Best in Austria Best Online Banks in Austria in 2026
As of September 2026, Austria's best online banking options split into two groups: Austrian-licensed direct banks such as easybank and bank99 that issue AT IBANs and carry domestic deposit protection, and EU-passported neobanks such as N26, Revolut and bunq that offer richer apps but foreign IBANs. Wise remains the strongest pick for multi-currency needs rather than everyday domestic banking.
Best Online Banks in Austria in 2026, ranked
easybank
easybank is a Vienna-based direct bank and a wholly owned subsidiary of BAWAG Group, so it issues Austrian (AT) IBANs and sits inside the Austrian deposit guarantee scheme. Its basic giro account has no monthly fee for online account management, and customers withdraw cash free at BAWAG P.S.K. and partner ATMs across Austria.
Best for: Best for a free Austrian IBAN
Official website See full factsbank99
bank99 is owned outright by Österreichische Post and built on the banking licence of the former Santander Consumer Bank Österreich, which it absorbed in 2019 before relaunching in 2020. It combines an Austrian IBAN and Austrian deposit protection with in-person cash deposits and withdrawals at Post branches nationwide.
Best for: Best for cash deposits via post office
Official website See full factsN26
N26 is a Berlin-based mobile bank operating in Austria under EU passporting from its German banking licence. Its free Standard account and paid Smart, You and Metal tiers are used across roughly two dozen European markets, though the account carries a German (DE) IBAN rather than an Austrian one.
Best for: Best for a simple free mobile account
Official website See full factsRevolut
Revolut operates its EU accounts under a banking licence from the Bank of Lithuania, issuing Lithuanian (LT) IBANs to Austrian customers. Its Standard plan is free and paid Plus, Premium, Metal and Ultra tiers add multi-currency holding, trading and travel insurance features not offered by the two Austrian direct banks.
Best for: Best for multi-currency spending and investing
Official website See full factsbunq
bunq is an Amsterdam-based mobile bank licensed by De Nederlandsche Bank that issues Dutch (NL) IBANs to Austrian users. Unlike the other providers on this list it has no permanent free tier, charging a monthly subscription from its cheapest personal plan, and it markets a card-spend-linked tree-planting feature.
Best for: Best for a sustainability-linked account
Official website See full factsWise
Wise is not a deposit-taking bank: its EU accounts run on an e-money licence held by Wise Europe SA and regulated by the National Bank of Belgium, issuing Belgian (BE) IBANs. It charges no monthly fee but applies a percentage FX fee per conversion, which makes it a multi-currency holding tool rather than a primary current account.
Best for: Best for holding and converting multiple currencies
Official website See full factsWhat distinguishes an online bank from a traditional Austrian bank?
Austria distinguishes between banks that hold a full domestic banking licence issued by the Financial Market Authority (FMA) and foreign fintech apps that operate under EU passporting rules from a licence granted in another member state. easybank and bank99 fall into the first group: both issue Austrian (AT) IBANs and participate in the Austrian statutory deposit guarantee scheme, which protects up to EUR 100,000 per depositor per bank.
N26, Revolut and bunq instead rely on a licence obtained in Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands respectively, so their deposit guarantees are administered by those countries' schemes rather than Austria's, even though the coverage ceiling is the same EU-wide EUR 100,000 figure. Wise operates under an e-money institution licence held by its Belgian entity, which means customer funds are safeguarded rather than covered by a deposit guarantee scheme at all.
