Commerzbank Review [2024 Guide]

Commerzbank review overview

In our review, Commerzbank achieved a 4.3 out of 10 overall. It lost points in all the categories and lags behind modern fintechs like C24, Revolut, N26, etc., in technology and free services.

Additionally, the internet is filled with customer complaints against Commerzbank.

Commerzbank’s strength is its 26,000 physical branches. It’s also the fourth-largest bank in Germany based on total assets.

NOTE: We find that everyone should have accounts with at least two different banks in Germany. It’s because if one of your bank accounts is blocked, you can continue using the other account.

It’s also beneficial to have one account with a bank that has physical branches.

Table of Contents

Pros and cons of Commerzbank Bank account

Pros	Cons
Zero fees if you deposit 700€ per month	Poor customer service
Unlimited ATM withdrawals within Germany from its or its partner bank’s ATMs.	No out-of-the-box features like automatic savings rule, spending analysis, etc.
0.5% interest on the money in the savings account	1% (min. 1.5€) for transfers outside the EU.
Free trading account	No sub-accounts
26000 physical branches all across Germany	No interest in checking account
Insurance: Paid plans offer travel health insurance.	3.5€ per month fee for a debit card
Overdraft facility at 12.45% interest	3.33€ per month fee for a credit card
Deposit protection up to 100,000 €	3.33€ per month fee of a credit card
	No cashback
	1.5€ fee per real-time transfer

Summary of Commerzbank checking account bank services

Account model	Basic	Klassik	Premium
Price/month	Free if you deposit 700€ per month, else 9.90 € per month	6.90 €	12.90 €
Minimum deposit per month	700 €	N.A.	N.A.
Pockets (subaccounts)	✖️	✖️	✖️
Cashback	✖️	✖️	✖️
Overdraft	12.45%	11.45%	9.9%
Free cash withdrawals per month	Unlimited free withdrawals from Commerzbank ATMs. You pay 3€ to 6€ per withdrawal from other ATMs	Unlimited free withdrawals from Commerzbank ATMs. You pay 3€ to 6€ per withdrawal from other ATMs	Unlimited free withdrawals from Commerzbank ATMs. You pay 3€ to 6€ per withdrawal from other ATMs
Insurance	✖️	✖️	✔️
Real-time transfers	✔️1.5€	✔️1.5€	✔️1.5€
Free physical Mastercard (Debit card)	Free Giro Card 3.5 € per month for physical debit card Free virtual debit card	2 Free Giro Card 3.5 € per month for physical debit card Free virtual debit card	2 Free Giro Card 3.5 € per month for physical debit card Free virtual debit card
Interest in a savings account	0.5% variable 3% p.a. in tagesgeldkonto	0.5% variable 3% p.a. in tagesgeldkonto	0.5% 3.6% p.a. for the first 6 months in tagesgeldkonto
Interest in the checking account	✖️	✖️	✖️
Free trading account	✔️	✔️	✔️

How did we review Commerzbank Bank?

Parameter	Weightage	Score out of 10
Customer service	20%	3
Ease to open an account	10%	7
English support	20%	5
Fees	20%	4
Real-time transfer	5%	5
Overdraft facility	5%	5
Technology	10%	7
Special features	10%	0
Overall score		4.3

Is Commerzbank a bank?

Yes, Commerzbank is a bank with a German banking license. It was founded in 1870 in Hamburg. It’s the fourth-largest bank in Germany based on its total assets as of 2023.

It boasts 11 million customers as of 2023. You can find Commerzbank in Bafin’s financial institutes directory.

Is Commerzbank Bank safe?

Commerzbank Bank has a German banking license and is part of the statutory deposit protection scheme (Gesetzlichen Einlagensicherung).

Statutory deposit protection comes into play if the bank goes bankrupt. It covers up to 100,000€ per customer.

NOTE: The 100k€ coverage includes all your balances at Commerzbank Bank, i.e., your checking account, and the daily account (Tagesgeldkonto).

So, if you have more than 100k €, consider opening multiple bank accounts with different banks. This way, you won’t lose all your money if one of the banks goes bankrupt.

How good is Commerzbank Bank’s customer service?

