We are launching local IBANs through our German branch soon and we’re currently migrating all our existing customers with Austrian accounts to an account held by the German branch.
After this migration, you’ll have a new IBAN number beginning with the country code DE.
A local IBAN account offers more freedom with domestic transactions such as:
Starting from 09/09/2024, we’ll migrate your account to our German branch in 2 months at the earliest. This could take a bit longer, so we’ll let you know the exact date in advance.
Your new IBAN will be available on the day of the migration. We do not have an exact date yet, but we’ll inform you in advance.
Not at this point, we’ll let you know in advance if we need any additional information from you.
After you receive your new IBAN details, you can do the following:
No, your physical debit card number will remain the same.
No, the Customer Care support number will remain the same. You can also contact us via our app.
No, all your deposits will continue to be protected up to 100 000 EUR by the Austrian Deposit Protection Scheme.
No, only local IBANs will be available for Germany customers after the migration happens.
If you do not want to be migrated to our German branch, you can close your account at any time without any cost.
Log into your Western Union Digital Banking app, go to Money and select Show details in My primary account.
Account details and history: The migration will not affect the account details, balances, transaction history, or any other relevant information. These will be transferred seamlessly to the local branch, ensuring service continuity.
Account features and functionality: The account will retain the same features and functionality before and after the migration.
Fees: There will be no changes to the current fees associated with the account. Customers can continue to manage their finances without worrying about any additional costs due to the migration.
Debit card numbers: This is beneficial as it avoids the inconvenience of updating automatic payments or direct debits linked to the card.
Deposit protection: All deposits will continue being protected up to 100,000 EUR, in compliance with the Deposit Protection Scheme. This provides assurance to customers that their funds are secure.
To comply with German legal requirements, we may need extra details to make sure your account migration goes well. We’ll let you know in advance if we need anything, such as your national ID.
When your account is transferred to the German branch, any interest earned will be subject to a 25% German withholding tax, plus a 5.5% solidarity additional charge.
If applicable, church tax of 8% or 9% will also apply. These taxes are deducted directly by us and paid to the tax office.
Remember, you have an annual tax allowance of 1000 EUR for investment income, which doubles for married joint filers. To benefit from this allowance, please call Customer Care to set up a tax exemption order.
Automatic exchange of information on church tax
We are legally obliged to inform you about the upcoming exchange of information on church tax. For members of a tax-raising religious community, we automatically pay church tax on settlement tax to the tax office. However, this only applies if your investment income exceeds the savings lump sum (single: 801 €, jointly assessed: 1,602 €) or if you have not placed an exemption order with us. The church tax rate in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria is 8 percent, and in the other federal states 9 percent as a surcharge to the capital gains tax of 25 percent. Capital income as part of income has been subject to church tax, so it is not a new tax.
In order to be able to deduct church tax, we are legally obliged to check your religious affiliation in the form of an encrypted license plate at the Federal Central Office for Taxes. The so-called church tax deduction feature (KiStAM) provides information about your membership in a tax-raising religious community and the applicable church tax rate. The survey will be conducted once a year between 1 September and 31 October.
Your advantage: Your church tax obligation for capital income is thus fully compensated. Further information on the tax return is omitted.
Option to reject automatic exchange of information
If you do not want the Federal Central Office for Taxes to transmit your church tax data in an encrypted manner, you can transfer your data until 30.06. of a given year. Please direct your objection to the Federal Central Office for Taxes. The officially prescribed form for this can be found on www.formulare-bfinv.de as a “declaration of blocking” under the keyword “church tax”. The Federal Central Office for Taxes will then block the transmission of your church tax deduction feature. If you have already objected to the transfer of data, you do not need to file the objection again. An objection shall apply until its revocation. We will not pay any church tax for you.
The Federal Central Office for Taxes will then report the objection to your tax office. Church members are requested from there to submit a tax return for the collection of church tax on settlement tax.
Legal basis for this procedure: § 51a para. 2c, 2e Income Tax Act; church tax laws of the federal states.
If you need to get in touch with Western Union, don’t hesitate to contact our Customer Care.