Top 8 best banks 2026

Which is the best bank in Belgium in 2026?

Argenta, if a single name is required. That is the conclusion of Test-Achats, which names it best bank in Belgium for the fifth consecutive year after comparing sixteen institutions on current accounts, savings, consumer credit, mortgages and pension savings. The caveat that matters: CBC scores higher in the same analysis, with a range almost identical to KBC's plus a free current account, but operates only in Wallonia and Brussels — so it cannot claim the national title.

Behind that podium, the hierarchy depends on your profile. If you never set foot in a branch, Keytrade Bank is hard to beat: €0 a year, card included, free instant transfers and an investment platform the big banks charge extra for. If you need an adviser for a mortgage or an estate, the physical network becomes a criterion again — and there BNP Paribas Fortis, Belfius and KBC have the branch density, at the price of account fees you pay every year, including the years you never walk into a branch.

What does a current account really cost in Belgium?

From €0 to about €84 a year for a basic account, and over €200 a year for premium packages. The April 2026 average sits around €84 a year, and Test-Achats calculates an average of €95 a year in banking fees per Belgian across all lines — up roughly 12% in three years.

What creates the gap is almost never the account itself: it is what gets bolted onto it. The debit card is included everywhere, but a credit card is often billed separately (up to around €50 a year). Standard SEPA transfers are free at every Belgian bank; instant transfers are charged at €0 to €0.50 each depending on the institution — BNP Paribas Fortis and Belfius bill them outside packages, Argenta and Keytrade include them. Out-of-network withdrawals, paper statements and over-the-counter operations are the other lines that inflate a bill you thought was zero.

So the right way to compare is to start from your actual use: how many instant transfers a month, credit card or not, counter access or not — then recalculate the twelve-month total. That is exactly what our current-account comparator does.

Is an online bank really cheaper than a traditional one?

Yes, on account maintenance — and the gap is clear. Keytrade Bank, N26, Revolut and bunq have no branches to fund and post €0-a-year accounts where the four big banks charge €36 to €84 for a basic account. Over ten years the difference comfortably exceeds €500.

But the saving is paid for elsewhere. A mobile-only bank will not walk you through a mortgage, a gift or the release of an account after a death. Non-Belgian neobanks also raise a practical issue: Revolut has only assigned Belgian IBANs to new customers since May 2025, and a foreign IBAN is still refused by some employers, health funds and administrations. Finally, the best Belgian regulated savings rates — tax-exempt up to the legal ceiling — sit with Belgian banks, not European neobanks.

In practice the most profitable combination is often to keep a free account at a Belgian bank for salary and direct debits, and open an online account for foreign payments and currency exchange.

What is the best savings rate at a Belgian bank?

In July 2026 the highest headline rate on a Belgian regulated savings account is KBC Start2Save at 3.15%, reached by lifting the base rate from 0.75% to 1.65% while keeping a 1.50% loyalty bonus. Behind it, vdk bank Rythme pays 2.85% (1.35% base + 1.50% loyalty), Belfius Compte Flow 2.80% and Argenta's Compte d'accroissement 2.60%.

Read those figures with two standing caveats. First the ceiling: Start2Save and vdk Rythme accept only €500 of deposits per month, which mechanically limits the appeal if you have €20,000 to place. Second the loyalty bonus, which here is nearly half the headline yield and is only earned after twelve uninterrupted months: one badly timed withdrawal and you collect the base rate alone.

Hence a simple rule: a savings rate means nothing on its own. It is always read in three parts — base rate, loyalty bonus, deposit ceiling — and it is the euro amount after one year that decides, not the percentage on the poster.

How do you switch banks in Belgium without losing a direct debit?

Through the bank mobility service, which every Belgian bank must offer and which usually takes one to two weeks. You open the new account, sign a mandate, and the new bank transfers European direct debits and notifies standing-order issuers. You do not have to contact your suppliers one by one.

What goes wrong in practice comes down to three things the mandate does not always cover. Salary: it is up to you to give the new account number to your employer, and a one-month lag is common. Card payments stored with online merchants, which stay tied to the old card. And savings, which do not transfer: a regulated savings account is closed and reopened elsewhere, resetting the loyalty-bonus clock — which is why it is often better to move the current account first and the savings at the end of a loyalty period.

Keep the old account open for a month or two, with no money in it, to catch late direct debits. It is the cheapest precaution in the file.

Which banking fees went up in 2026?

Almost all of them, almost everywhere. Belfius took its basic 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. 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 tariff 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, which most customers do not.

The useful habit, once a year: open your bank's tariff information document (publication is mandatory), look at the 'account management' line and the 'instant transfer' line, and multiply by twelve.