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What is Penta Banking?
Penta is a financial service that grants smart online banking to SMEs and startup businesses. It also provides corporate cards and analytic tools to facilitate expense management for companies.
In that vein, Penta makes it quick and easy to open an account and features a platform that connects a plethora of financial accessories to your traditional banking services.
The company seeks to act not as a single service, but as a marketplace of services, combining the legal, banking, and lending aspects of your company.
By letting you group together all your economic activities on a single platform, it facilitates administration in a market that requires swift responses from companies. Let’s take a look at the offer and whether it’s right for your business.
Key Details
Penta Pros & Cons
- Flexible plans for growing businesses
- Convenient corporate card control
- Low fees for money transfers
- Only available for German companies
- No virtual cards available yet
Penta Banking Features
We’ll break down the characteristics of this financial service one by one.
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Multi-currency accounts
Accordeon buttonDepending on your needs, Penta accounts can serve as the central bank accounts for your business or secondary ones for special payments.
The accounts are digital-first, available on desktop and mobile devices. You can open as many sub-accounts as you need under your original Penta profile and use them for different services, investments, teams and transfers as necessary.
All accounts support multiple currencies. You can exchange money through the service for a low, transparent fee.
All cards function seamlessly abroad in 35 other currencies and let you make payments to 212 countries.
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Payments
Accordeon buttonThe multi-currency accounts enable full-fledged online payments. The services available include sending and receiving assets, contactless payments via Google Pay, and even international transactions for a small fee of 0.5% of the sum paid.
If your team members request a payment authorisation, you can quickly and automatically confirm them. The company also supports batch payments and recurring transfers to your employees’ corporate cards, banks and clients if you go for a Premium plan.
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Corporate Card
Accordeon buttonOne of the primary benefits of using this service is the possibility of issuing corporate cards to your employees and tracking their usage through a mobile app.
The way you use the cards depends solely on your company’s size and requirements. You can customise the limits and get an unrestricted number of business debit cards, withdrawing money directly from your bank account but not allowing overdrafts.
All your Penta card users can withdraw money, perform SEPA transfers and make any other payments that your business needs. All card details are accessible through an app and download the relevant forms or grant your accountant direct access to the reports.
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Employees, Roles & Permissions
Accordeon buttonPenta is a multi-user service, which means that you can set up various permissions for different employees to control their use of the funds accessible in their corporate cards.
You can grant a broad, Administrator role to your employee(s) and allow them to access any feature of your account and all parts of the platform.
Alternatively, specific staff members could get access to your account balance, transactions, categorisation, and statements. You could also assign people to control transfer categories, manage users and their cards, or prepare and send payments.
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Accounting Tools
Accordeon buttonWhile Pentra features no accounting tools of its own, it boasts a robust integration system that lets you sync your transactions automatically, avoiding manual work, saving time and preventing human error.
It synchronises your financial actions daily and seamlessly integrates with your accounting tools. Plus, there are options for booking expenses and earnings to stay tax-compliant.
All banking activity will show up in your preferred accounting tool within a day. If you’re using Debitoor or Iexoffice, they get synced in real-time. Either way, the integration is available in Advanced and Premium Plans.
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Integrations and APIs
Accordeon buttonWhen it comes to integrations with accounting tools, you can connect your Penta account with:
- Iexoffice
- Debitoor
- Papierkram
- Billomat
- BuchhaltungsButler
- FastBill
- CANDIS
While the list isn’t that extensive and it caters mostly to German users, it’s likely to grow in the future. Plus, these software providers are the most popular among companies in the country.
The ‘Accounting’ tab of your account allows you to connect it with Debitoor and Iexoffice. If you’re on another service, you’ll find links that explain the integration process in-depth on the website.
The company claims one of its central values is transparency, which also includes Open APIs. The interface helps you to integrate your Penta account with even services you use that the company doesn’t support.
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Security
Accordeon buttonPenta works with solarisBank, a fully licensed bank to comply with the BaFin requirements, the highest security standard in Germany.
The online services include several layers of security, including two-factor verification for transfers and transactions via SMS.
Regarding your funds, Penta uses the standard of European Union credit institutions. It secures your capital worth up to 100,000€ in case of insolvency under the European Deposit Guarantee Fund.
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Customer Support
Accordeon buttonPenta operates as a community, always seeking new ideas for improvement from its users. You can join the Slack group chat and follow the latest developments in the processes and procedures behind the scenes.
If you have any questions about the options available to you, there are several ways to find the answer. The FAQ section is extensive and includes many links, articles and explanations of all the basic features of the service in German and English.
You can also send an email to the dedicated address on the website and get a response in 24 hours. If your case is urgent or too complex for email, call the number provided on the website between 9 am and 6 pm Berlin time from Monday to Friday.
