Tomorrow Bank Review: A Greener, More Ethical German Bank
This page provides a review of Tomorrow Bank, a new challenger bank focused on green finance, sustainability and eco-investing. We review who Tomorrow Bank are and why they are a good choice when looking for a responsible, environmentally-conscious banking solution in Germany
With the world moving in an ever leaner, greener and cleaner direction, people are increasingly demanding banking products that prioritise the planet and have a positive impact on the world. Despite this, most conventional banks continue to pump your money into fossil fuels, armaments and other harmful sectors.
Tacking this problem head-on is Tomorrow Bank, a new, online challenger bank that is spearheading the charge towards responsible investment in Germany. Sustainability permeates their products, features and policies, which are all inextricably tied to creating a better future.
But do Tomorrow Bank’s green credentials come at a cost? And how do their banking services measure up against their more established German competitors, including N26, Vivid and bunq? Below, we have taken a closer look at the benefits and drawbacks of Tomorrow Bank in Germany – we hope our review helps determine whether this is the right banking solution for you!
Tomorrow Bank in Germany: The Basics
While we will dive deeper into Tomorrow Bank’s standout features below, it is first important to get an overview of the different account types offered by the bank.
With regards to Tomorrow Bank, you can currently choose from 3 different accounts:
In this article, we will primarily focus on Tomorrow Bank’s Change account, as this account type is most closely aligned with the standard accounts offered by N26, Vivid and bunq, Tomorrow Bank’s closest competitors. For a full overview of the different accounts offered by Tomorrow Bank, here is a useful comparison table.
As you will see above, Tomorrow Bank does not offer a free account option. If a free bank account is a priority for you, then I recommend checking out our other German bank recommendations.
Tomorrow Bank’s standard banking features
By signing up for a Change account with Tomorrow Bank, you get a range of features and services perfectly designed for managing your day-to-day banking needs in Germany. These include:
Free Visa debit card
With a Change account, you get a free Visa debit card that you can use to make payments globally with no additional fees. You also get 5 free ATM withdrawals per month, whether you are withdrawing cash in Germany or overseas.As an added bonus, the debit card is fully recyclable and you can choose from 3 snazzy designs – for an extra fee (€20), you can even opt for a wooden debit card for those extra eco-friendly brownie points.
User-friendly, intuitive app
Tomorrow Bank is a modern, digital bank that operates entirely online. To make up for the lack of in-branch support, they have created a slick, user-friendly mobile app that allows you to simply manage your daily banking needs, whether you need to make a transfer, manage your savings or pay a bill.Tomorrow Bank’s focus on simplicity extends to their sign-up process, which can be completed in under 8 minutes and does not require that you have a registered address (Anmeldung) in Germany.
English and German customer support
While Tomorrow Bank does not have bank branches to physically go into, they offer customer support in German and English via phone, email or live chat, and generally rank well for customer satisfaction.
Savings features
As well as a day-to-day transactional account, Tomorrow Bank’s Change account also has some handy saving features. These include:
Tomorrow Insights – this is an analytics function built into the Tomorrow app that automatically categorises your spending to give you an overview of how, where and when you spend your money.
Pockets – this feature allows you to split your money into different sub-accounts (Pockets) making it simple to save up for different goals.
Tomorrow Bank’s green credentials
While nice to have, the banking features listed above are largely expected of a modern, digital bank in Germany. So where does Tomorrow Bank distinguish itself? In short, the standout feature of Tomorrow Bank is its rigorous commitment to sustainability and environmentally-friendly projects.
When choosing a bank, customers rarely know where their savings are being invested, and are often shocked to find that their money is put towards causes that they do not support. By way of example, German banks invested 11.75 billion dollars in nuclear weapons in 2019.
Tomorrow Bank hopes to change this by offering full transparency as to which ethical investments your money is being put into – so far, this approach has had some exciting results. To date, the bank has invested €44,100,000 into renewable energies and €11,000,000 into social housing. By opting for Tomorrow Bank, you can rest assured that your money helps finance ecological and social projects for a brighter future.
Better still, for every euro you spend with your Tomorrow card, you protect 1 m² of rainforest through Tomorrow’s Climate Contribution initiative – so far, this initiative has protected 61,617,460 trees. With Tomorrow Bank, you will be helping protect the rainforest just by going about your daily life, whether you are purchasing a coffee, buying a bike or taking a vacation. Even those beers you had last night will be making a positive impact on the world!
Additional features of Tomorrow Bank
If the green credentials and banking features detailed above have not convinced you, then here are some final features of Tomorrow Bank that may just sway you when deciding on the right bank for you:
Tomorrow has developed a feature called Benefits in its app – this feature helps you easily find sustainable brands and ethical alternatives to a wide range of products and services.
The Tomorrow Community includes a well-managed forum and hosts regular meetups. Here you can find solutions to issues you have as well as put forward ideas about how you would like the bank to develop in the future. As a young startup, Tomorrow Bank seems generally open to and interested in the views of its customers, especially when compared with larger German banks.
Despite being a young Fintech startup, you need not be worried about security. As with other banks, Tomorrow offer 2-factor authentication, 3-D Secure for online payments and also protect your funds up to €100,000.
Drawbacks to Tomorrow Bank?
As shown above, there are a wide array of benefits to Tomorrow Bank. But our review would not be complete without also considering some of the drawbacks to the bank. Here are a few things to keep in mind about Tomorrow when deciding on which bank to choose in Germany:
There is no free account option
The cheapest account offered by Tomorrow is the Now account, which costs €3 per month. By comparison, you can open a free account with N26, although N26 does not have such a rigorous focus on sustainability and the environment.
There are no branches
Tomorrow is a 100% digital bank with no bank branches. If you are someone that prefers to have in-branch support, then you may wish to also open a savings account with one of the large high street banks, such as Deutsche Bank.Limited banking services
Tomorrow is perfect as a day-to-day transactional account, but they do not offer more extensive banking services such as credit cards, overdrafts or loans. If you are needing more extensive services, then we suggest combining Tomorrow with an account at a larger high street bank.
I hope you have found this review of Tomorrow Bank helpful – Tomorrow’s devotion to building a bank based around sustainability and ethical practices is a big drawcard and undoubtedly resonates with a large number of newcomers to Germany. If this is something that interests you, follow the link to sign up for a Tomorrow account today!