Depot-Prämien-Hopping: Risikoloser Bonus oder Steuerfalle?
The German finance community has discovered a new sport: Depot-Prämien-Hopping (brokerage account bonus hopping). The premise sounds absurdly simple, open a brokerage account, execute three trades, collect €100, close the account, and repeat. With over 40 brokers competing for your business in Germany, the theoretical payoff could reach €4,000+ annually. But before you start clicking through comparison sites like Finanzfluss, you need to understand what you’re really signing up for.
The Allure of “Free” Money
A recent discussion on German finance forums shows users planning to open 5-6 brokerage accounts simultaneously, each offering €100+ in Neukundenprämien (new customer bonuses). The math is straightforward: 6 accounts × €100 = €600 for what appears to be minimal effort. Comdirect’s current promotion illustrates the typical mechanics: open a free depot, execute three trades within 30 days, and receive €100 credited to your account 40 days later.
The barriers to entry have never been lower. Most online brokers now offer:
– Zero depot fees
– Commission-free ETF savings plans
– Video identification that takes under 10 minutes
– No minimum deposit requirements
But this apparent goldmine comes with three critical questions that most hoppers overlook until it’s too late.
The Schufa Myth: Why Your Credit Score Is Safe (Mostly)
“Wird das meine Schufa schädigen?” (Will this damage my Schufa?), this question dominates every discussion about bonus hopping. The definitive answer from banking insiders and multiple broker confirmations: No, opening a standard securities depot does not trigger a Schufa entry.
Here’s why: Schufa (Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung) tracks credit-relevant data. A standard brokerage account without overdraft facilities isn’t credit. It’s a custody account for your assets. As one forum user correctly stated: “Schufa bekommt davon nichts mit, wenn du keine Kombi mit Girokonto mit Überziehungsmöglichkeiten eröffnest.”
The critical distinction:
– Depot only: No Schufa check, no entry
– Girokonto with depot: Schufa check likely, especially if overdraft (Dispokredit) is included
However, there’s a catch. Some fintech brokers bundle depot opening with a payment account. Always read the fine print. If the provider mentions “Bonitätsprüfung” (creditworthiness check), that’s your red flag.
The Tax Trap That Turns €100 Into €25
This is where most bonus hoppers get blindsided. That €100 “free” money? The Finanzamt (Tax Office) has a very specific opinion about it.
German tax law classifies these bonuses as “sonstige Einkünfte” (other income). The critical threshold is €256 per year. Below this amount, it’s tax-free. Above it, the entire amount becomes taxable, not just the excess.
The calculation works like this:
– Bonus: €100
– Kapitalertragsteuer (capital gains tax): 25%
– Solidaritätszuschlag (solidarity surcharge): 5.5% of the tax = 1.375%
– Kirchensteuer (church tax, if applicable): 8-9% of the tax = 2-2.25%
Total tax burden: 28.375% to 30.625%
Your €100 bonus becomes €70-72 after taxes. And if you’ve already collected €256 in bonuses elsewhere that year, your effective tax rate on the next €100 bonus is nearly 30%.
One user on Mein-Deal discovered this harsh reality: “Die Prämie in Höhe von 100€ wird mit 25% zzgl. Soli und ggf. Kirchensteuer versteuert.” Another calculated their true profit after trading fees and taxes: “Bleiben demnach 75€, 48€ = roundabout 27€ übrig! Wirklich mau!” (That leaves about €27! Really meager!)
The Terms and Conditions Minefield
Brokers aren’t stupid. They’ve seen this game before, and they’re fighting back with increasingly sophisticated anti-hopping clauses.
Take JustTrade’s terms, which explicitly state: “Bei Ausnutzung des Angebots zum vorrangigen Zweck der Prämiengewinnung behält sich justTRADE entsprechende Maßnahmen vor. Dies ist der Fall, wenn kein wirtschaftlich sinnvolles Anlageverhalten erkennbar ist.”
Translation: If you’re just opening accounts for bonuses, we reserve the right to take “appropriate measures”, which could mean withholding the bonus, closing your account, or even blacklisting you.
Comdirect’s promotion requires the depot to remain open for at least 3 years, though it’s free during that period if you execute at least 2 trades per quarter. Many hoppers plan to close accounts immediately after receiving bonuses, which violates these terms.
The Hidden Cost: Your Time and Data
A realistic time breakdown from experienced users:
– Account opening and verification: 30-45 minutes
– Understanding terms and conditions: 15 minutes
– Executing required trades: 30 minutes (including research to avoid losses)
– Tracking and documentation: 15 minutes
– Account closure process: 20 minutes
Total per account: 2-3 hours
For a €100 bonus after 30% taxes, that’s €70 for 2.5 hours = €28/hour. Not terrible, but hardly “free money” when you factor in the cognitive load and the risk of mistakes.
More concerning is data proliferation. Each application requires:
– Full name, address, birth date
– Tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer)
– ID documents
– Employment and financial information
Your personal data spreads across dozens of fintech databases, increasing your exposure to potential data breaches.
The Real User Experience: Success and Frustration
The Reddit thread reveals a split community. Some report smooth processes: “Hat mir Eurer Anleitung einwandfrei funktioniert. Soeben im Postfach die Bestätigung der Prämie erhalten.”
Others warn of pitfalls. One user calculated their actual profit after trading fees (€28), taxes (€20), and time investment: “Wirklich mau!” Another discovered Comdirect’s trading fees were €9.30 per trade, not the advertised €3.90, turning their expected profit into a loss.
The consensus among experienced investors: Do it once or twice with reputable brokers you might actually use long-term, but systematic hopping isn’t worth the effort.
The Verdict: Strategic Bonus Collection, Not Industrial Farming
Depot-Prämien-Hopping occupies a legal gray area. While not explicitly illegal, it violates the spirit of promotional offers and can trigger tax complications most Germans don’t anticipate.
- Track your total annual bonuses meticulously, the €256 threshold is a cliff, not a gradual phase-in
- Read the terms carefully, especially minimum account duration and trade requirements
- Calculate true costs, including trading fees, spreads, and your time
- Limit yourself to 2-3 accounts maximum, preferably with brokers you’d consider for actual investing
- Never use accounts with overdraft facilities, that triggers Schufa checks
- Document everything for your tax return, the Finanzamt will ask
For young investors optimizing brokerage benefits responsibly, a single bonus can provide a nice boost to your initial capital. But treating this as a scalable side hustle is a fool’s errand.
The practice also reveals something about our relationship with financial institutions. As one user noted, “Junge, Merks Dir auf dieser Welt ist nichts umsonst.” (Kid, remember: nothing in this world is free.) The brokers aren’t charities, they’re betting that a percentage of bonus hunters will convert to profitable long-term customers.
Your emotional relationship with investment accounts matters more than a quick €70. Building wealth through consistent ETF-Sparpläne beats chasing promotional gimmicks. And if you need a cautionary tale about speculative behavior, read how one Boomer lost €40,000 trading after falling for “easy money” schemes.
The bottom line: Depot-Prämien-Hopping is legal, but it’s not free. The tax man cometh, the brokers are watching, and your time has value. Collect one or two bonuses if you must, then get back to the boring, profitable business of regular investing.
