Lidl Smart-Tarif and German bank account

[matt]

Hello,

I will be doing an internship in Berlin for three months and I am looking for some information about prepaid SIM cards.
After searching a bit this very useful forum and Google I think I now have a general overview of the different offers and carriers, however there is something which is not clear to me yet and I hope somebody here can help me in this.
I was considering Lidl Mobile since it's cheap and it uses O2 network (and there are stores near where I'll be staying).
I understood that I won't need a German bank account in order to activate a SIM with the "Classic-Tarif", however I was really interested in the "Smart-Tarif" instead, since I would like to use internet on my smartphone pretty often and have a certain number of minutes/messages included.
What isn't clear to me is whether I need a German bank account to activate the Smart-Tarif. If yes, is there any other way to activate, maybe using a credit card? Or are there plans from different operators at more or less the same prices as Lidl but that don't require a bank account?

Also, when you buy the Starterpaket at a Lidl store, is it possible to choose between a SIM and a MicroSIM or they only sell standard SIM cards?

Thank you very much in advance!

[1040Berlin]

Originally Posted by matt

I will be doing an internship in Berlin

I was considering Lidl Mobile since it's cheap and it uses O2 network (and there are stores near where I'll be staying)

What isn't clear to me is whether I need a German bank account to activate the Smart-Tarif. If yes, is there any other way to activate, maybe using a credit card?

You definitely need a German bank account because this tariff is beeing charged only by direct withdrawel.

And you are right the Lidl Smart-Tarif is the best of this kind. If you understand German keep in touch with teltarif.de site.

Edit: Aldi (competing with Lidl food chain) has a similar tariff: 300 mins or SMS instead of 400, 300 MB internet (as Lidl too), 7.99 EUR instead of 9.95 EUR. See this posting.

[matt]

Thank you very much for your help!
If I may just ask you something else, do they also sell MicroSIM cards (for example for iPhone 4) at Aldi stores or do they just sell normal SIM cards?
I was wondering whether it is possible to buy a Starterpaket with a MicroSIM.......

[1040Berlin]

Originally Posted by matt

Thank you very much for your help!
If I may just ask you something else, do they also sell MicroSIM cards (for example for iPhone 4) at Aldi stores or do they just sell normal SIM cards?
I was wondering whether it is possible to buy a Starterpaket with a MicroSIM.......

Obviously one does not get a MicroSIM in the starting package. Instead one has to order a MicroSIM by phone:

From FAQs:

Originally Posted by Aldi-Talk (FAQ)

Wo erhalte ich eine Micro- oder Nano-SIM Karte?

ALDI TALK bietet Ihnen kostenlos die passende SIM-Karte zu Ihrem Gerät an. Eine Rücksendung der "normalen" SIM-Karte aus dem Starter-Set ist nicht notwendig.

Bitte beachten Sie, dass Ihre ursprüngliche SIM-Karte nach Freischaltung der Micro- oder Nano-SIM Karte automatisch deaktiviert wird.

Die Micro- oder Nano-SIM Karte kann über die Service-Hotline 1157 (für Kunden im ALDI TALK Tarif in Deutschland: 0,49 €/Anruf), aus dem deutschen Festnetz unter 0177 - 177 1157 (aus allen Fremdnetzen gilt der vom jew. Anbieter ausgewiesene Preis für einen Mobilfunkanruf ins E-Plus Netz) bestellt werden.

Bitte halten Sie zur Legitimation Ihren PUK 1 bereit.

[Motel75]

Edeka Mobile, which has similar prices to Lidl, but on a better network (Vodafone), does not require a German bank account, and comes with a micro-SIM in the package.

[1040Berlin]

Originally Posted by Motel75

Edeka Mobile, which has similar prices to Lidl, but on a better network (Vodafone), does not require a German bank account, and comes with a micro-SIM in the package.

But with lower likelihood to get a SIM in an Edeka market. See user complaint in German telecom site Teltarif.de (Google Translate).