If you would be "obliged" to open one of the two accounts, which one would it be:

Bitwala or 1822direkt (Sparkasse)?

18.8.2020

Of course, this is a hypothetical question, with which we hope to initiate an interesting discussion through the comments feature.

Before doing that, we will take a look into the comparison of the accounts of Bitwala and 1822direkt, a new connecting link between the digital currency industry and the real banking system, as well as a “granny-bank” with the aspiration to be able to defend bigger market shares also in the future.

Bitwala in comparison with the 1822direkt-Sparkasse


Account management	always free of charge!	depending on the account model and meeting of the requirements free of charge Mobile: € 0.01 monthly incoming money flow, otherwise € 1.90 Klassik: € 700 monthly incoming money flow, otherwise € 3.90 Premium always € 9.90 (in the following, we only deal with the Mobile-version, because the hurdle for being free of charge is the lowest therein!)
Cards to the account	Mastercard free of charge	Girocard by Maestro free of charge
Cash supply within Germany	on the part of Bitwala free of charge at every ATM around the globe	4 × free of charge at all German Sparkasse-ATMs
Cash supply abroad		Need of an optional Visa Card (separate product)
Integrated crypto-currencies	Bitcoin (BTC) Ethereum (ETH)	–
Account opening	► online	► online
Card payments
in Euros	free of charge
in other currencies	free of charge	1.75 %, but at least € 1.50 per payment
Online use
incoming and outgoing transfers	free of charge
standing orders	free of charge
online-banking, banking-app	free of charge
crypto-services
incoming crypto-transfers	free of charge	–
outgoing crypto-tranfers	only the external network fees^[1]
exchange Euros into Bitcoin/Ethereum	1 % + € 1 network fee^[1]
exchange Bitcoin/Ethereum into Euros	1 % + network fee^[1]
Annual tax report	yes
^[1] As weird as it may sound, but the transmitting of payments in crypto-currencies is a very computationally procedure that is implemented by decentralized computer units. So-called “miners” are substantially involved. Computers need energy and the network fees are so to say the compensation for the processing and confirming of cryptic payments.
Branch office use
personal contact	there are no branch offices	the branch offices of the Sparkasse do not belong to 1822direkt
Interest or deposit fees
interest for balance	0.00 %	0.00 %
deposit fee for balance	−0.50 (ECB deposit rate) from € 50,000	–
Overdraft facility	no overdraft possible	7.17 %
Account opening
Requirements	18 years old + place of residence in Germany, Austria or other EU-countries	18 years old + place of residence and tax residence in Germany
Languages of the app, online-banking and customer service	German and English	German
Schufa-query or Schufa entry	no	yes
Start account opening:	www.bitwala.com	www.1822direkt.de
Which provider would be the more interesting choice for you? Don´t forget that it is rather about the meaningful supplementing of the current account system than its replacement, isn´t it? Questions and supplements of the table are very welcome at the end of this page. Thank you so much!

Questions to the community

Please write your answers using the comments feature at the end of this page:

Would it be interesting to use Bitwala or 1822direkt as a free current account alternative or secondary current account?
Would 1822direkt be an alternative for larger cash withdrawals (depending on the region, there are limitations on the part of the Sparkasse for withdrawals with the Visa-cards of ING and DKB)?
Would it be interesting to enter the payment procedures with Bitcoin through Bitwala?
Would Bitwala be interesting for a foreign currency investment in Bitcoin?

Particularities:

Want to try it? ► www.bitwala.com ✅

Many thanks!

There is an update for everyone in our Sunday mail regarding the answers to these and future questions from the community. Thank you for your commitment!