Banking and payments in Austria: your right to an account, and why your IBAN can stay

Yes, you can easily open a bank account in Austria, and the law is on your side. Every consumer legally resident in the EU has a right there, regardless of their place of residence, to an account with the basic functions, the Basiskonto. The bank must open or refuse within ten working days of your complete application, and may charge at most € 83.45 a year for it. Meanwhile there's no rush: anyone in Austria who accepts payments by SEPA may not refuse your Dutch IBAN. The real reason to open a local account quickly is usually the deposit on your rented home.

What rights do I have at an Austrian bank?

The Verbraucherzahlungskontogesetz is clear on three points. A bank may not reject your application because of your nationality, your place of residence, your language or similar characteristics. The Basiskonto may not depend on buying other products. And the bank has to decide quickly.

Rule	What it means	Where it's laid down
Right to a Basiskonto	even if you don't have a fixed address yet	VZKG § 23
No discrimination	not on nationality or place of residence	VZKG § 22
Decision deadline	no later than ten working days after the complete application	VZKG § 23
Costs	at most € 83.45 a year, all-inclusive	Ministry of Social Affairs
Reduced rate	at most € 41.73 a year, for those who meet the social criteria	Ministry of Social Affairs
No overdraft	the bank doesn't have to give credit	Your Europe

With a Basiskonto you can deposit and withdraw money, send and receive transfers, run direct debits and pay by debit card online and in shops. The Ministry of Social Affairs adds that within the European Economic Area you may make transfers, direct debits, card payments and cash withdrawals as often as you like and at no extra cost.

Refusal is possible, though: if you don't meet the anti-money-laundering rules. So bring a valid passport or identity card; the law assumes an official identity document with a photo.

Do I need an Austrian account straight away?

No. European rules prohibit IBAN discrimination: anyone in the euro area who accepts a payment via SEPA may not refuse an account from another EU country. That applies to a tax refund, a benefit or another allowance, and to bills you pay by transfer or direct debit, as long as the party also accepts domestic accounts. The Austrian child benefit, the Familienbeihilfe, also goes to an account in the SEPA area, by the eighth of the month at the latest.

So your Dutch account can serve perfectly well for the first months, and you keep it afterwards too: that's where your AOW, pension and Dutch refunds come in. Why you never close that account or your DigiD is in keeping a bank account and DigiD.

Why does a local account still help?

Because of the deposit, mainly. It is high in Austria: three gross monthly rents is usual, and up to six is permitted. The deposit can be handed over as a savings book or as a sum of money; in the latter case the landlord must put it at interest in a savings book or a comparable investment, separate from their own assets. You open a savings book at an Austrian bank. How high the deposit on your home may be and what you get back is in living and renting in Austria.

Take photos at the key handover. According to the Ministry of Justice, a dispute about the deposit belongs not with the rent arbitration board but with the court. The condition of the home at move-in, recorded in a handover report with photos, is then your best evidence.

What do I need at the bank?

The bank asks in any case for a valid identity document with a photo. Which papers a bank wants to see beyond that differs per bank; ask beforehand. Your confirmation of registration, the Meldebestätigung, you have within three days of moving into your home, see the Meldezettel. If you don't have a fixed address yet, you are still entitled to the Basiskonto under the law.

There is one restriction: if you already have a payment account at an Austrian bank, a bank may refuse the Basiskonto as long as that other account hasn't been closed.

And if the bank refuses anyway?

Then the bank has to do so in writing, and you can file a complaint with the Finanzmarktaufsicht or with the out-of-court dispute board; the bank must tell you in the refusal letter how to reach them. If a company or authority refuses your Dutch IBAN, that's a different case: you file a complaint about it with the competent authority of that party's country.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.6: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Austria or go straight to step 4.6 in the open plan.