Credit card apps in comparison: test criteria

Shopping in Berlin, the flight to London for Fashion Week, or even a quick payment in the online store for new fashion: nothing works without a credit card. Since we travel a lot with our editorial team, we have of course downloaded and installed almost all credit card apps and tested some of them in detail, because we still use them ourselves. For example, bunq, N26, monese, Revolut, but also tomorrow and nuri. Here we present all the individual credit card apps and our recommendations.

Tip! After the introduction and the comparison, we have some common questions and answers for you.

Advantages of a credit card: overview

How useful is a credit card?

Credit cards at a glance: Advantages

• Cashless payment worldwide
• Contactless payment (card or NFC)
• Cashless purchases and bill payments
• Withdraw cash from ATMs
• Also available without Schufa check

Functions and costs of a credit card

When you’re picking out a credit card, there are a few things you should look for.

What to look for in a credit card?

These functions are important:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• IBAN included
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

In our list: Debit credit cards only (better!)

But it gets even better with debit credit cards, which we recommend here! Because with “normal” credit cards you have a few disadvantages. For example, you often pay an annual fee or even commission, for each transaction. Don’t worry, not with our credit card tip (below).

Another great advantage of debit credit cards, you can only spend credit. So you don’t automatically slip into the negative and into an “overdraft trap”).

Advantages of debit credit cards at a glance:

• You can only spend credits
• No fees and commissions
• No automatic overdraft facility (minus amount / credit)

Login in the apps: Time

Logging in to all apps is super fast.

How long does it take to register?

Download the app of your choice, log in and then make the approx. 3 minute video call for verification. You will be connected to a member of staff (directly via cell phone), where you only have to identify yourself once. It’s best to have your ID card ready!

My last credit card application took 4 minutes, in the middle of downtown Palma de Mallorca. All you need is cell phone network and your ID card.

Now have fun downloading and shopping!

Pay free of charge anytime and anywhere:

Credit card recommendations: Top 6 Apps

Here is our top 5 debit credit cards with good app. PS: We have installed all of them ourselves and have been using some like N26 for over 3 years.

Tomorrow App – Our test winner

Why is the tomorrow app and testiseger? We have installed several apps for over 2 years and are absolutely satisfied. But with tomorrow, the community is happy too! A full 4.9 out of 5.0 stars in the rating.

To the app tomorrow

tomorrow has all the advantages we had discussed in advance. Free account management, free payment worldwide, even cash pickup, transfer, all free. Registration takes only 5 minutes, including verification. After that you have credit card, account details and even your own IBAN. With NFC, you can also play the credit card on your phone (Google Pay or Apple Pay) and you’re good to go!

Credit card, rating and download

Much more important than our opinion is the opinion of the community. What do users of the tomorrow app have to say?

Rated with 4.9 / 5 stars

The app was rated by over 10,000+ users. Here you will find all the important links to download for your smartphone, from Samsung to iPhone in the PlayStore and the App Store.

Advantages of tomorrow

TOMORROW offers you:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• IBAN included
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

Monese app

Once again, an app that we have been using ourselves for over a year, monese. So far, it has always been stable in all functions and therefore deserves to be recommended. However, the community’s opinion drifts apart a bit. Android users rate the app below 4 stars, but among iOS users, the app is at 4.7 out of 5.0 stars.

To the app monese

Credit card, rating and download

How does the community rate monese?

Rating on Android: 3.8 / 5 stars

Here the communities differ a little!

Rating at Apple: 4.7 / 5 stars

Rated by 81,000+ users. Here are the links to download for your smartphone, whether Samsung, Huawai or iPhone: PlayStore and App Store.

Advantages of monese

monese offers you:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

Accountist for self-employed

Here’s another tip, but only for the self-employed.

Get the Kontist App

Credit card, rating and download

What does the community say about the Kontist app in the Store?