We rated Commerzbank’s customer service 3 out of 10. Commerzbank got such a low rating because of the following reasons.

• Customers found the customer service incompetent. Many expats commented on Trustpilot that they felt Commerzbank staff behave differently with expats.
• Account blocked out of the blue: Many customers complain about their accounts being blocked without reason.
• Rude customer service and bank staff.

What did we find?

Commerzbank customer reviews

• Trustpilot: 1.4 out 5 (2977 reviews)
• Finanzfluss: 2 out of 5 (365 reviews)
• Finanztip: 69% of people had a negative experience (336 reviews)

Positive reviews summarized

• Branch-specific positive reviews: People who have received good consultancy at particular branches thanked the representative.

Negative reviews summarized

• Account blocked: Many customers complain that their accounts were suddenly blocked without providing any reason. The worst part is you can’t do anything about it and must open another account with a different bank.
• Rude behavior: Many customers wrote that the customer service and branch staff were rude. Expats commented on Trustpilot that the bank staff behaved differently with expats.

NOTE: Commerzbank has 26,000 branches in Germany. You may have a different experience at each branch. For example, I had a wonderful experience at two branches and the worst experience at one.

Ease to open an account with Commerzbank Bank

We gave Commerzbank 7 out of 10 for ease of opening an account. They offer the option to open an account online. However, their Ident app is buggy, making opening an account tough and unpleasant.

Does Commerzbank Bank offer English support?

Commerzbank offers some parts of its online and mobile banking in English; the rest is in German. Not all Commerzbank branches offer English customer service.

Even in big cities like Stuttgart, some branches don’t offer English customer support. Thus, we gave it 5 out of 10 for this parameter.

What fees does Commerzbank’s checking account charge?

We gave Commerzbank 4 out of 10 points on its fee structure and took seven points for the following reasons.

• ATM withdrawals: Commerzbank offers an unlimited number of free ATM withdrawals from its and partner banks’ ATMs. However, you pay 3€ to 6€ per withdrawal from any other ATM. If you live in Berlin, you won’t find many ATMs for Commerzbank or its partner banks.
• No free physical debit card: You have to pay 3.5€ per month for a physical debit card.
• No free credit card: You pay 39.99 € per annum for a credit card.
• Minimum monthly deposit: You must deposit 700 € per month in your checking account. Otherwise, pay 9.9 € per month for account maintenance charges.
• ATM withdrawals abroad: You pay a 1% fee (min. 5.98 €) on ATM withdrawals outside Germany.
• No free sub-accounts: Banks like C24 and Revolut offer free sub-accounts with different IBANs. However, Commerzbank has no such offering.
• Sending money outside the EU: You pay 1% (min 1.5€) in fee to transfer money outside the EU.

If you are looking for a truly free bank account, we find C24 the best. Next in line are Revolut and N26.

Real-time transfer

We gave Commerzbank a 5 out of 10 because you have to pay 1.5 € for every real-time transfer. Nowadays, most online banks, like C24, offer free real-time transfers.

Does Commerzbank Bank offer an overdraft facility?

Yes, Commerzbank offers an overdraft facility. However, its interest rate are higher than other banks like C24 and Revolut.

You pay 12.45% interest on the overdraft facility. Thus, it gets 5 out of 10 on the overdraft facility.

How good are Commerzbank Bank’s online and mobile banking?

Commerzbank gets 7 out of 10 on app design, usability, and intuitiveness. Here are the Commerzbank mobile app ratings on Playstore and App Store.

• Playstore: 4.5 (220k people reviewed it)
• Appstore: 4.7 (2.2k people reviewed it)

In our test, the mobile app worked seamlessly. The user interface was self-explanatory and worked as expected.

We deducted three points as Commerzbank app is basic and don’t offer features like save money automatically, spending analysis, sub-accounts, etc.

Commerzbank checking account’s features you’ll love

Commerzbank is way behind the modern fintech banks like C24, Revolut, and N26. It doesn’t offer any services that other online banks offers for free. Thus, it gets 0 out of 10.

Services banks like C24 offer for free.

• Sub-accounts
• Automatic saving rules
• Cashback on every transaction
• Promotional cashback
• Interest in the checking account
• Spending analysis and budget