If you are planning to stay in Germany for an extended period of time and have a regular income or receive grant payments, you should organize the opening of a current account ("Girokonto") at a bank or local savings bank. Most places you can pay with card but a lot of cafés, smaller shops and on markets cash is inevitable. Keep that in mind!
Unless you are opening an online bank account, you will most likely need an appointment to open an account at a bank. You can either go directly to a branch, or phone/email them in advance (if you are able to). It can take a bit of time. You can get more information at the financial institution (for example Barkleys, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Santander, Sparkasse, Volksbank)
There are three examples of bank account that could be helpfull for the beginning:
To open an account, you will need:
As soon as you have opened your account, the bank will send you a card by post and a second letter containing the PIN (Personal Identity Number) for it. Then you can use it at any ATM to withdraw money as it is quite common to pay with cash for food or small amounts in Germany. You can also view your balance and print out account info at the ATM.
These services are provided free of charge as long as you use your bank’s own ATMs or an ATM operated by a bank in the same “Cash Group”. Please keep in mind that if you withdraw cash from another bank’s machine, you will probably have to pay extra fees. Money transfers to another country can be very expensive, so it might be a good idea to ask your bank at home if it cooperates with any banks here before coming to Germany. You can set up standing orders or direct debits on your current account to pay your rent, telephone, or insurance so that you don’t need to keep that in mind each month.