Free Credit Cards in Germany – 2023

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Looking for Free Credit cards in Germany? Online shopping or for airline tickets, free credit cards offer freedom, flexibility and independence. You can save annual fees and still get a good credit card that fulfils all your needs. There are different types of credit cards in Germany. 

See here for more details on the types of Credit cards in Germany and other recommendations.

There are two types of free credit cards:

Important: Do not apply for a lot of credit cards at the same time. This will affect your credit score and reduce your chances of getting a credit card.

Top 5 Free Credit Cards in Germany:

The following free credit cards are recommended in Germany (in the order of recommendation):

Recommended

Gebuhrenfrei Mastercard Gold

Always free
Zero foreign transaction charges
Free Travel Insurance and other benefits of Mastercard Gold
Up to 7 Weeks Interest-free period
No Legitimisation needed

In our opinion, this is the best-recommended card as it provides very good features and is easy to get approved if you are new in Germany and do not have a long credit history. Therefore, it is easy for ex-pats, international students, or unemployed people to get a free credit card in Germany. Although the initial credit limit might start low, you can then increase your credit limit once you build your credit history.


Recommended

TF Bank

Always free
Zero foreign transaction charges
Free Travel Insurance and other benefits of Mastercard Gold
Up to 51 days Interest-free period
Interest rate: 20.85%
Video Legitimisation Needed

Recommended

awa7

Green – Plants one tree for every €100 turnover
Always Free
Zero foreign transaction charges
Free Travel Insurance and other benefits of Mastercard Gold
€2500 Immediate Credit Limit
Video Legitimisation Needed

2. Genialcard

  • Provided by Hanseatic Bank
  • 15% cashback on online shopping (select stores)
  • Instant Online Approval
  • Transfer money to Checking Account
  • Up to 6 Weeks Interest-free period
  • Read More

Apply for Genialcard


3. Santander 1 plus Visa Card

  • Free Cash Withdrawal (up to 4)  – worldwide
  • 0 € annual fee – Permanently Free
  •  1% tank discount  worldwide
  • 5% refund on travel bookings

Apply for Salander 1 plus Visa Card


4. Consorsbank Mastercard

  • Provided by Consorsbank
  • High credit limit
  • Free cash withdrawal from 300 Euro
  • Up to 90 days payment term
  • App with push notifications included
  • Apple Pay Integration + NFC

Apply for Consors Mastercard


5. Barclay New Visa Card

This has good offers and usually provide joining bonus up to €50. However, it has a higher refusal rate. Therefore, if you are new in Germany, or a student who does not have a good credit history, it is recommended not to apply for this card as your first card. But if you are an employee with a stable income, living in Germany for a few years and have built a good credit history, then you can apply for this credit card.

  • Provided by Barclays
  • Free foreign usage without any transaction charges
  • Joining bonus – up to €50 (offer changes)
  • Up to 2 months Interest-free period
  • Read More about New Visa Card

Apply for Barclay New Visa Card

Free Card Card with Bank Account

Some banks such as N26, DKB, and ComDirect also provide free credit cards along with their checking accounts. We give details of these bank accounts on best bank accounts in Germany.

1. N26 MasterCard

  • Free prepaid Mastercard credit card
  • Free bank account with no monthly minimum input
  • Free worldwide cash withdrawals in any ATM with Mastercard
  • English Banking with Mobile app
  • Read More about N26 Bank account Review

2. DKB Visa Credit Card

  • Free VISA credit card
  • Free account
  • Interest paid on credit card balance (for active users)
  • Free worldwide cash withdrawals (for active users)
  • Zero Foreign transaction costs (for active users)
  • Free securities account
  • Monthly credit card and bank statements online

3. ComDirect

  • Free VISA credit card
  • Free account
  • Interest paid on credit card balance (for active users)
  • Free worldwide cash withdrawals (for active users)
  • Zero Foreign transaction costs (for active users)
  • Free securities account
  • Monthly credit card and bank statements online

Some banks such as N26, DKB, and ComDirect also provide free credit cards along with their checking accounts. We give details of these bank accounts on best bank accounts in Germany. However, this article focuses on the free credit card from independent credit card providers in Germany. Note that free refers to credit cards with zero annual maintenance fees.

26 thoughts on “Free Credit Cards in Germany – 2023”

    • SCHUFA records all the financial information and the number of cards along with the credit limits. So applying for a credit card will reflect on the record and to some extend affect your score. This is irrespective of VISA or MC. The more important thing however is the credit limit on those earlier cards. If those VISA cards were issued along with a checking account with a nominal €100, being primarily used as a prepaid card, then applying for a new credit card with a higher limit will not affect so much. On the other hand, if you had applied for those VISA cards recently, then do not apply for another card immediately, it may be refused and also may affect your score.

