There are many different business concepts of German banks. The DKB Bank based in Berlin is a subsidiary of the stately owned Bayerische Landesbank based in Munich.

The Bayerische Landesbank itself is a bank within the group of banks of the local savings banks (Sparkasse) also stately-owned and their centralized service provider.

So the traditional approach of the Bayerische Landesbank is NOT to have branches in every tiny city. They only conduct business for companies and refer private customers to the Sparkasse. The one exception is the DKB bank which has developped out of a direct/online bank.

Due to the fact that it has no branches you couldnīt go to their office and open an account for call money. In order to get the savings of customers the offer two rates for deposited money.

http://www.dkb.de/privatkunden/dkb_cash/

At the moment the pre-loaded amount of the credit card yields 1,3 % interest whereas the normally deposited money only yields 0,2 % p.a.

That is their business decision. Maybe they hope that you use this money for purchases, travel-related expenses and so on. And in consequence thius small appetizer on interest rates will lead to a higher credit card turnover.

So if your focus is not on an Amex Card but at a VISA card this may be one of the best solutions as a customer. @:-)

The main unique sellingf position may be the
" 0,- Euro weltweit mit der DKB-VISA-Card an Geldautomaten abheben"
Cash withdrawal function at ATM.

Tax
In Germany every bank transfers approx. 25 % of each interest gained to the state and you will get a confirmation of this withdrawel tax. So for customers residing in Europe the bank transfers the sum of the withholding tax as one block to the appropriate country. E.g. they pay one block to Switzerland, one block to Austria and so on.

So itīs not much of paperwork for you. This is the reason why they need an information about the legal residence/citizenship.

Hope this helps.