Leasing a car in Germany (and why you might want to)

Ford FocusMany companies in Germany who provide their employees with company cars do not actually buy the cars outright, instead they prefer to lease them and my company car is no exception.

By leasing the car, I pay a monthly fee to a leasing company, often a bank, who have purchased the vehicle from my usual dealer.  That fee allows me to drive the car up to an agreed number of kilometres each year.

And when the lease runs out, I just return the car to the dealer and can lease a new one.

Buy why not buy the car outright as a business and then sell it again later? [Read more…]

What are the different types of TAN?

Laptop with card reader - ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / MultiartMost banks in Germany that offer personal home banking use a system called PIN/TAN.  Account holders log into their accounts using either a username or their account number with a PIN (Persönliche Identifikationsnummer).

After that, to carry out any form of transactions, a TAN (Transaktionsnummer) is use.

Over the years, the system has tried to cope with the growing number of phishing attacks and security problems, meaning that there are a number of different TAN systems in use. [Read more…]

Using cashpoints in Germany: Bank Charges

Card being inserted into Cashpoint - ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / Mik122I’ve talked before about the different payment methods available in Germany, although the acceptance of credit cards is slowly growing – even our local supermarket now accepts them.

But for many smaller shops in town centres, cash remains the method of choice which means that at some point visitors and ex-pats alike will need to visit a cashpoint.

Cashpoints are located in the branches of most banks and often at petrol stations, but the charge for using them varies depending on where your bank account is. [Read more…]

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