🇦🇹Austria · Banking
Austria — Banking
Open a bank account in Austria as a foreigner: passport, Meldezettel and usually a job contract. Bank Austria, Erste, N26, and the Russian-passport deposit cap.
Austria runs on euros, so currency is never the question. The question is documents. A bank wants your passport, your registered address as a , and in most cases an employment contract before it opens a current account. For a Russian or Belarusian passport one extra layer applies first, and this chapter treats it head on.
The banks that matter and the rails beneath them
The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) is the central bank, part of the Eurosystem, and the supervisory backbone alongside the Financial Market Authority. It does not hold retail accounts. The everyday banking you will use is split between a handful of large groups and a layer of app-first challengers.
Four names cover most of the retail market. Erste Bank and its regional Sparkasse savings banks form the largest branch network. Raiffeisen is a dense cooperative group, strong in the provinces and rural valleys. Bank Austria, part of UniCredit, is the large international-facing player and the one most often cited for handling non-resident and cross-border cases. BAWAG rounds out the majors with a leaner, lower-fee retail proposition.
Below the incumbents sit the digital banks. N26 is Austrian-licensed in feel but German-headquartered and issues a German IBAN; Revolut operates on a Lithuanian or other EU IBAN; bunq on a Dutch one. All three are fully usable for salary, rent and direct debits in Austria because they sit on the same euro rail, although an Austrian landlord or employer occasionally still prefers a local AT IBAN out of habit.
That shared rail is . Every euro transfer inside the Single Euro Payments Area clears the same way, free or near-free, whether the counter-account is in Vienna, Berlin or Vilnius. An Austrian is 20 characters and starts with AT; a German IBAN starting DE works identically for an Austrian payroll or a utility direct debit. Discrimination against a non-AT SEPA IBAN is technically against EU rules, though informal friction survives.
The takeaway for a newcomer is that bank choice is reversible and low-stakes. The hard part is not picking Erste over Raiffeisen, it is assembling the documents that let any of them open the account at all.
How to open an account as a newcomer
The sequence almost always starts before the bank. You move into an Austrian address, then file the (the Anmeldung) at the local Meldeamt within 3 days of moving in. That registration slip is the document a bank treats as proof you actually live where you say. Without it, a traditional branch will usually decline to proceed.
The core document pack
- Passport or national ID, valid, as the identity anchor.
- Meldezettel, the registered-address confirmation, filed within 3 days of moving in.
- Employment contract or proof of income, which most branches ask for; some accept a residence permit or enrolment letter instead.
- Residence permit or visa for third-country nationals, evidencing the right to stay.
- Tax number or proof of foreign tax residence for the KESt and reporting paperwork the bank completes on your behalf.
In-branch opening is still the norm at Erste, Raiffeisen, Bank Austria and BAWAG. You book an appointment, bring the pack, sign, and the account is usually live within a few working days; the debit card and online-banking credentials arrive separately by post. Branch staff in Vienna routinely handle English; in smaller towns German smooths the process considerably.
App-based opening compresses the timeline. A neobank verifies identity by video or photo of the passport and issues an IBAN the same day, with no Meldezettel demanded up front. This is why many arrivals open an N26 or Revolut account first to receive their initial salary, then add a local AT account once the registration and contract are in hand.
One judgement worth making early: if your employer, landlord and utility provider all accept a German or EU IBAN, a neobank alone can carry you for months. If any of them insists on an AT IBAN, treat the local account as the priority and the neobank as the backup, not the reverse.
Fees, cards and everyday payment habits
A traditional Austrian account is not free. The annual maintenance fee (Kontofuhrungsgebuhr) on a bundled package runs from about € 60 to € 180 a year, covering a debit card, online banking and a set number of transactions. Neobanks undercut this with a free basic tier and paid upgrades. The fee gap is real but modest against the convenience of a local branch when something goes wrong.
- Address registration first
- —
- Core documents
- —
- IBAN format
- —
- Annual maintenance fee
- —
- Neobank fee
- —
- Tax at source
- —
Austria is a debit-card and, still, a cash culture more than a credit-card one. The everyday card is a Bankomatkarte (Maestro or Debit Mastercard), used for in-store payment and for cash at a Bankomat ATM. Withdrawals are normally free in your own network; independent ATM operators may levy a separate on-screen fee that you accept before dispensing. Credit cards exist but are a secondary product, often issued against a small income check.
Digital wallets are mainstream. Apple Pay and Google Pay work with the major banks and the neobanks, and contactless is the default in supermarkets, transport and cafes. Cash remains widely accepted and sometimes preferred at small businesses, market stalls and rural establishments, so a Bankomat card that dispenses notes cleanly still matters.
On investments held through the bank, 27.5 % KESt is withheld at source on dividends and securities gains, with bank interest taxed at 25 %. For most newcomers this is invisible plumbing: the bank deducts and remits, and there is nothing further to file on those flows.
Non-resident and pre-arrival accounts
A genuine non-resident account, opened from abroad before you have an Austrian address, is the awkward case. Most branches will not do it, because the Meldezettel is the document they lean on. Bank Austria, with its UniCredit reach, is the one most often named as willing to handle some non-resident and cross-border profiles, typically with extra documentation and sometimes a relationship or balance condition.
For everyone else the bridge is digital. Opening an N26, Revolut or bunq account from your current country gives you a working EU IBAN before you land. It receives a SEPA salary, pays a SEPA direct debit and funds a rental deposit, which covers the first weeks while you register an address and book a branch appointment. Treat it as a landing rail, then add a local AT account if your counterparties demand one.
The pre-arrival sequence that works in practice: open a neobank account from abroad, fly in, sign the lease, file the Meldezettel within 3 days, then walk into Erste, Raiffeisen, Bank Austria or BAWAG with the registration slip and the employment contract. By the time the local account is live the neobank has already absorbed the first salary and the deposit.
