Austrian banking glossary
The German and technical terms you are most likely to meet when banking with an Austrian bank, in alphabetical order.
- Bonität
- Creditworthiness. Lenders assess it before approving a loan, using your income, expenses and credit records.
- Dauerauftrag
- Standing order: a regular transfer of a fixed amount that you set up yourself.
- Debitkarte
- Debit card. Payments are taken directly from your current account.
- Effektiver Jahreszins
- Effective annual interest rate. It includes interest and most fees, so it is the best figure for comparing loans.
- Einlagensicherung
- Deposit protection. Covers eligible deposits up to €100,000 per customer per bank in Austria.
- Festgeld
- Fixed-term deposit. Money is locked for an agreed term at a fixed interest rate.
- Gebührenaushang
- Price list showing a bank's fees and charges.
- Gehaltskonto
- Salary account: a current account into which your salary is paid.
- Girokonto
- Current account used for payments, transfers and cards.
- IBAN
- International Bank Account Number, the unique identifier of an account in the SEPA area.
- KESt
- Kapitalertragsteuer, Austrian capital gains tax on interest and investment income.
- Konsumkredit
- Consumer loan for private purposes, not secured on property.
- Kredit umschulden
- Refinancing: replacing existing debts with a new loan.
- Kreditkarte
- Credit card. Purchases are billed together, usually once a month.
- KSV1870
- An Austrian credit reference agency whose data lenders use in credit checks.
- Lastschrift
- Direct debit: a payment collected by the recipient with your authorisation.
- PSD2
- The EU Payment Services Directive, which introduced strong customer authentication for online banking.
- SEPA
- Single Euro Payments Area, in which euro transfers work to the same rules across participating countries.
- Sofortkredit
- Instant loan: marketing term for a consumer loan with a fast digital process.
- Tagesgeld
- Instant-access savings account with a variable interest rate.
- TAN
- Transaction authentication number, a one-time confirmation for logins and payments.
- Trafik
- Austrian tobacconist; some partner Trafiken offer cash services for bank customers.
- Verification of Payee
- Check that the name you enter matches the holder of the IBAN before a transfer is sent.
- Überweisung
- Credit transfer from your account to another account.