The funds in the Blocked Account are meant to cover your expenses in Germany, but you can not initiate payments directly from the Blocked Account. The money from the blocked account is not directly accessible.
Please do not provide your blocked account information (IBAN/BIC) to your mobile phone company or other agencies to debit your bills from the blocked account as they will be refused.
How can I manage my daily expenses?
You will need to open a SEPA(Single European Payment Area) bank account to pay your monthly rent and other expenses. The money from the blocked account will be transferred to that daily bank account on a monthly basis. From there, you will be able to manage your daily expenses.
Expatrio open a Free German Bank Account* during your Blocked Account activation process automatically! You will be able to use that account for free until the end of your Blocked Account.
How can I access the funds from my blocked account?
Once you arrive in Germany and would like to receive the monthly payouts, you will need to login to the Expatrio User Portal and activate your blocked account via the button "Activate" on your Blocked Account page.
From here, you will need to provide the required information. Once the process is done, we will transfer your funds. With an Expatrio Bank account, the transfers will be instant!
Please note: Connecting another SEPA bank account to your blocked account may take up to three business days.
An alternative option would be closing your blocked account to receive all the funds at once. However, we need written confirmation from the visa authorities. To learn how to close your blocked account and receive all your funds back, please check this article.
*Banking products are powered by AION Bank