The key facts:
- Two accounts, one price: DKB runs two models for business customers, both at €15 a month. DKB-Business is designed for the liberal professions, healthcare professions, self-employed people and property managers, and there all electronic payments are covered by the monthly price. The Geschäftskonto for companies charges €0.08 for every electronic transaction. German IBAN, direct bank, and no €0 plan anywhere in the range.
- What adds up in practice: the €15 runs from the first month. For companies every transaction counts, incoming payments included. Cards issued with an account opened on or after 01.07.2026 cost €30 a year, sub-accounts are not part of DKB-Business, there is no cashback, and investing only works through the Business-Guthabenkonto for an extra €10.
- Vivid as the alternative: €0 a month on the Free Start plan, open to all legal forms up to GmbH and UG, SEPA transfers with no per-transfer fee, unlimited accounts each with its own German IBAN, and investing straight from the business account.
With the DKB business account, what decides whether it suits you is not the price but your profession. A doctor, a lawyer, a tax adviser, a property management firm: the account is built for that group, and then €15 a month is the entire bill for your payments. Run a trade as a GmbH and you end up in a different model, which carries the same monthly price and charges for every transaction on top. Two accounts, one price tag, two very different monthly bills.
This article is about the business account at DKB, not the private current account. It separates the two models, works through the per-transaction pricing, shows what cards, cash and the accounting connection really cost, and names the limits. All figures come from the official product page and from the price and services list for business customers dated 1 July 2026, read in August 2026.
What is the DKB business account?
Who DKB opens the account for
Anyone searching for a DKB bank business account almost always means DKB-Business. Behind the brand sits Deutsche Kreditbank AG, a direct bank in the BayernLB group. There are no branches. The account runs entirely online and comes with a German IBAN. DKB names the target group unusually precisely in its own FAQ. It lists self-employed people and freelancers such as doctors, pharmacists, tax advisers and lawyers, plus part-time farmers and property managers. The legal form does not matter, the bank writes. So the account is open to certain professional groups and not to others.
A second document draws the line more tightly: the price and services list for business customers describes DKB-Business in §2 with the note that it applies "only to the liberal professions, self-employed people and commercial property managers". Together that gives you the rule that matters in practice. Access is decided by what you do, not by your commercial register entry. Profession first, legal form second. A DKB business account for freelancers and healthcare professions is the normal case; a pure trading business is not. Work freelance as a sole trader or under the small-business rule and you fall into the group the account was designed for.
One structural point belongs before the maths: DKB is a direct bank and runs no branches of its own. Advice happens by phone and online, cash happens at ATMs.
Two accounts at the same price
Most overviews treat "the DKB business account" as one product. In the price and services list there are two, and they differ in exactly the point that makes your monthly bill. §2 describes DKB-Business: €15 for account management, an internet account, and online banking. Transfers, instant, scheduled and bulk transfers, direct debits and standing orders carry no per-item price there. The product page calls it "unlimited online transactions", and the FAQ confirms it with a plain no to the question of whether costs are staggered by usage.
§1 describes the Geschäftskonto for companies, and next to the same €15 sits a price list. Every electronic transaction costs €0.08 and every paper-based order €2.95. Incoming payments, direct debit submissions and standing orders are counted too. It is sold sector by sector through advisers.
That answers the most common question in the cluster, the one about a DKB business account for a GmbH. The bank says the legal form is not decisive, and for a practice or a law firm in corporate form that holds true. A trading business, an agency or an online shop as a GmbH or UG does not belong to the three groups named in §2. Those are routed to the company model. With a partnership of two freelancers it looks different again. One phone call before you apply saves more time here than any overview online.
What the DKB business account costs
The two accounts side by side
The fees on the DKB business account fit into two lines. Account management costs €15 a month in both models, from the first month, with no promotional period and no discount for founders. No trial, no waiver. There is no lower basic fee for small turnover. A €0 plan does not exist in the range. What differs is everything that comes after.
| Account | Price per month | Electronic transaction | Incoming payment | Card per year | Enough for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DKB-Business | €15 | included in the price | included in the price | €30 from 01.07.2026 | liberal and healthcare professions, self-employed people |
| Geschäftskonto (companies) | €15 | €0.08 | €0.08 | €30 from 01.07.2026 | companies served by an adviser, sector by sector |
For a law firm with three hundred transactions a month, DKB-Business is easy to budget: €180 a year, plus €30 for the card. In the company model the bill grows from both sides: three hundred outgoing transfers and three hundred incoming payments together add €48 a month, which makes €63 instead of €15. That is the classic structure of a business current account with per-item pricing, and it pays to work it out in advance rather than after the first statement.