Russian and Belarusian nationals: the deposit cap and EDD
This is where the order of obstacles changes. Since 2022 a Russian national has faced a hard ceiling under EU Regulation 833/2014, Article 5b: total deposits across EU banks could not exceed € 100,000. The number was a legal wall, not a fee, and it sat in front of the ordinary account-opening process.
The decisive carve-out is residence. The € 100,000 cap is lifted once the holder has a residence permit of an EU/EEA member state or Switzerland. An Austrian residence permit therefore removes the ceiling outright: a Russian national living lawfully in Austria can hold deposits above the limit and bank broadly as a resident. The wall becomes a checkpoint.
The checkpoint that remains is enhanced due diligence (EDD). Banks apply heightened source-of-funds scrutiny to Russian and Belarusian profiles: documented origin of the money, prior bank statements, and sometimes a slower internal sign-off. Outcomes are bank-dependent rather than uniform, so a profile declined at one institution can be accepted at another. The Belarusian situation parallels the Russian one in practice, with no blanket EU deposit cap of the same kind but the same EDD reality.
On payment rails, the distinction matters. Austrian banks keep full SWIFT and SEPA connectivity, so the Austrian side is not isolated. What is cut sits at the other end: specific sanctioned Russian banks were removed from SWIFT, so a transfer to or from one of those named institutions will not settle, regardless of the Austrian account. Routes through non-sanctioned banks still complete, subject to the receiving bank compliance review.
A Russian tax obligation also follows the account. A foreign account must be reported to the Russian tax authority, with annual statements of movement, and penalties apply for non-disclosure. None of this touches the Austrian opening itself, but it shapes how a holder who keeps Russian ties should document the relationship.
For Ukrainians the picture is the opposite of restricted. Holders of Temporary Protection are treated as lawful residents for banking, open accounts on the strength of the registration card and Meldezettel, and meet none of the sanctions-linked friction. The practical advice for that group is the same as for any newcomer: register the address, then open the account.
Choosing a bank
A working order for most arrivals:
- Open a neobank (N26, Revolut or bunq) from abroad so a euro IBAN exists before you land.
- Move in, then file the Meldezettel at the Meldeamt within 3 days.
- Take the registration slip and your employment contract to Erste, Raiffeisen, Bank Austria or BAWAG, or open with one app-side if they accept it.
- Pick Bank Austria first if your profile is cross-border or non-resident, or BAWAG if low fees are the priority.
- If you hold a Russian or Belarusian passport, lead with the residence permit, expect EDD, and try a second bank if the first declines.
- Keep the neobank as the backup rail for SEPA flows and travel, even after the local account is live.
What not to do: do not expect to walk in on day one with only a passport and leave with an account. The Meldezettel comes first, the contract usually second, and the bank third. Reverse that order and the appointment ends without a result.
Frequently asked
What do I need to open a bank account in Austria as a foreigner?
Three things at a traditional branch: a valid passport or national ID, the confirming your registered Austrian address (filed at the Meldeamt within 3 days of moving in), and in most cases an employment contract or proof of income. Third-country nationals also show a residence permit. Some banks accept a permit or a university enrolment letter in place of a job contract, and the bank completes the tax-residence paperwork with you. Neobanks ask for less and skip the Meldezettel at opening.
Can I open an Austrian account before I arrive or without a job?
At a traditional branch it is difficult, because the Meldezettel and often an employment contract are the documents staff rely on, and neither exists before you arrive. Bank Austria, through its UniCredit network, is the institution most often cited as willing to handle some non-resident and cross-border cases, usually with extra documentation. The practical pre-arrival bridge is a neobank: N26, Revolut or bunq issues a German or EU IBAN that is fully SEPA-valid in Austria, receives salary and pays direct debits, while you sort out registration on the ground.
Is there a deposit limit for Russian nationals at Austrian banks?
There was a hard ceiling of € 100,000 on total deposits across EU banks under EU Regulation 833/2014, Article 5b. The key point is that this cap is lifted once the holder has a residence permit of an EU/EEA member state or Switzerland. An Austrian residence permit removes it outright, so a Russian national living lawfully in Austria can bank broadly as a resident. Enhanced due diligence still applies, meaning documented source of funds and a slower review, and outcomes vary by bank. The Belarusian situation is similar in practice, with the same EDD reality and no blanket cap of that kind.
Do Austrian banks still have SWIFT access?
Yes. Austrian banks retain full SWIFT and SEPA connectivity, so the Austrian side of any transfer is not isolated. The cut runs the other way: specific sanctioned Russian banks were removed from SWIFT, which means a transfer to or from one of those named institutions will not complete, no matter which Austrian account you use. Transfers routed through non-sanctioned banks still settle, subject to the receiving bank compliance review and, on a Russian or Belarusian profile, source-of-funds checks.
What does an Austrian account cost to run?
A traditional bank charges an annual maintenance fee on a bundled package of roughly € 60 to € 180, covering a Bankomat debit card, online banking and a set transaction allowance. Neobanks offer a free basic tier with paid upgrades. Cash withdrawal at a Bankomat is normally free within your own network; an independent ATM operator may add a separate on-screen fee you accept before the cash dispenses. On investments held through the bank, 27.5 % KESt is withheld at source on dividends and securities gains.
Can Ukrainians under Temporary Protection open an account?
Yes, with full access. Holders of Temporary Protection status are treated as lawful residents for banking purposes. You present the Temporary Protection registration card and the Meldezettel, open a standard current account, and meet none of the sanctions-linked friction that applies to Russian or Belarusian passports. The sequence is the ordinary newcomer one: register the address, then open the account at any of the major banks or a neobank.
Verified · 2026-06-08