Topic · Bank account costs
Does your bank account cost a lot, or a little?
Account fee, card, transfers, withdrawals, stamp duty: small items that, over 12 months, often add up to €100–250. This page helps you estimate your account's annual cost and compare it with an alternative — without giving up access to your transactions.
Why it's worth calculating
Bank-account costs are the textbook case of "invisible" costs: auto-debits, small amounts, distributed across different lines, some annual (fee, stamp), some per-transaction (transfers, withdrawals), some infrequent (paper statement). Almost nobody computes the annual total, which makes it hard to judge whether switching is worth it.
A 5-minute rough estimate beats any generic comparator: your usage profile (how many transfers per month? how many out-of-network ATM withdrawals?) drives the total far more than the headline monthly fee.
The items that matter
Roughly ordered by typical annual impact:
- Stamp duty: €34.20/year for individuals above €5,000 average balance. Statutory, outside the bank's control.
- Monthly fee: €0 (online banks) to €8–12/month (many traditional banks). Most-advertised line, often the best known.
- Debit / credit card: €10–40/year per card. Watch for "renewal" fees.
- SEPA transfers: €0–2 per op. Twenty/month → €240–480/year. Varies wildly between banks.
- ATM withdrawals: €0 own bank, €1.50–2.50 elsewhere. Often capped above a monthly threshold.
- Paper statements: €1–3 per mailing. Usually worth switching to digital.
Quick math
Below is a mini simulator: sum the items and get the annual cost of your current account. For full comparison (current vs alternative), use the Scenarios section in the app — up to two scenarios on Free, unlimited on Pro.
Comparing two accounts: the Scenarios module
In the app, the Compare costs section lets you define a "Current bank" scenario and an "Alternative" scenario, each with a list of items and frequency (monthly, quarterly, annual, per-transaction with annual quantity). The system annualises everything, shows totals, and computes the difference.
If the difference is negative (alternative cheaper), a "Break-even" section accepts a switching cost — any one-time expense, time spent, lost benefits — and shows how many months until payback.
When the math doesn't matter
Three cases where switching doesn't pay even if alternative is cheaper: (1) you have a subsidised mortgage tied to the account, (2) annual difference is below €30, (3) the alternative is online-only and you actually need branch access. The number alone isn't enough — it's one factor, not the only one.
Privacy
No bank connection, no Open Banking, no reading your actual transactions. You manually enter fees (find them in the bank's fee schedule), and the app aggregates locally. With Pro, sync between devices is end-to-end encrypted with a key that stays in your browser.