Rated with 4.8 / 5 stars

Kontist was rated by 1,000+ users in the store. A really good result!

• Kontist PlayStore
• Kontist App Store

Kontist advantages

Kontist offers you like the others:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

N26 App

Also super reviews, also installed for over 2 years with us, the app from N26. The company itself is from Germany and therefore an interesting alternative if you are looking for a German IBAN. The other card providers issue IBANs from other European countries. N26, also a recommendation from our editorial team.

Credit card, rating and download

What does the community say about the N26 app in the Store?

Rated with 4.8 / 5 stars

N26 was rated in the store by 110,000+ users. A really good result.

• N26 PlayStore
• N26 App Store

N26 advantages

N26 offers you:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• German IBAN included
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

Revolut App

Also a mega app, from personal experience. Revolut is very stable and the cards are always very fancy.

Credit card, rating and download

How does the community rate Revolut?

Rated 4.7 / 5 stars

Rated by 29,000+ users. Here you can still find the links to download for your smartphone, whether Samsung, Huawai or iPhone:

• Revolut PlayStore
• Revolut App Store

Advantages of Revolut

Revolut offers you:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

Bunq App

The bunq app itself has only 3.4 out of 5.0 stars in the store. We ourselves have installed the app for over 18 months now and are very satisfied with all the functions. Credit card, transfers, cashless payment. Therefore also in our recommendations, also with 3.4 stars.

Get the bunq app with credit card and bank account here:

To the app bunq

Credit card, rating and download

Again the question, no matter what we say, what does the community say about the bunq app?

Rated with 3.4 / 5 stars

The bunq app was rated by 17,000+ users. Here you can still find the links to download for your smartphone, whether Samsung, Xiaomi or iPhone:

• Bunq PlayStore
• Bunq App Store

Advantages of bunq

bunq offers you:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• IBAN included
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

Nuri App

Last but not least, nuri! The opinions of Android and Apple users differ a bit here as well. There were probably more performance problems on Android.

Get the Nuri App

Credit card, bitcoin, rating and download

How does the community rate the nuri app?

Rating on Android: 3.2 / 5 stars

Here the communities differ a little!

Rating at Apple: 4.4 / 5 stars

Rated by 2,000+ users. Here you can still find the links to download for your smartphone, whether Samsung, Xiaomi or iPhone:

• Nuri PlayStore
• Nuri App Store

Advantages of nuri

nuri offers you:

• Free account management
• Check NFC availability
• IBAN included
• Make transfers free of charge
• Withdraw cash free of charge

That was our list of recommendations for you!

Our ranking: recommendation from experience – Important, we have paid extra attention in our list that all cards are free of charge, including account management and cash withdrawal (usually 3 per month). All can be easily connected to your smartphone (NFC and with apps like Apple Pay, GooglePay). You get an account with IBAN, where they can transfer money to you and of course, besides your virtual card, on your phone, you also get a physical credit card, to pay when shopping in the city, at the airport and so on.

FAQ credit card: the most important questions

With our credit card recommendations, you’re sure to find a good option for you! If you have more general questions, you can find the answers to the most frequently asked questions here!

What was also very important to us for the recommendations, all credit card offers are without automatic overdraft. Simply put, this means you can only spend what you have (no overdraft debt trap). If you want to learn more about overdraft, scroll down a little further!

How useful is a credit card?

As long as you shop at home in the supermarket, you probably don’t need a credit card and the normal bank card of your house bank is enough for you.

But as soon as you want to shop online or travel abroad, a credit card is super handy! Behind it are payment providers like Visa and Mastercard, which you’ve probably heard of. They make it easy to pay in online stores, at the card reader at Starbucks, just about anywhere! So the payment providers (Mastercard, Visa, etc.) take care of the transactions.

Here again the advantages at a glance:

• Cashless payment worldwide
• Contactless payment (card or NFC)
• Cashless purchases and bill payments
• Withdraw cash from ATMs
• Also available without Schufa check

Where can I get a credit card?

