversion and cash machine withdrawals, and both are set out on this page with the rates that apply to the account.

Currency conversion is 0%, so euro balances can be spent or withdrawn in other currencies without the usual conversion charge. For a euro account that travels or buys from overseas sellers, that removes the line most likely to add a hidden cost to a month of spending.

Free cash machine withdrawals cover €150 on the account. That allowance places the card at 25 of 104 brands in the comparison, so readers who take out cash in small amounts may find a longer allowance elsewhere.

Purchases earn cashback of 3% that goes back to the euro balance, rather than points or credit on the statement. Because the monthly fee is €0, the reward is not offset by a charge for holding the card in the first place.

It is a debit card on the mastercard network, so payments come straight from the account balance and there is no credit line or interest free payment period attached to it. The balance is the thing the card spends, which suits people who pay their balance in full each period.

The listed authorisation is MiCA CASP K8MS7FD7N5Z2WQ51AZ71, held by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., which is registered in Spain with the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores, the Spanish market regulator. A reader in Germany is banking with a Spanish incorporated entity, so the licence behind the account sits with that authority.

Support runs on email, chat and phone, so help is available by email, in chat or by phone and a reader can pick whichever fits the problem. The mobile app is where the account is viewed day to day, with balances and the card itself in one place.