What the monthly price includes
The terms on the DKB business account are pleasantly clear on DKB-Business, because nearly everything sits inside the monthly price. According to the price list and the FAQ you get:
On cards, two DKB statements sit next to each other, and you should know both. The FAQ lists the Visa business credit card as included in the €15, provided you apply for it when opening the account. Footnote 75 of the price list, on the other hand, records that a yearly fee of €30 applies to debit and credit cards issued with an account opened on or after 01.07.2026. Older cards stay free of charge according to the FAQ. So if you open now, budget for the card fee and check the figure with the provider before you sign. Virtual cards are not part of the range in any case.
On DKB-Business, €15 a month is the whole bill. In the company model it is only the start: every transaction counts at €0.08, and because incoming payments count too, the bill grows with the number of your customers rather than with your own activity. At Vivid that calculation disappears: SEPA transfers carry no per-transfer fee, and incoming payments carry no fee at all.
Features of the DKB business account
Payments and per-item pricing
Day to day the account covers what a business current account has to cover: transfers and SEPA instant transfers, the bulk transfer for salaries, standing orders for rent and leasing. Collecting SEPA direct debits works too, provided you selected the function in the application. On DKB-Business none of these orders costs extra; in the company model every electronic transaction comes to €0.08 and every paper-based one to €2.95.
With a payment abroad it gets more specific. A transfer involving a currency conversion costs €12.50 up to an order value of €12,500 according to the price list, and above that 1 per mille, capped at €150. One thing is missing from the list entirely: the price list does not provide for foreign currency accounts, and the account runs in euros.
Cards on the DKB business account
The credit card for the DKB business account is the Visa business credit card, applied for while opening the account, with an initial card limit of at least €1,000 according to the FAQ. Payments in euros carry no fee. In a foreign currency the bank charges 2.20% of the amount as a currency conversion fee, settled at the Visa rate of the booking day.
On cash the price list separates ATM from counter. With the credit card you withdraw euros at no charge from DKB, worldwide at any Visa ATM. A cash withdrawal at the counter costs 3% of the amount, minimum €5. The Girocard comes as an additional card and carries €0.20 per cashless use in the company model.
Withdrawing and depositing cash
Withdrawing is the easy part at DKB. With the Visa business credit card you get cash in Germany and the euro area with no fee from the bank. The ATM operator itself may charge its own fee, which footnote 17 of the price list states explicitly. Depositing is the other direction, and for that the price and services list for business customers holds no entry at all.
That follows from the business model: a direct bank without branches has no counter where you can hand over coins and notes.
Bookkeeping, DATEV and interfaces
This part is quickly told: the DATEV connection for the DKB business account is available, and according to the FAQ no extra costs arise from using it. For everyone whose tax adviser works with DATEV, that removes a line item other providers bill monthly. Added to it are data exchange via FinTS, EBICS for statement retrieval and multibanking with software such as StarMoney.
Invoicing itself sits outside the account. Writing quotes, issuing invoices, chasing open items: for that you need an additional tool, and its price appears in no account model.
Business-Guthabenkonto and interest
Liquidity you do not need sits on the business account earning nothing: the price list quotes 0.00% a year for the internet account. If you want to park reserves with interest, you add the DKB overnight deposit for the business account as the Business-Guthabenkonto for €10 a month. It pays a credit interest rate of 1.50% a year, with no custody fee above €100,000. On €20,000 of reserves, €120 of annual account fees stand against roughly €300 in interest; on €5,000 the maths no longer works.
Two things are missing at this point. An operating credit line is available on request only for the healthcare and liberal professions, at 9.30% a year. And securities do not run through the business account. According to section C of the price list the DKB broker is no longer offered, and the prices quoted there apply only to existing broker customers. Buying shares or ETFs from company funds therefore means opening a securities account elsewhere.
Limits of the DKB business account
The DKB business account is not free in either of the two models, and that is the first of several limits worth knowing before you apply. None of them is a fault; they follow from the account being cut for one professional circle and for payments only.
One detail at the start comes on top. The online application does not end with a click but with a PDF you download, sign and upload again before the video identification follows. Anyone used to the flow at purely digital providers will notice that step.
The limits are not missing features, they are a question of fit. DKB builds an account for the payments of a practice or a law firm, not an account with sub-accounts, foreign currencies and investing already built in. At Vivid exactly that is included on the Free Start plan for €0 a month: unlimited accounts each with its own German IBAN, SEPA with no per-transfer fee, and investing straight from the account.
Opening a DKB business account
You can apply for and open a DKB business account entirely online, and the bank describes the route in three steps. Three steps, not one click. First you fill in the online application. Then you download the generated PDF, sign it and upload it again. After that you identify yourself by video with an ID card or passport, on a smartphone for instance. Access details and the card then arrive by post.
In practice that means the account is not ready the same evening. Between the application and your first transfer sit the postal route for the access details and, for legal entities, the check of register documents. If you need the account by a fixed date, for example to pay in share capital, plan for that lead time.
