Argenta Green account: what the free account really includes

Argenta's Green formula costs €0 per year in package fees: a payment account, two debit cards, a maximum of two holders, and free euro withdrawals at every ATM. What it leaves out is billed per unit: €2 per counter transfer or cash withdrawal, €2 per month for the credit card. Here is the line-by-line detail, as of 12 August 2026.

What exactly does Argenta's Green formula include?

A payment account, two debit cards, two holders at most, and access to the digital channels. That is the definition of a bare account, and Argenta claims nothing else: the bank calls it the "basic offer with a payment account and a debit card".

In detail, the formula covers the account, one debit card per holder (two per formula), card replacement, SEPA transfers in euros on paper as well as electronically, euro cash withdrawals at any bank's ATM, the subscription to Argenta Internet Banking and the Argenta app, and electronic account statements. Cash deposits at the counter are included too — the only branch action that stays free.

One line deserves a mention because it is rare: instant transfers are free through the app, with no quota. At BNP Paribas Fortis and Belfius, the same operation is billed outside the package. On that specific point, Green is better equipped than some paid accounts.

Is the Green account really free?

The package is, with no income requirement and no obligation to have your salary paid in. Two lines are still billed per unit, and they decide the real cost.

The first: €2 per transfer or cash withdrawal at the counter. That figure appears in Argenta's fee schedule, document number DW 26160, effective 1 August 2026. It also applies to instant transfers requested on paper or at the counter — free in the app, €2 in a branch.

The second: €2 per month for the credit card, or €24/year, free for customers under 25.

Charging manual operations is not new. It dates back to February 2021, when the Giro+ account became the Green account. Test-Achats, which had ranked Giro+ among its Best Buys for years, wrote at the time that it regretted the change: paper transfers, the consumer association argued, remain a service owed to holders who do not master digital tools. The fee was €1.50 in 2021; it is €2 today.

How much does the Green account cost for your profile?

Between €0 and €48 per year in the common cases. The package never moves; usage is what shifts the bill.

The most common profile — salary paid in, card payments, transfers in the app — comes out at €0/year, debit cards included. The most expensive profile in this table, at €48/year, already costs more than the Silver formula (€42/year), which includes everything it pays for. The ranking of Belgian banks sets those annual costs against the savings rates each institution actually pays.

At how many counter transactions should you move to Silver?

From 21 transactions per year. The calculation fits on one line: the Silver formula costs €3.50 per month, or €42/year, and includes counter transfers and withdrawals; Green costs nothing but charges €2 each. 42 divided by 2 gives 21 transactions, slightly under two per month.

Below that, Green stays cheaper — even for someone who visits the counter once a month: twelve transactions at €2 come to €24, against €42 for Silver.

The maths change as soon as the credit card enters the equation. Green plus a card at €2/month comes to €24/year; the gap with Silver falls to €18, and the switching point to nine counter transactions per year. Three visits per quarter are then enough to make Silver cheaper. The full reasoning is in our article on choosing between a banking package or a basic account.

Is the €2-a-month credit card worth its €24 a year?

That depends on the limit you need, not on the price. At €24/year, Argenta's Mastercard sits at the low end of the Belgian market — BNP Paribas Fortis charges €2.25 per month for its Visa Classic, or €27/year.

The constraint lies elsewhere. Green accepts a single credit card per formula, with a standard limit of €1,250 per month, fixed, with no temporary increase available. For a couple who want two cards, or for someone booking a €2,000 holiday in one go, Green falls short: Silver includes two cards and raises the limit to €2,500, Gold to €5,000 with a travel insurance pack.

Customers under 25 escape the calculation entirely: their credit card stays free inside Green. Annual account cost for a student or a first-job employee: €0/year, credit card included. Few institutions in Belgium do better.

Does Green hold up against the other free Belgian accounts?

Yes on the package, and it is far from alone. Five other current accounts show €0/year at banks established in Belgium.

What sets Green apart in this list is the network: Argenta has around 400 branches in Belgium, only about forty of them in Wallonia and Brussels. Keytrade and Hello bank! have none. For anyone who wants a free account and an occasional human contact, the trade-off runs between Argenta, CBC and Beobank. The current account comparator places these institutions side by side, annual cost against annual cost.

What a free bank earns elsewhere

A "free" bank does not exist: there are those whose fees you pay in euros, and those whose fees you pay in closed branches and trimmed savings rates. At Argenta the trade-off is fairly legible, and it does not work against the customer.

The Growth Account pays a 1.50% base rate plus a 1.50% loyalty bonus, so 3.00% on money left untouched for twelve months, with a deposit cap of €500 per month. The base rate rose from 1.10% to 1.50% on 11 June 2026, and Argenta lifted two of its savings accounts again at the end of July 2026. For reference, KBC Start2Save shows 3.15% (1.65% base plus 1.50% loyalty), with the same €500 monthly cap.

The concrete figure: €500 paid in every month for a year into the Growth Account, left in place, earns slightly under €100 gross. A savings rate is always read together with its deposit cap — on €40,000 already saved, a €500 monthly cap is useless, and what matters is the rate on the ordinary savings account.

Note too that the loyalty bonus is only earned after twelve uninterrupted months. One withdrawal at the wrong moment, and only the base rate remains.

Who is the Green account right for?

That leaves the question nobody asks at the counter: when did you last redo the maths? Argenta raised its Gold package to €6.95/month in April 2026, KBC lifted both of its tiers in January, Belfius its basic banking service in February. A decision made in 2023 no longer necessarily holds. The guide on how to choose a bank works through these criteria one by one, and our article on banking fees in Belgium in 2026 sets out the full calculation method.

Sources

• Argenta — Discover our formulas (Green with no monthly fee, Silver €3.50/month, Gold €6.95/month — accessed 12 August 2026)
• Argenta — The Green formula (2 holders, €2 per counter transaction, credit card at €2/month — accessed 12 August 2026)
• Argenta — Fee schedule, document DW 26160 (effective 1 August 2026)
• Argenta — Key information for savers: Growth Account (1.50% + 1.50%, €500/month cap, document dated 11 June 2026)
• Test-Achats — Current accounts: Argenta changes the deal, and we regret it (Giro+ becoming Green, manual operations becoming chargeable)
• La Libre — Argenta raises the interest rates on two savings accounts (31 July 2026)
• FPS Economy — Basic banking service (legal framework for current accounts in Belgium, accessed 12 August 2026)
• Wikifin (FSMA) — The current account (definitions and holder rights, accessed 12 August 2026)
• Comparatif-Compte-Courant.be — Argenta Green: the free bank account (detailed fee sheet, accessed 12 August 2026)