      Reply
      • Thanks again for all the info!! I have recently applied for 2 new VISA cards (and closed my DB MC). So I’m going to take your advice and wait before I apply for the Advanzia MC. It’s too bad I visited your site *after* I booked my travel.

        Reply
  1. What an amazing website for people who are just settling in Germany, are not fluent in German, and are used to fee-free credit cards in the US.

    Reply
    • Thanks, it was the exact reason I started this website since I could not get the information I wanted when I first came here.

      Reply
      • I just got my Master Card Gold from Advanzia Bank as is reported on your website. It took about a week for them to send me the card, and another week to get it activated and get my pin. This is an annual fee free card. If you have a permanent address in Germany, it looks like they will approve a credit card even if you don’t have a credit history though, with a lower credit limit. When I checked, they mentioned that credit limit will be increased in a few months depending on the payment history. I will report the progress later.

        Reply
        • Update: This card has been very useful so far. I have been consistently settling bills in full. As a result, they have increased my credit limit significantly from an initial EUR 600/-. No complains up to now.

          Reply
    • I have recently found out that there is another credit card issued by the same bank (Advanzia Bank) that issues the Gebührenfrei Mastercard
      It’s called Drivango and comes with exactly the same features as the Gebührenfrei card. The only difference is, that your monthly credit card bill is deducted automatically from your bank account which is a great advantage in my eyes, because you won’t forget to pay.

      Reply
  2. Thanks for the nice overview!
    I can definitely recommend the Mastercard Gold from Advanzia. Have been using it for nearly eight years now and it has saved me a lot of money during travels.

    Reply
  3. In addition to the above mentioned credit cards I can also recommend the Santander 1plus VISA card. No foreign exchange fees, free of charge cash withdrawal und 1% discount on fuel.

    Reply
  4. I would very much like to know what the initial credit amount is for each of these cards. Do you know the answer to this?? I am looking for at least 2500 right away – have been a temporary resident in Germany for 1.5 years. Can anybody tell me?? Much appreciated 🙂

    Reply
    • It is not normal to have a high credit condition immediately. But, I can understand the need for a higher amount especially for booking airline tickets and hotels.

      One way to get around low credit limit is by depositing funds into your credit card account and using is like a debit card. For example, banks (e.g., DKB, ComDirect, N26) provide cards which have VISA/Mastercard function and allow you to deposit money in your credit card account to have a higher limit and use it just like a debit card, but with the VISA/Mastercard function of credit cards.

      Reply
  5. O zi buna

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    Reply
  6. Hi There,
    your comments are helpfull, i have applied for DKB twice and got rejected, i have no idea why and its hard to figure out what i did wrong given to the fact i am not a german spreaker. i am worried now that i have read this affects my Schufa score, and i am not sure what should i do when i do need a credit card
    thanks

    Reply
  7. O zi buna

    Ai nevoie de un împrumut în toate scopurile? Bridge Finance este garantat prin furnizarea de servicii financiare clienților la o rată a dobânzii favorabilă. Împrumuturile noastre sunt simple și rapide. Contactați-ne astăzi pentru a obține împrumutul de care aveți nevoie. Putem egala orice buget cu o rată a dobânzii de 2% la bugetul dvs. Dacă sunteți interesat, vă rugăm să contactați acum cu (adrianbay0008@gmail.com)

    Reply
  8. O zi buna

    Ai nevoie de un împrumut în toate scopurile? Bridge Finance este garantat prin furnizarea de servicii financiare clienților la o rată a dobânzii favorabilă. Împrumuturile noastre sunt simple și rapide. Contactați-ne astăzi pentru a obține împrumutul de care aveți nevoie. Putem egala orice buget cu o rată a dobânzii de 2% la bugetul dvs. Dacă sunteți interesat, vă rugăm să contactați acum cu (adrianbay0008@gmail.com)

    Reply
  9. O zi buna

    Ai nevoie de un împrumut în toate scopurile? Aveți o problemă financiară? Bridge este garantat prin furnizarea de servicii financiare clienților la o rată a dobânzii favorabilă. Împrumuturile noastre sunt simple și rapide. Contactați-ne astăzi pentru a obține împrumutul de care aveți nevoie. Putem egala orice buget cu o rată a dobânzii de 2% la bugetul dvs. Dacă sunteți interesat, vă rugăm să contactați acum cu (adrianbay0008@gmail.com)

    Reply
  10. Some of this cards may be good but I don’t like how they looked. So searched a bit and found out that there is a german company called cardrare which can convert any of these plastic credit cards to custom luxury metal credit cards or even 24K gold credit card! Yes you heard correct. I was able to have a luxury metal credit card with my current bank account. That was very nice.

    I can really recommend if you get any of these above mentioned cards and you don’t like the optics or if you just want a good looking status symbol.

    Reply

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