Alternatives to the DKB business account
If the deciding factor is not the DATEV connection or the credit line but the running costs, it is worth looking at providers who calculate differently. The difference almost always sits in three places: whether transactions are billed individually, whether the number of accounts depends on the plan, and whether reserves can work inside the account. The table puts Vivid and DKB side by side on exactly those dimensions. Three rows, one glance. The Vivid part follows.
| Provider | Monthly price | IBAN | Cashback | Investing | Accounts & IBANs | Currencies | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vivid | €0 (Free Start), all legal forms incl. GmbH and UG | German IBAN | 0.1% to 1% by plan, no monthly cap (all purchases), up to 10% in categories | stocks, ETFs, iBonds, money market funds, crypto | unlimited, each with its own IBAN | 22 currencies | Freelancers to GmbH/UG |
| DKB | €15 (DKB-Business), no free plan, freelancers and self-employed only · companies: Geschäftskonto from €15 plus €0.08 per transaction | German IBAN | no cashback | no securities, interest account only for €10 a month | no sub-accounts on DKB-Business | EUR only | Freelancers & sole traders |
Vivid as an alternative to DKB
Vivid does the maths from the other side: not a monthly price plus per-item fees, but a scope that already sits in the cheapest plan. The difference starts with the monthly price.
What Vivid Business offers
The Free Start plan costs €0 a month, and it is open to all legal forms, from freelancers and sole traders up to GmbH and UG. SEPA transfers run without a per-transfer fee, incoming and outgoing, whether that is ten a month or a thousand. A business account with a German IBAN is there from day one.
For the reader's own maths that means the number of transactions stops mattering. Twenty transfers a month cost the same as two hundred, and incoming payments are not counted at all. If you are currently on a bank plan with per-item pricing, compare the annual total including every item rather than the monthly prices.
On the structure of accounts the difference is clearest. You open as many accounts as you want, each with its own German IBAN, and already on the €0 plan. Reserves for VAT, one account per project, separate tills for two locations: that is handled in the app rather than by changing plan. No application, no surcharge. Team members come along without limit and with no per-seat price, with four roles and card limits per person.
The third difference concerns money that is not working right now: stocks, ETFs, iBonds, money market funds and crypto are bought straight from the business account, and an interest account takes care of reserves. The DATEV interface and invoicing tools are built in, plus guaranteed cashback with no monthly cap on all purchases, and Visa Business cards come virtual and physical.
The Vivid plans at a glance
Three plans, fixed prices, no staggering by transaction:
| Plan | Price per month | Cashback on all purchases | Accounts with own IBAN | Enough for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Start | €0 | 0.1% | unlimited | getting started, all legal forms incl. GmbH and UG |
| Basic | €6.90 | 0.2% | unlimited | working in several currencies |
| Pro | €18.90 | 0.5% | unlimited | teams with card rules and approvals |
The prices apply as shown, with no VAT on top. They apply on annual billing; paid monthly it is €8.90 on Basic and €24.90 on Pro. If you are coming from the monthly price of a business current account, the fairest comparison is the annual total.
What the €0 plan holds
Free Start is not a trial with locks but the entry point with full payments. It includes SEPA transfers with no per-transfer fee, accounts with their own IBAN in any number, cards virtual and physical, the DATEV interface, guaranteed cashback on all purchases and unlimited team members.
For a new company that means no allowance running out mid-month, and no monthly fee falling due before your first revenue. If you need more later, you change plan and keep your accounts, IBANs and cards. And if all you do for now is run payments, you stay at €0 a month for good.
In practice it looks like this: you open one account for VAT, one for reserves and one per project, move money between them at no charge and see every movement in the same app. Bookkeeping pulls the data through the DATEV interface, and receipts are uploaded straight onto the transaction. That is exactly the part where an account with per-item pricing charges for every internal transfer.
Basic and Pro: what comes on top
From Basic, accounts in 22 currencies and international transfers come along, which makes the difference as soon as you invoice in dollars or pounds. From Pro, advanced card limits with category, merchant and country rules plus corporate cards come on top, along with approval flows for limit changes. A business account for a GmbH and UG can therefore be set up from day one so that bookkeeping and card use are settled across the team.
Investing and interest from the account
Reserves do not have to sit on a second, paid account. From the Vivid business account you buy stocks, ETFs, iBonds, money market funds and crypto, and for liquidity that should stay available there is an interest account. Both sit in the same app as your payments.
The difference is therefore less a question of returns than of routes: no separate securities account at another provider, no monthly surcharge for a savings account. Model portfolios are there for everyone who does not want to pick instruments themselves.
For reserves that means one step fewer. The money stays on an account that belongs to the business account, and you decide per amount whether it should stay available or go to work. Moving it back and forth works in both directions, with no notice period and no second contract.