How do licensing and deposit protection compare across providers?
| N26 | easybank | bank99 | Revolut | bunq | Wise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licence / regulator | Full bank licence, BaFin (Germany) | Full bank licence, FMA (Austria) | Full bank licence, FMA (Austria) | Bank licence, Bank of Lithuania | Bank licence, De Nederlandsche Bank | E-money licence, National Bank of Belgium |
| IBAN country issued | DE | AT | AT | LT | NL | BE |
| Deposit protection | German scheme, EUR 100,000 | Austrian scheme, EUR 100,000 | Austrian scheme, EUR 100,000 | Lithuanian scheme, EUR 100,000 | Dutch scheme, EUR 100,000 | Safeguarding only, no deposit guarantee |
| Free entry-tier monthly fee | EUR 0 (Standard) | EUR 0 (online account management) | EUR 0 (basic account) | EUR 0 (Standard) | No permanent free tier | EUR 0 monthly, pay-per-transfer FX fee |
How do you open an account with an online bank from Austria?
Check eligibility and gather ID
Confirm the provider accepts Austrian residents: N26, Revolut, bunq and Wise all onboard customers with an Austrian residential address through EU passporting, while easybank and bank99 require an Austrian or EU place of residence for their domestically licensed accounts. Have a valid passport or Austrian ID card (Personalausweis) ready, since all six providers use it for the identity check.
Verify your identity in the app
Complete video or NFC-based identity verification inside the provider's app, a process that typically takes 5 to 15 minutes. N26 and Revolut use automated NFC chip scans of the ID document, while easybank and bank99 offer either a video call with an agent or in-person verification at a partner post office branch for bank99 customers.
Add your Austrian address and fund the account
Enter your Austrian address and tax residency details, since Austrian-licensed banks such as easybank and bank99 report account holders to the FMA and to the tax authority under CRS rules. Fund the account with an initial SEPA transfer; most providers activate the virtual card within minutes, while a physical debit card typically arrives by post within 5 to 10 business days.
Move recurring payments to the new IBAN
Redirect salary payments and SEPA direct debits (Lastschriften) to the new IBAN before closing any old account. Utilities, insurers and landlords in Austria generally need 10 to 14 days' notice to update a direct debit mandate, so keep the old account open with a small buffer balance until at least one billing cycle has completed on the new one.
What fees should Austrian users expect in 2026?
Free entry-level accounts remain available from most of the six providers reviewed here. easybank's basic giro account carries no monthly fee for account management conducted online, and N26's Standard account and Revolut's Standard plan are also free of a base charge. bunq is the exception: its cheapest personal plan carries a monthly subscription fee rather than offering a permanently free tier.
Paid tiers add features rather than replace the free option. N26 Metal and Revolut Metal both sit at the top of their respective pricing ladders and add benefits such as higher cash withdrawal limits and purchase insurance. Wise charges no monthly account fee at all, instead applying a percentage-based currency conversion fee on each transfer, which makes it cheaper for occasional multi-currency use but costlier for frequent domestic-only spending.
What mistakes should you avoid when switching banks?
The most common mistake is closing a previous Austrian account before every direct debit and salary instruction has migrated, which can take one to two full billing cycles to catch every biller. A second mistake is assuming a foreign IBAN behaves identically to an Austrian one: some Austrian landlords, insurers and the ORF-Beitrag collection agency still flag non-AT IBANs for manual review, which can delay the first payment by several days.
A third mistake is overlooking deposit protection scope. Balances held with an e-money institution such as Wise are safeguarded under client-money rules rather than insured by a EUR 100,000 deposit guarantee scheme, so it is not a substitute for a primary current account holding large balances. Reading the specific licence type, not just the marketing name 'bank', is the fastest way to understand what protection actually applies.
How is this ranking computed?
- Regulatory status and deposit protection: 25%
- Account and card fees: 20%
- Austrian IBAN and local banking convenience: 20%
- ATM and cash access in Austria: 15%
- App features and multi-currency support: 10%
- German-language customer support: 10%
Entity references
Full factual profiles for each entity on this page:
Official sources
- https://n26.com/en-eu/pricing
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N26_(bank)
- https://www.easybank.at/girokonto
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easybank
- https://www.bank99.at/konto
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank99
- https://www.revolut.com/en-AT/plans/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolut
- https://www.bunq.com/pricing
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunq
- https://wise.com/pricing/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_(company)
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