Consorsbank review

The monthly fee is €0, so there is no monthly charge to keep the account and card open. On the ranking for that measure, Consorsbank sits at 1 of 379 brands, which is as far as that ranking goes.

Converting currency costs 2.1% each time you spend in a currency the account does not hold. That is the main cost to weigh, because the monthly side of the account is €0 and adds nothing. Spending in euro avoids the charge.

The card type is debit, so it draws on the money in the account balance every time you pay. There is no separate card balance to top up and no stored value on the card itself. The account is a euro current account and the card is its payment card.

A virtual card and travel use are both listed in the account features, travel and virtual card. The virtual card gives you an extra card for online payments and trips without changing the monthly fee, which is €0. That suits anyone who wants a second card for spending abroad or for subscriptions.

The card runs on visa, which sits on the most common network in this comparison at 57.6%. That matters for where the card is accepted and for cash withdrawals abroad. The card type is debit, so those withdrawals come straight from the account balance.

It suits euro account holders who want a plain debit card with a monthly fee of €0 and who mostly spend in euro. The travel and virtual card features add travel and virtual card use. It suits you less if you convert currency often, because the conversion fee is 2.1%.

The conversion fee of 2.1% sits higher than the 1% median across the cards compared here, and Bitpanda lists a conversion fee of 0%. On the monthly side, £0 and £0 match €0, so the choice turns on conversion.