Opening an account with Vivid
Opening happens online: fill in the application, photograph your ID, take a selfie for verification, and the account is there with a German IBAN. If you are coming from another account, standing orders and direct debits move across gradually while both accounts run in parallel.
If payments, several accounts with their own IBAN and investing are all meant to sit in one account, Vivid is the alternative to DKB that fits: €0 a month on the Free Start plan for all legal forms including GmbH and UG, SEPA transfers with no per-transfer fee, unlimited accounts each with its own German IBAN, DATEV interface built in. On top of that comes guaranteed cashback with no monthly cap on all purchases.
Which business account suits whom?
Start with the question of what your account costs per year and what you get for it. That is the whole calculation. Everything else is detail. At Vivid that is €0 on the Free Start plan, open to all legal forms up to GmbH and UG, with SEPA transfers at no per-transfer fee, unlimited accounts each with its own German IBAN and investing from the same account. For founders, freelancers and companies with many incoming payments, that is where the annual bill is decided. If you are looking for a free business account that a GmbH can open too, this is the shortest route.
DKB comes into question where its fit is exact: healthcare and liberal professions with a credit line on the account, tax advisers and solicitors who need the trustee package for notaries, property managers with reserve and rent accounts. Vivid covers both ways of working: business and private accounts sit in the same app without a second onboarding, and reserves go to the interest account instead of a second contract.
Verdict on the DKB business account
The prices of the DKB business account are calculated for one particular way of working. If you work freelance or in a healthcare profession, transfer a lot and have few special requirements, €15 a month buys you an account with a German IBAN, unlimited electronic payments and DATEV at no extra cost. For companies on per-item pricing, and for everyone who needs sub-accounts, foreign currencies or securities, the maths looks different.
Vivid is the better fit as soon as more than plain payments is meant to sit in one account. €0 a month on the Free Start plan, for a GmbH and UG as well, SEPA transfers with no per-transfer fee, unlimited accounts each with its own German IBAN, investing and an interest account inside the same account, and cashback on every purchase. Work both models out over a year, with your real number of transactions.
Ready for a business account?
Open a Vivid business account with a German IBAN: Free Start at €0 a month, unlimited SEPA transfers and unlimited accounts each with its own IBAN.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Is the DKB business account free?
No. Both DKB business accounts cost €15 a month, and from the first month; there is no €0 plan in the range. On DKB-Business all electronic payments are covered by that price, while on the Geschäftskonto for companies every electronic transaction costs an additional €0.08, incoming payments included.Can a GmbH or UG open a DKB business account?
DKB writes that the legal form does not matter on DKB-Business. The price and services list, however, limits that account in §2 to the liberal professions, self-employed people and commercial property managers. For a practice or a law firm in corporate form the two fit together; a purely commercial business as a GmbH or UG is routed to the Geschäftskonto at €0.08 per transaction.How much does the card cost?
For the Girocard and the credit card (Visa business credit card) DKB charges €30 a year according to the price and services list, provided the card is issued with an account opened on or after 01.07.2026. Cards that existed before that date stay free of charge according to the bank FAQ. Card payments in euros carry no fee; in a foreign currency 2.20% of the amount is added. Virtual cards are not part of the range.Does the DKB business account have a DATEV interface?
Yes. DKB states that DKB-Business can be connected to data processing with DATEV and that no additional costs arise from using it. FinTS and EBICS are also available for statement retrieval, EBICS at €25 a month per customer ID. Invoicing itself is not part of the account.Does DKB pay any cashback?
No, the word does not appear once in the 19-page price and services list for business customers. At Vivid, guaranteed cashback with no monthly cap on all purchases is included from the Free Start plan, and the rate is higher in selected categories.Which alternative fits if everything should sit in one account?
Vivid. The Free Start plan costs €0 a month and is open to all legal forms including GmbH and UG, SEPA transfers run without a per-transfer fee, and you open as many accounts with their own German IBAN as you need. Stocks, ETFs, iBonds, money market funds and crypto are bought straight from the business account. The DATEV interface and invoicing tools are built in, plus guaranteed cashback with no monthly cap on all purchases.
As of August 2026. The information on DKB was compiled to the best of our knowledge from the official product page and the price and services list for business customers dated 1 July 2026 and can change at any time, in particular prices and terms. No claim is made to completeness or accuracy. Please check the current terms directly with the provider. DKB and Deutsche Kreditbank are trademarks of Deutsche Kreditbank AG; there is no business relationship between Vivid and DKB. Vivid Money S.A. is an e-money institution supervised by the CSSF and not a bank; customer funds are held separately. Investment and interest products are provided by Vivid Money B.V. Investments carry risks; the value of an investment can rise or fall, and past performance is not an indicator of future returns. Crypto assets are unregulated and highly volatile; a total loss is possible. This article is not legal or tax advice.
