First Bank Abroad helps people who have just moved to another European country with one practical job: getting a bank account, a card for everyday spending and a cheap way to send money home. We started with Poland, Germany and Czechia, the three countries where most people from Ukraine live under temporary protection, and we write in Ukrainian, English and Russian.
Moving brings a long list of tasks, and the bank account is usually near the top. Without one it is hard to receive a salary, pay rent or sign a phone contract. At the same time, banks ask for documents a newcomer may not have yet: a local address, a local identification number or a residence document. Our tables are built around that problem. You tick the documents you already have, and the table shows which banks and services fit.
What we check
- Official terms only. Every row in a comparison table comes from the provider’s own fee page, account terms or price list, which we link next to the row together with the date we read it.
- Documents. We record which documents the provider says it needs to open an account, as stated in its own materials. Where a provider does not publish this, we say so instead of guessing.
- Transfers home. For transfer services we record the published fee and, where the provider shows it, the margin it adds to the exchange rate. The calculator only uses these published numbers.
The details of this work are on our editorial and fee-checking methodology page.
What we will never recommend
We do not list loans, credit cards, payday products or buy-now-pay-later offers. People who have just arrived are often targeted with expensive credit, and we do not want to be part of that. The site covers accounts, debit and virtual cards, and money transfers only.
Olena Marchuk, editor
Olena edits the comparison tables. She reads banks’ fee pages and account terms, records the check date and the source for every row, and decides when a row is due for a recheck. Olena Marchuk is a pen name used by our editorial team.
Pavlo Dorosh, writer
Pavlo writes the guides on transfers home and on the documents banks ask for, and checks them against government and provider sources before they are published. Pavlo Dorosh is a pen name used by our editorial team.
How the site is paid for
Some links to banks and services are affiliate links. If you open an account through one, we may receive a commission from the provider. This never changes the order of a table or which rows appear in it: the order rules are published on the methodology page, and providers without a partnership are listed on the same terms. Read the full affiliate disclosure.
Our sister site
newineurope.com covers the first 30 days in a new country more broadly: registration, documents, work, housing and health insurance. First Bank Abroad goes deeper on money only.
Contact
Corrections, outdated fees and questions about the site go to [email protected]. More details are on the contact page. We are not a bank, we cannot open an account for you and we do not give individual financial advice.