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Perks
Accordeon buttonAll customers using the Advanced or Premium plan can claim 5,000€ in credits that you can use on Amazon Web Services. That’s Penta’s way to help you grow your business.
Plus, if you’re using Stripe for your payment processing, Penta doesn’t impose any processing fees on the first 40,000€ in revenue.
You can redeem your rewards through your account. You’ll see it on the dashboard as soon as you purchase the Advanced or Premium plan.
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Additional Features Coming Soon
Accordeon buttonSince it’s so focused on taking in feedback and developing its services accordingly, Penta published its Open Product Roadmap on Trello, free for anybody to see.
It shows all the latest features, short and long-term plans, intended advancements, and it even has a section for customers’ ideas. Join it, and you can always stay up-to-date with the newest announcements.
The current planned releases are virtual cards and direct debit collection.
Plans & Pricing
Penta offers a 60-day free trial that includes all the features of the service. After it expires, you can cancel your subscription or select one of the three available plans.
Advanced, Premium, and Ultimate plans all cover the needs of small businesses in need of financial software. Pricier ones include more features and extra perks such as lower fees and more free transactions available.
It’s seamless to change your plan as your business grows by visiting the account settings. It’ll become available as soon as you purchase the new one. The details of each scheme are as follows.
Advanced | Premium | Ultimate | |
Price per month | 9 € + VAT | 19 €+ VAT | Custom |
German IBAN | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Account users | 2 | 5 | Custom |
Business cards | 2 | 5 | Custom |
Sub accounts | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Free cash withdrawals | 2/month | 3/month | Custom |
SEPA-Transfers/mo | 100 | 300 | Custom |
Custom transactions categories | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
API access | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Advanced | |
Price per month | 9 € + VAT |
German IBAN | |
Account users | 2 |
Business cards | 2 |
Sub accounts | 1 |
Free cash withdrawals | 2/mo |
SEPA-Transfers | 100 |
Custom transactions categories | |
API access |
Premium | |
Price per month | 19 €+ VAT |
German IBAN | |
Account users | 5 |
Business cards | 5 |
Sub accounts | 4 |
Free cash withdrawals | 3/mo |
SEPA-Transfers | 300 |
Custom transactions categories | |
API access |
Ultimate | |
Price per month | Custom |
German IBAN | |
Account users | Custom |
Business cards | Custom |
Sub accounts | 4 |
Free cash withdrawals | Custom |
SEPA-Transfers | Custom |
Custom transactions categories | |
API access |
Fees
Penta’s pricing plans are per month basis. You won’t have to pay anything for ordering and reordering cards, though.
Apart from the fees related to your plan, there are several reasonable prices attached to your service.
When it comes to ATM fees, the Advanced and Premium plans come with two and three free cash withdrawals, respectively. After you exceed the limit, each time a card user takes out funds, they’ll do so with a small fee that’s the same home and abroad.
The same applies to international payments. The first 100 or 300 SEPA transactions are free, after which, a modest charge applies
FAQ
Who can open a Penta business account?
Accordeon button Accordeon buttonAny company resident in Germany can take advantage of this service. You don’t have to live in Germany, but your company needs to be registered in the country. Penta accepts a wide array of legal entity types.
What countries can I open an account in?
Accordeon button Accordeon buttonFor now, Penta’s services are only available for Germany-based companies, although they can do business abroad.
What documents do I need to open a Penta account?
Accordeon button Accordeon buttonYou first have to provide the necessary information about you and your company. They include:
- A valid identity card/passport
- Incorporation documents
- Partnership documents (if you have a partner company)
Penta is required by law to verify your identity before it starts rendering services. It uses video identification through its partner IDnow.
The process is quick and straightforward. All you need to do is hold your ID document in the camera and confirm some information vocally.
How do I open a Penta bank account?
Accordeon button Accordeon buttonYou can apply for an account through the website in less than 15 minutes. After you submit your application, the company will require registration documents, and it will take a few days for it to confirm your account and make it fully active.
Note that only the legal representative of the company can launch this process.
How can I access my account?
Accordeon button Accordeon buttonYou can access your account using the login documents provided to you during the registration process. It’s available through the web platform and mobile app.
Is my money safe?
Accordeon button Accordeon buttonYes. The European Deposit Guarantee Fund secures your deposited amounts of up to 100,000€.
Your transactions are secured by two-factor SMS verification to ensure only authorised persons are accessing the assets.
User Reviews
Our Verdict
Overall, if you’re a German company owner who needs an easier way to control your company spending and finances, Penta is a fantastic solution.
It integrates seamlessly with your accounting software, which you can transmit directly to your accountant and simplifies the management of all financial processes, from tax returns to employee spending. It helps you maintain a solid overview of your business finances and ultimately, run a more efficient financial department than you would otherwise.