So now you’re settled, you’ve managed your paperwork, you’ve got a new Czech SIM card, rodné číslo in hand, and your new employer is asking where to send your salary to. Of course you need a bank account, but how to choose the best one?
If you’re a regular employee whose salary is not more than 70,000 CZK a month, I’d suggest you choose a bank which has no monthly fee, no hidden fees for receiving or sending out money, good interest rates on savings account, willing to let foreigners open an account (you’ll be surprised how frustrating it could be that some banks decide not to let foreigners without permanent residence open an account), good internet banking system, and of course, English friendly. The competition of banks is pretty tight, which is good for us because banks would compete to give the best service to get clients. Many banks provide referral program, which means if you have a friend who is a client already and they refer you to the bank, you both will get some hundred koruns rewards. Pretty sweet, huh? So, which bank is the best?
The answer is, depends on what you are looking for. At the moment I have 3 bank accounts for different purposes (and later on after you get more comfortable with your new life in Czech Republic and have known more about your way around your money, I would recommend you to have more than 1 bank account), and each of them offer something that is better than other banks. But below are my recommendations for your first Czech bank account.
Czech National Bank
1. Equa Bank
One of my favourite banks. It is very easy to set up an Equa account. All you need is just to take your passport+residence permit and you’re good to go (also bring your job contract or if you’re self employed, some documentation to prove your income). I’m pretty sure you can try to open an account online, but for a foreigner, the process is slightly trickier than for citizens (best they will do is they will call you and tell you to come to a branch).
What I love about Equa is that the account is free to use (unless you opt for their gold card which gives other benefits), have free withdrawals from any ATMs in Czech Republic (quite possibly because they don’t have their own ATM (or at least I’ve never seen any)) and only charge 9 CZK from any withdrawals abroad, instant transfer to other Equa accounts (would help a lot if your friends/circle also use Equa since many banks take a long time to transfer to other accounts), have one of the highest interest rates in savings account, really good and easy to use internet banking, and English friendly (even their website is very English friendly). If you have friends who use Equa as well, mention their name+phone number, you both will receive some rewards (last time was 100 CZK, not sure about now). It is also really easy to set up a Euro account link it to your card so when you buy something in EUR, it will be charged directly to the EUR account. Everything can be done online.
What I don’t love from Equa is they don’t have a deposit cash machine so unless you got your salary transferred there directly, might be difficult to use. You could go to a Post Office to deposit your money (maybe with a small fee) or, like what some of my friends do, they give cash to some friends and ask them to wire them to their account. Not the easiest way.
They also don’t offer credit card and their currency exchange rates aren’t the best.
2. Fio Bank
Another English friendly bank (both online and offline) with good internet banking system. They also offer free current account and you can even open accounts in 14 other currencies. Only 10 withdrawals from their ATM network is free monthly (but that’s normally more than enough) and you can also deposit cash in their branch.
Fio Bank is also one of few banks that offer stock investment services (a huge plus!). They also offer credit card (but probably not to new clients who haven’t established rapport in Czech Republic). Eurozone payments are also free. Their interest rates on savings account aren’t appealing at all though, but if you’re only looking for a bank for your day to day transactions, Fio Bank is one of the best in the market.
3. Air Bank
The website is not English friendly at all but Air Bank also offers a free account, free cash withdrawals from their ATM network.All incoming and outgoing payments are free and they also have cash deposit machines, unlike Equa. It’s also easy to open account in EUR and from time to time they offer rewards for new clients (for example, 500 CZK to open a new account). They also give bonus about 1% interest rate for a year to your current account if you use the card at least 5 times a month (which isn’t difficult to do at all). And they also offer one of the best interest rates for savings account in the market.
Much like Equa, you need to provide passport+residence permit and employment contract/self-employed documentation to open an account. Go to their branch as they will only speak in English in the branch not by phone. I’m not sure about their exchange rates, but it’s pretty common for banks to add a certain percentage to the exchange rates.
There are of course older and more established banks like Česká spořitelna or ČSOB. These banks have their advantages for other products but for current account, the three banks I mentioned above are among the top 3 banks with free account I can recommend.
PS: This is my personal opinion. I am not endorsed or paid by any banks to promote their products.
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