If you regularly go into the red on your current account, you pay interest. There are two cases: the “Dispo” is an overdraft limit agreed with your bank. A tolerated overdraft (“geduldete Überziehung”) happens when you overdraw without an agreement or beyond the agreed limit. German law has protective rules for both.
The Dispo can be expensive
According to Stiftung Warentest (test of June 2025), the average Dispo interest rate was about 11.22 percent, with a range from 2.09 to 15.37 percent (3). Banks must publish their Dispo rates online (3). Check your contract and your bank’s price information.
Advice offer for the Dispo
If you have used your Dispo for six months in a row and, on average, more than 75 percent of the limit, the bank must offer you advice (1). The offer comes in text form, and the conversation is personal, possibly by phone or video. It covers cheaper alternatives and the consequences of overdrawing further (1). If you decline, the bank must repeat the offer later – unless you expressly say you do not want further offers (1).
Tolerated overdraft
If your overdraft is significant and lasts longer than one month, the bank must inform you without delay (2). If it lasts more than three months without interruption and on average exceeds half of your average monthly incoming payments of the last three months, the advice offer applies accordingly (2). If the bank breaches its information duties, it cannot claim costs and interest beyond repayment of the amount (2).
What you can check
Read your account contract and statements, ask about the advice conversation and compare costs. According to the Hamburg consumer advice centre (Verbraucherzentrale), anyone who sees no way out can contact a debt counselling service (3). General information on accounts is in our bank account guide, and on loans in our loan guide.
Warning! Borrowing money costs money.
We do not give advice and do not recommend any bank or product. The decision is yours.
Sources (checked 25 October 2026)
- § 504a BGB, Gesetze im Internet: gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__504a.html
- § 505 BGB, Gesetze im Internet: gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__505.html
- Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg, Dispozinsen (as of 2 June 2026): vzhh.de/themen/finanzen/konto/dispozinsen-deutlich-gestiegen