You live together. Rent, groceries, energy: you both pay for them. And then the question comes up: should we open an account together?
It is a small step, but it raises big questions. What does it cost? Can I pay on my own, or does my partner always have to sign too? And if it ever goes wrong, whose money is it?
Here are the answers, with prices taken from the banks’ own price lists.
How does a joint account work?
A joint account is in both your names. You are both holders. KBC puts it like this: you can both do the same things, to the same extent.
In principle, a transaction needs both your signatures, explains Wikifin, the information site of the Belgian financial regulator. That is why most couples give each other a power of attorney. Then either of you can pay and transfer money alone. Withdraw that power of attorney, and your partner can no longer do so alone.
Two things you always do together. Opening and closing a joint account always has to happen together.
And watch out for an overdraft. If the account goes below zero, at KBC you are both responsible for paying it back, whoever caused it. KBC adds that this does not apply to married couples.
What does it cost at each bank?
You pay per account, not per person. Only some banks charge extra for a second holder. So below is what the two of you pay together each month, that extra included, from cheapest to most expensive. The prices come from the official price lists, checked on 7 November 2026.
Account
Together per month
Good to know
Argenta Green
Free
Two holders at most. A debit card for each holder.
Keytrade Bank
Free
A debit card for each holder, only if you live in Belgium.
Hello bank!
Free
A debit card for each holder.
Belfius Beats Pulse
€1.50
The account is free. The €1.50 is the extra for the second holder.
KBC-Basisrekening
€2.50
One debit card. Free if one of you is under 25.
ING Go
€3.20
€2.20 plus €1.00 for the second holder.
Argenta Silver
€3.50
Comes with two Argenta credit cards.
Beobank Plus rekening
€4.00
Two debit cards. €5.00 from 1 January 2027.
vdk bank Flux
€4.00
Two payment cards. Only for married or legally cohabiting couples.
KBC-Plusrekening
€4.25
Two debit cards. Free if one of you is under 25.
Crelan Essential Pack
€4.50
A debit card for each of you.
Belfius Beats New
€6.60
€5.50 plus €1.10 for the second holder. Two debit cards.
Belfius Beats Star
€7.00
€5.90 plus €1.10 for the second holder.
ING More
€7.90
€3.90 with at least €700 paid in each month. A debit card for each holder.
Beobank does not charge the €4.00 if at least €1,750 came into the account the month before, or if you hold at least €100,000 at Beobank.
Hello bank! lets each person open at most one account as a co-holder.
BNP Paribas Fortis and Fintro are missing. Their websites were down when we checked the prices, and we put no price in this table that we did not read at the bank ourselves.
Prices change, so always check the price list once more before you sign.
What about the digital banks?
At the digital banks, not every “shared” account is a real joint account. Sometimes one person owns it and the other can only see it.
Revolut has a real joint account for two people. According to the terms of its Belgian branch, you each own an equal share of the money, even if one of you put in more. You are both jointly and severally liable.
bunq offers a joint account at no extra cost on bunq Core, Pro or Elite. On bunq Free you can only join an account someone else opens. The balance is split equally between the co-owners.
N26 has two things that look alike. A Joint Account is a real joint account for two, with its own IBAN, on every plan. A Shared Space is not: only the person who opened the Space owns the money in it.
Wise has no joint account. Personal Wise accounts cannot be opened in joint names.
Whose money is it?
This is where it often goes wrong. Being allowed to use the account says nothing about who owns the money on it. Wikifin puts it plainly: a power of attorney says nothing about who owns the money.
Who owns it depends on your situation:
Married with community of property. Then all income is shared. If you divorce without agreement, a judge decides. It is then not even certain you get back the money you earned and paid into a joint account.
Married with separation of property. Then the money on your own account stays yours.
Legally cohabiting. Whatever neither of you can prove is yours alone belongs to you both, undivided.
Just living together. Then the law arranges nothing. You have to be able to prove yourself who brought in what.
A tip from the Belgian notaries for married couples: do not put money from an inheritance or a gift on the joint account. It gets mixed, and your own money can no longer be traced.
What if one of you dies?
Then the bank blocks all the accounts and cards of the person who died, and of the surviving partner. That protects the heirs, because the bank does not yet know who the money belongs to.
To bridge that period, a surviving spouse or legally cohabiting partner may take out half of the money on the current and savings accounts, up to €5,000. Take out more, and you are considered to accept the estate, with all the risks that brings. The debts too.
Is your money protected?
If a Belgian bank fails, the guarantee fund protects up to €100,000 per person and per bank. On a joint account, each holder has their own ceiling of €100,000. The money on the account counts in equal shares for that, unless the bank knows a different split.
At a foreign bank, that country’s scheme applies. For Revolut it is the Lithuanian one, for bunq the Dutch one.
One account, three pots
A joint account solves one thing: shared costs come from one place. But most couples also keep an account each. And then you pay for the groceries with your own card after all.
That is why Briliza works with three pots when you manage money together: yours, your partner’s and the one you share. Every expense belongs to one of the three, even if you paid it from your own account. So you both see the same picture: what is shared, and what belongs to each of you.
