A Belgian current account costs between €0 and about €84 a year for a basic account, and more than €200 a year in premium packages. Across all lines — account maintenance, cards, transfers, statements — Test-Achats calculates an average of €95 a year per Belgian, up around 12% in three years. Put differently: your choice of bank costs about as much per year as a mobile subscription, and most customers have never recalculated it.
What exactly are you paying for on a current account?
Almost never the account itself. What builds the bill is what gets bolted onto it, line by line.
Account maintenance is the only visible line: from €0 at Argenta, Keytrade or CBC to €4.25 a month for a KBC Plus Account since 2026. The debit card is included everywhere; the credit card is billed separately, up to around €50 a year. Standard SEPA transfers are free at every Belgian bank, but instant transfers cost €0 to €0.50 each: BNP Paribas Fortis and Belfius bill them outside packages, Argenta and Keytrade include them. At ten instant transfers a month, the gap reaches €60 a year — for exactly the same service.
Then come the lines you discover afterwards: paper statements, out-of-network withdrawals, counter operations, replacing a lost card.
What does a basic account cost at the large Belgian banks?
Between €36 and €84 a year at the big four — BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC/CBC, Belfius and ING — which together hold roughly three quarters of the Belgian market. The gap between the most and least expensive institution on the market exceeds €180 a year according to April 2026 figures.
| Bank | Basic account | Instant transfers |
|---|---|---|
| Argenta (Compte Green) | €0/year | Included |
| Keytrade Bank (Keypack) | €0/year | Free |
| CBC (Pure Online) | €0/year | Included |
| Belfius | €19.80/year | Up to €0.50 outside the package |
| KBC (Base Account) | €30/year | Included |
| BNP Paribas Fortis | €36 to €84/year depending on the package | Up to €0.50 outside the package |
The full ranking, with the savings rates each institution pays, is detailed in our ranking of Belgian banks.
Which tariffs went up in 2026?
Almost all of them, almost everywhere, and inside the same six-month window.
Belfius took its basic bank account from €1.35 to €1.65 a month on 1 February 2026 — just under €4 more a year — and moved its Beats New package from €3.50 to €3.90 while cutting Beats Stars from €7.50 to €5.90. KBC raised its Base Account from €2.00 to €2.50 a month and its Plus Account from €3.75 to €4.25, with some products up by as much as €6 a year. Argenta added €1 to its Golden package, now €6.95 a month. BNP Paribas Fortis announced no general increase but is ending commercial cheques and bank cheques.
Market-wide, account maintenance fees are rising about 3.7% year on year. The paradox is that banks raised savings rates at the same time: you pay slightly more to hold the account and earn slightly more on savings — provided you go and find the right account.
How do you recalculate your bill in five minutes?
Open your bank's tariff information document — publication is mandatory. Three steps are enough.
- The 'account management' line: multiply the monthly amount by twelve.
- The 'instant transfer' line: multiply the unit price by your monthly number of instant transfers, then by twelve.
- Add the credit card fee if you have one, and remove it from the calculation if you do not use it.
The total is your real cost. Compare it with the €0 charged by Argenta, Keytrade or CBC: that is the annual saving you are leaving on the table. Our current-account comparator runs the same calculation side by side.
Should you switch banks to save money?
Not automatically — and that is the nuance most comparisons skip. Before moving an account, there is almost always €30 to €60 a year to reclaim at your current institution, simply by deflating the package: dropping a dormant credit card, leaving an all-inclusive pack you only use two services from, or switching to the same bank's online formula.
If the gap is still above roughly €50 a year after that exercise, switching becomes worthwhile. It goes through the bank mobility service, free and mandatory for every Belgian bank: one to two weeks, with European direct debits transferred automatically. Two things stay on your plate, and they are the ones that go wrong: giving the new account number to your employer, and updating cards stored with online merchants.
What it changes in practice
A 'free' bank does not exist in the strict sense: there are banks whose fees you pay in euros, and banks whose fees you pay in closed branches and shaved savings rates. The work is knowing which of the two suits you — and checking, once a year, that the price has not moved without you.
Sources
- Test-Achats — 16 Belgian banks tested: which one stands out?
- Business AM — After KBC and Belfius, Argenta also changes its current-account price
- HelloSafe — Best banks in Belgium in 2026
- Switchr — Bank comparison: current-account tariffs 2026
- Bruxelles Today — Cheques, tariffs, cards: what changes at the banks in 2026
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Frequently asked questions
Marion a travaillé six ans en agence, à Namur puis à Bruxelles, avant de passer côté rédaction en 2020. Elle a ouvert, fermé et transféré assez de comptes à vue pour savoir où se cachent les frais : le forfait « tout compris » qui exclut justement le virement instantané, la carte de crédit offerte la première année, le compte d’épargne dont la prime de fidélité s’évapore au premier retrait. Depuis, elle relit chaque janvier et chaque juillet les documents d’information tarifaire des banques belges, recalcule le coût annuel réel par profil, et vérifie ce que rapporte vraiment un taux affiché quand le plafond est de 500 € par mois. Ce qui l’agace : les comparatifs qui classent une banque première sur la qualité de son application alors que le client, lui, paie ses frais en euros.