You can either get credit cards from Mastercard and Visa themselves or you can turn to one of the numerous credit card providers. These include, for example, your bank, whether it’s a credit union, savings bank or other private bank. Credit card providers also include numerous apps, such as TOMORROW, N26, bunq and others, which you can easily download from the App Store or Play Store. It only takes five minutes to register and you’re ready to go!

What does debit credit card mean?

A debit credit card works on the prepaid system. This means that you can only spend what you have deposited. So only what you have in your account as a credit.

A great advantage! So you do not automatically slip into the Dispo (minus amount). Because, so a Dispo is quickly expensive, the interest rates are much higher than with a normal loan.

Of course, such a Dispo sounds great at first, after all, you have 1,000, 2,000 or even 10,000 euros more available than you actually have. In the end, however, you incur debts! You also pay interest on the debt. That’s why you should look for a credit card that won’t let you slip into overdraft.

What does Dispo mean?

Banks always sell you the “Dispo” as a kind of reserve!

If you run short of money at the end of the month, you still have the overdraft facility as a buffer. In fact, however, you go into the red and take out a loan with the bank, so to speak. Of course, you have to pay back this loan. As long as it is open, you pay relatively high interest.

Average interest rate for overdraft facility:

• Dispo interest depending on bank: 6-16%.

So if you are 1,000 euros in the red for 3 months (time), you pay an extra 37.50 euros at 15% interest. You can also turn the example around and say you are in the red for 1,000 euros every month for 1 week.

Calculation Dispo costs:

• Interest = (overdraft / 12 * time) * interest amount
• 37,50 Euro = 1.000 / 12 * 3 * 0,15

So if a credit card has an overdraft amount (which normal credit cards do), you can slip into the negative so quickly unknowingly, after all, you don’t get a message that your balance is empty. A plane ticket paid for, a new pair of shoes, and you’re already in the red.

That’s why our tip is, use a debit credit card!

Are debit credit cards accepted everywhere?

Yes, debit credit cards are accepted worldwide. Behind them are the same payment providers, mostly Mastercard and Visa. The only difference between credit card and debit credit card is that with debit credit cards only credit can be spent. Here there is no automatic overdraft (Dispo).

How to recognize a debit credit card?

There is no difference with a regular credit card. The chip card has the same format, you have the same information, card number, CVV/CVC, expiration date. So to determine the difference and recognize a debit credit card, you need to know the numerous providers, e.g. monese, tomorrow, N26, etc., from our recommendation list.

• No difference
• Same card size, information

In principle, the difference does not matter, if the account is sufficiently funded at the time of payment, the transaction will be carried out. If there is not enough funds, the transaction will not be carried out.

In the supermarket and at the gas station, no one can tell if you are a debit card holder or if you have a regular credit card with an overdraft limit.

Credit card without Schufa information?

Briefly, what is a Schufa report? The Schufa report provides information about the creditworthiness of a person. For any form of financing, loans, but also for bank accounts, such information on creditworthiness is retrieved. In Germany, there is a central office that collects the information, the so-called Schufa.

Even with credit cards, information is requested, because behind the debit credit card offers are often banks, for example, the Santander Bank. The big advantage of debit credit cards is that you can not slip into the negative, so you do not take out a loan with the bank, which you would have to pay back. So you can open an account even with a bad credit rating.

How much does a credit card cost?

A credit card should cost nothing!

For normal, private use, you should definitely not have to pay anything for a credit card. Good credit card providers also offer free cash withdrawals, of course with an extra physical card, and all transfers are free as well.

Debit credit card providers usually only incur costs when you open a second account or apply for a second card.

Are there also disadvantages of credit cards?

So that we list not only advantages, but also disadvantages, here is an overview:

• Not all stores accept credit cards
• If your card is stolen, thieves can go shopping with your card

And now, have fun shopping!