In Germany we use a current account (Girokonto) provided by a local company like “Sparkasse” or a national company like “Deutsche Bank”. Most banks offer students a Girokonto free of fees or charges. Nowadays you get online or telephone banking for your account without problems if you ask for it. When opening a bank account you receive an EC card (electronic cash and debit card) with a PIN (personal identification number). You can use the card for cashless payments or withdrawing money from the cash machine (ATM). Make sure your name is on your letter box because the bank will send you either the card or the PIN by post. Withdrawing money from ATMs of other banks than yours may cost you extra charge. To print out your bank statements use the printer which is usually next to the ATM. You should do this once a while to keep track of your balance. Every bank account comes with 3 numbers, the account number (Kontonummer), the routing number (Bankleitzahl) and an international bank account number (IBAN). You might need some of these to transfer money. For regular expenses such as rent and health insurance you might be required to give permission for automatic withdrawal. Make sure your account always has enough money for these regular expenses. Traveler`s cheques and credit cards are not very common in Germany. They are either not accepted or you get charged a high fee. In most case you better use your EC card.