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Germany has a sophisticated and technically advanced banking system. The main banks provide a wide range of facilities in addition to normal financial transactions, such as real estate sales, mortgage services and investment management. Telephone and internet banking services are offered by most of the major banks, and there is an extensive inter-linked ATM network which allows you to draw out money and make other automatic transactions. A small fee is payable for the use of another bank's ATM to access your own account.

The major German banks include Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Westdeutsche Landesbank, Commerzbank, and the Bayerische Vereinsbank. These generally have facilities specifically for English-speaking expatriates and other foreign residents.

To open a bank account in Germany, you need to show your passport and provide the initial deposit. You can then apply for a Eurocard, a type of combined bank guarantee card and credit card, which is accepted all over Germany and other European countries in shops, hotels and restaurants and can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs. Other credit cards are widely accepted for payment in stores, hotels and restaurants, and can also be used for cash advances.

Added March 2007 by Penny:
Originally the Eurocheque card WAS used as a bank guarantee card, but that is no longer the case. It is not now, and never was, a credit card. Now, it functions as a debit card, that is to say, that when you use it, the funds will be deducted from your bank account immediately. Eurocheque cards are accepted almost everywhere, but credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard are still not universally accepted (in spite of what their advertising would lead you to believe).