Whether at the bakery, supermarket or ice cream man – people in Germany like to pay a lot in cash. The return is usually received in the form of coins. The weight of hard money in your wallet pleases at least people, which is why the money quickly ends up in the money box at home. But what to do with it when the piggy bank overflows?
Banks charge a fee for depositing coins
Cash remains attractive in Germany. The special thing about coins: No one knows where about 15 to 20 percent of the coins are, according to an article in WirtschaftsWoche. “You shouldn’t forget that there are probably a lot of coins between car seats. Or in the winter jacket that you now take out of the closet,” a spokesman for the German Savings Banks and Giro Association in Berlin told the portal. Many people also save their coins in cash boxes, money boxes or old glasses. But getting rid of the accumulated change is not that easy. Although the institutions handle it very differently according to the respective associations of savings banks, private banks and Volks- and Raiffeisenbanks, most of them charge a fee. The fee can apply to commercial or third-party customers and sometimes depends on the amount, age or number. Still others don’t even accept coins. But why does accepting coins seem so unattractive for banks?
Various institutes justify their fee structure by saying that cash is becoming more and more expensive, which is why even coins have to be checked for possible counterfeits. The process is complex and expensive, as the deposited coins not only have to be counted, but also checked for authenticity and fitness for circulation, according to the portal wmn.de. Furthermore, the small change must be prepared so that it can then be delivered insured by means of cash transport, reports wmn.de. In order to cover this process financially, most institutions charge fees.
Branch bank, direct bank or Bundesbank
Since, as already mentioned, different institutions handle the acceptance of coins differently, a distinction will be made below between branch banks, direct banks and the Bundesbank.
As a customer at a branch bank, you can usually change up to 50 coins free of charge or deposit them into your own checking account. All you have to do is go to a nearby branch as usual and hand in the change at the bank counter or special coin machine. The use of such a machine is free of charge. At some institutions the threshold is even more than 50 coins, for example at Hypovereinsbank. At Commerzbank and its subsidiary Comdirect, however, the amount of the first three deposits per year is irrelevant.
As a customer of a direct bank, things look a little more difficult. Since internet banks such as ING or DKB do not have their own branch, they often do not have their own ATMs. As a third-party customer at another bank, fees may apply. The alternative: the Bundesbank.
It is possible to exchange coins for banknotes at the Bundesbank. The small change should be in “normal household quantities” so that it can be changed free of charge. However, to find out the exact conditions and fees of the respective institution, you should always check with your own bank.
If it involves smaller amounts of change, there is always the possibility of an exchange. The next time you make a purchase, you can simply offer to add an additional 45 cents, for example, in order to get a straight amount back and get rid of the copper money.
Editorial team finanzen.net
Selected leverage products on Commerzbank
With knock-outs, speculative investors can participate disproportionately in price movements. Simply select the leverage you want and we will show you suitable open-end products on Commerzbank
The leverage must be between 2 and 20
Advertising