Which English banking words do you need at work?
English banking vocabulary sorts into three groups: accounts ("current account", "balance", "bank statement"), money in and out ("pay in", "withdraw", "transfer", "direct debit") and borrowing ("loan", "mortgage", "interest"). Watch two traps: a Kredit you take out is usually "a loan", and the bank "lends" while you "borrow".
- Three groups: accounts, money in and out, borrowing.
- False friends: "Kredit" = usually loan, "Rate" = instalment.
- Direction matters: the bank lends, you borrow.
B1 · Sector Vocabulary · 10 minBanking English for work, taught brick by brick.
A structured lesson for B1 learners who deal with payments, accounts or the bank at work. Hear the core banking words in context, meet the organising idea from a human tutor, then practise the vocabulary in interactive drills and a final quiz. The typical traps for German speakers, such as "Kredit", "Rate" and "leihen", are included. It takes about ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
- CEFR levelB1 · Intermediate
- Time to completeAbout 10 minutes
- SkillsVocabulary, Listening, Writing, Speaking
- Bricks10 blocks
01 / 06
What banking English at work covers
Anyone who handles money at work needs banking English sooner or later: when a payment from abroad is missing, when an English-speaking client asks for your account details, or when the finance team asks for a bank statement. It sounds technical, but the core vocabulary is manageable and sorts into three groups. The first group is the accounts themselves: "current account", "savings account", "balance" and "bank statement". The second group describes money flowing in and out: "pay in", "withdraw", "transfer", "direct debit" and "standing order". The third group is about borrowing: "loan", "mortgage", "interest", "lend" and "borrow". If you file each new word into one of these three groups, you build a map in your head instead of a loose list. This lesson follows exactly that order and shows you, for each group, where German speakers tend to stumble — above all with "Kredit", "Rate" and the verb "leihen".
02 / 06
Accounts, balances and statements
The account for everyday payments — the German Girokonto — is a "current account" in British English and a "checking account" in American English. Companies have "a business account", and money you put aside sits in "a savings account". The amount in an account at any moment is "the balance": "What's the balance on our current account?" The German Kontoauszug is "a bank statement", or simply "a statement"; it lists every movement with the date, a description, "money in", "money out" and the balance after each line. When there is money in the account, British English says the account is "in credit"; when it drops below zero, it is "overdrawn". The German "Dispo" is "an overdraft", and the agreed limit is "an arranged overdraft" or "an overdraft limit". Watch the number format, too: English uses a comma for thousands and a point for decimals, so the German "3.255,00 €" becomes "€3,255.00". Your IBAN stays "IBAN", and the BIC is also called the "SWIFT code".
03 / 06
Money in, money out
For money that goes into an account, you say "to pay in" or, more formally, "to deposit": "I paid the cheque in this morning." For cash you take from a machine, it is "to withdraw cash" or, more casually, "to take out cash". A German Überweisung is "a bank transfer" or just "a transfer"; you can "make a transfer" or simply "transfer money to someone". For regular payments, British English distinguishes two routes. "A standing order" is the German Dauerauftrag: you instruct your bank to send a fixed amount at regular intervals, such as the office rent. "A direct debit" is the Lastschrift: you allow a company to collect money from your account, and the amount can vary, as with a phone bill. In the European payments area, the official English name for the Lastschrift scheme is "SEPA Direct Debit". The person or company receiving the money is "the payee", and the German Verwendungszweck is "the payment reference".
04 / 06
Borrowing, loans and interest
The biggest trap for German speakers hides in the verb "leihen". In German it covers both directions: "Ich leihe dir Geld" and "Ich leihe mir Geld". English splits them by direction. "To lend" means to give: "The bank lends money to companies." "To borrow" means to take: "We borrowed €50,000 from the bank." A small memory aid: after "lend" you often name the person who receives something ("lend us the money"), while "borrow" goes with "from" and the source ("borrow from the bank"). That is why "Can you borrow me…?" is not standard English. The money you borrow is "a loan"; you "take out a loan" and later "repay" it or "pay it back". A loan to buy a property is "a mortgage". What the loan costs is "interest" — an uncountable singular word in this sense: "The interest is high", not "the interests are high". The percentage is "the interest rate". And when you have borrowed money, you "owe" it: "We owe the bank €20,000."
05 / 06
False friends: Kredit, Rate and co.
Besides "leihen", banking vocabulary hides a few false friends. The most important is "Kredit". A Kredit you take out with a bank is usually "a loan" in English. The word "credit" does exist, but mostly in other contexts: "a credit card", "to buy on credit", or money added to an account ("The refund was credited to your account"). The second classic is "Rate". Your monthly Rate is "a monthly instalment" or "a monthly repayment", while English "rate" means a level or percentage, as in "the interest rate" or "the exchange rate". The German "Girokonto" does not help much either: everyday English says "current account" or "checking account". And "Konto" itself is "account" — not to be confused with "accounts" in the plural, which in companies often means the bookkeeping department or the annual financial statements. Learn such pairs deliberately together: the misleading German word and its English equivalent right beside it.
06 / 06
Banking English at work
At work you mostly need these words in short, clear sentences. When a payment is missing: "The payment hasn't reached our account yet. Could you send us proof of the transfer?" When you share account details: "Please transfer the amount to the account below and quote the invoice number as the payment reference." When something has gone wrong: "We've been charged twice for the same direct debit." When you contact your bank: "Could you send me the bank statement for March?" With a bank, a polite, factual tone is usual; "Could you…?" and "I'd like to…" are all you need. Watch the tenses too: for a payment whose result matters now, the present perfect often fits ("The money has arrived"), while a specific date usually calls for the past simple ("We made the transfer on 3 March"). Practise these sentences aloud once, and they will be there when it counts.